English Football System is Ruining the Game, Claims Johan Cruyff
Johan Cruyff has accused English clubs of damaging football but praised Barcelona just over a week before the Champions League final
Johan Cruyff has fired the opening salvo in the build-up to the Champions League final by accusing English clubs of damaging the game by stockpiling footballers from around the world. The former Barcelona player and coach, who acts an adviser to the president, Joan Laporta, has held the Catalan club up as example to follow thanks to their success in bringing through young talent – in contrast to their Premier League opponents. He has also warned that football is ruining the lives of children from around the world and has urged the European Union to intervene.
Barcelona's starting XI in Rome is likely to include five Catalans, plus Leo Messi and Andres Iniesta, both of whom were brought through the club's youth system, La Masia. At most, Manchester United will start with three if Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes join John O'Shea in the side.
Cruyff, whose philosophy permeates Barcelona and who was responsible for employing Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola as coach, says "the best thing" about their success is that other clubs "will copy them." He said: "Barcelona have a lot of home-grown players in the team. Big teams are not obliged to win at all costs; they are obliged to compete to win, always thinking of the good of the game."
The good of the game is not something Cruyff believes Premier League clubs care about and he was scathing of the English model. "However much English teams reach finals, I'm sorry, I do not buy it because of the players they have on the pitch," he said. "The vast majority of them have been bought from abroad. There are very, very few Englishmen. Just look at the Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United squads.
"Both the English national team and football in general suffers as a result of them signing so many foreign players. Doing so weakens the competition because it's impossible for every player they sign to play.
"I would like to see a candidate [at the European parliament elections] pick up on the 6+5 idea and fight to change the law on this. That way, the national teams would be improved. As a consequence, you'd also stop the trafficking of children – thousands of footballing hopefuls that are taken from poor countries and of whom only a tiny proportion make it. Where are the rest of them now, what's their life like?"
Barcelona's starting XI in Rome is likely to include five Catalans, plus Leo Messi and Andres Iniesta, both of whom were brought through the club's youth system, La Masia. At most, Manchester United will start with three if Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes join John O'Shea in the side.
Cruyff, whose philosophy permeates Barcelona and who was responsible for employing Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola as coach, says "the best thing" about their success is that other clubs "will copy them." He said: "Barcelona have a lot of home-grown players in the team. Big teams are not obliged to win at all costs; they are obliged to compete to win, always thinking of the good of the game."
The good of the game is not something Cruyff believes Premier League clubs care about and he was scathing of the English model. "However much English teams reach finals, I'm sorry, I do not buy it because of the players they have on the pitch," he said. "The vast majority of them have been bought from abroad. There are very, very few Englishmen. Just look at the Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United squads.
"Both the English national team and football in general suffers as a result of them signing so many foreign players. Doing so weakens the competition because it's impossible for every player they sign to play.
"I would like to see a candidate [at the European parliament elections] pick up on the 6+5 idea and fight to change the law on this. That way, the national teams would be improved. As a consequence, you'd also stop the trafficking of children – thousands of footballing hopefuls that are taken from poor countries and of whom only a tiny proportion make it. Where are the rest of them now, what's their life like?"
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