There are few or no, cooler football players than Johan Cruyff in the history of the game. Written by Rob Conlon.
You now know his story: the lost talent that revolves football, both as a player and a manager; the philosopher who could be eloquent about everything, from politics and religion to ancient Egypt and the art of Rembrandt; The f*cking rock and roll star who would not like fools.
He is the slick Gunslinger who immortalized the No.14 shirt, the rebel who was wearing two stripes on his adidas shirts because he was sponsored by Puma, the avant-garde wing player who had the full-backs in such extent embarrassed.
The man described as “pythagoras in boots” by writer David Orange could do it all. And he would effortlessly look brilliant if he did it.
But Johan Cruyff made mistakes, just like all of us on these godforsakes -planet.
Even Johan Cruyff stumbled on the same fall that came across so many football players who before and after he had torn and rewrited the Rulebook in his own words.
Johan Cruyff started a career as a musician and released an album. A seven-inch single, complete with Cruyff on the sleeve that looks beautiful, such as a movie star from the 1950s on the cover of a Morrissey plate.
And we are sad to say that it is clearly not cool.

We will try 'oei oei oei (I was a loei again)', which translates roughly as 'oh, oh, oh, another blow'.
The song was written by Peter Koelewijn, one of the originators of Dutch language Rock and Roll.
Released in 1969 on Polydor – the same year that the label helped in spreading groundbreaking releases of Jimi Hendrix and the WHO – the lyrics describe a blissful night for the cousin in which he is eliminated in a boxing match, is torn out in a pub and eventually returns to home to be greeted.
Once released, the number 21 reached in the charts in the Netherlands and sold it even more records in Spain after he came to Barcelona.
It has something of a charming, slapstick, knees-up quality related to a Dutch Chas and Dave, but the recording has tested the usual inexplicable nature of Cruyff. When he went to the microphone, the producer was relieved to discover that his vocal talents did not match his power on the field.
According to the Dutch DJ and producer Marcelle van Hoof, who comes in the written Saturday, a friend in the Studio Cruyff encouraged to have a few drinks to relax. His tipsy interpretation was a little less tense and was considered reasonable.
But when it came to performing the song Live, his nerves came up. Cruyff was invited to sing a interpretation on Dutch television and spent all the time staring at the floor and muttered the few words he could remember.
The man who could be so expressive on the field remained, possibly for the first time in his life, uncomfortable and ashamed.
It seems unfair that Cruyff should suffer this shame from all football players. If he can't do it, nobody can.
But in 2018 Koelewijn gave a brilliant insight into working with Cruyff in the studio.
“That was in the period that we still made numbers that we linked to current events,” he said. “Everyone was crazy about Cruyff then, and so I made a record about it. I had written a carnival-like tune for Johan. He would agree, but there was nothing in the studio.
“He had no sense of rhythm and was very nervous. That's why I asked him if he wanted to drink something.” Give me a coke, “he said. That's a mix of cola and gin. And then he asked for another and another.
“Johan started to come loose completely.”
Now well drunk, Cruyff also revealed to his producer that he would deliberately win free kicks on television Ajax matches and injure the advertising bijardings of his personal sponsors to get more exposure.
“He would be there for two minutes.”
And there it is. Just when we thought Cruyff was just as fallible as the rest of us, he says it was always his world, and we just live it.
Johan Cruyff did not need a career in Rock and Roll to become a rock and roll star. That was always the point.
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