Dutch Machine

With supreme technical skills and speed, along with his tactical insights, Cruyff became virtually impossible to defend against. Wearing his trademark Nr.14 jersey, he usually played the centre forward position, but would move across the entire depth of the field to confuse and draw out his markers. Proponent of ’total football’, Cruyff proved himself the most unrelenting wielder of attacking football in the history of the game.

Invented in Ajax and later associated with the Dutch national team, the ‘total football’ style drew heavily upon two key elements. First one was possession of the ball and an abundance of quick, short passes. Secondly, the tactical formation was never to be left unchanged, so players had to move into each other’s positions when needed, filling any gaps and creating a perfectly fluid football machine.

In the late seventies, the ‘total football’ theory seemed like a laughable concept which left out one important factor: the human factor. But as Cruyff busted on to the scene the critique was promptly silenced. He was the embodiment of ‘total football’, and the wheels of the Dutch machine were starting to turn.