Cruyff: The Total Footballer 

EDIT: The man pictured as Gerrie Mühren is in fact his younger brother Arnold. Please excuse the mistake. Hey guys, this is my attempt in explaining Cruyff's extremely interesting and complicated playing career in a 51 minute episode. Hopefully it covered (almost) everything that I felt is important to the legendary Dutchmen and at the same time keeps it's pace and avoid being boring. Enjoy! To support the channel through Patreon: www.patreon.com/balon

"Playing football is simple but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is." -Johan Cruyff

One of the best channels on YT about football. Better than 99,9% of them !!!!! Straight to the point, no baits, no annoying screaming voice, quality researches and superb presentation. Cheers from Brazil !

as someone whos truly passionate about football journalism and football as a whole, I find these videos incredibly educational and awe-inspiring in terms of editing, research and narration. Keep up the stellar work

Please do a part 2 on his managerial side. I'm a Barca fan and I had goosebumps while watching this. It's beautiful man.

Johan Cruyff has reached mythic levels, not just in his native Netherlands, but across the entire sport. The way in which he played the game and his magical dribbling skills were phenomenal , I only wish Dutch Soccer Team Won the 1974 World Cup.

Ladies and gentlemen. Balon has done it again! Football history documentaries have always been the same for the most part, but the content on this channel is something truly different and special. Balon is revolutionizing the football history documentary, and I can't wait to see what famous player, manager, team, season or match will be discussed next!

The greatest personality of world football. As a player, as a coach, as a man.He changed the game.

Loved Johan Cruyff and saw him play many times. The Dutch Master. Thanks for this tribute to the great man, respect from Glasgow.

The most influential football player/manager of all time, truly an icon.

I love how so many of your documentaries tease a sequel. And that we have actually gotten some of those sequels!

2 days ago I was wondering when he was gonna drop a video

Amazing video. I hope there is a part 2 telling the managerial life of Cruyf 🙌🏽

I normally never comment on Fahad's videos mainly because they are so truly awe-inspiring that I just want to sit back and enjoy them, but this will be my only time and it's just to say Fahad you are truly one of the best content creators with relation to football. Everything about your videos is excellent from the research to the music selection to finding goals and events from way back in time they not many would be able to find... Seriously شكرا Balón, I really appreciate your effort because the final product is excellent

For me is the truly GOAT. A truly genius, that revolutionated the football.

My absolute favourite of all the great players. Revolutionary in terms of pace, intelligence, desire, leadership, tactics and overall influence. Ajax and Cruyff changed the concept of tactical possibility that is still evolving 50 years later. He is electrifying to watch even after all these years.

Can we just applaud Ajax for looking out for their young players like Johan after his father passed away they offered his mom a job so they can be financially stable

I was a 10 year old football fan and cried when Holland lost to W Germany in 74, but i knew i had witnessed the greatest player of that generation and possibly the greatest all round footballer. Complex man whom obviously broke down many barriers for the modern day prima donnas.

I love what Cruyff done for football. We are still feeling his influence with the likes of Barcelona under PEP, and now with Manchester City. The Dutch team of the 1970s with player's like Rudi Krol, Arie Haan, Cruyff, Rensenbrink, Neeskens and Johnny Rep were incredible to watch and reached 2 World Cup Final's, which they unfortunately lost.

As a Feyenoord fan I am proud he played at our club!

One of the very best videos about Johan Cruijff! It manages to show his greater qualities: Different from most other "Best Footballers Ever", the gift of this midfielder wasn't even so much his own individual skill, but rather the fact that he always made the other players in his team rise above themselves. He changed Dutch and International football in the process. Pity you're not addressing his career as a trainer ...

i never knew that Cruyff such a heroic person. what a man, what a man!

The trivela, the Cruyff turn, so many exponents of his game today. Without Rinus, there was no Cruyff, without Cruyff, there was no Rinus. A Total Football relationship, full circle. Beautiful.

and brazilians didn't forgot him till today! an absolute legend and a genius of the sport. RIP, Cruyff.

Great work as always! I think it would be cool to have a video on Alfredo Di Stéfano. He's quite forgotten nowadays, unfortunately. He was a total footballer like Johan Cruyff and was considered by many footballers as the greatest player of all time until Pelé came. Di Stéfano was also part of the legendary 1940s River Plate team and the Colombian gold rush. Then, he went on to win 5 consecutive European Cups with Real Madrid and even got 3 assists in a 5-3 win against Pelé's Santos.

One of the best ever. The reason so many players wear number 14. Rest in Peace.

The reason he didn't go to the 1978 World Cup was because of the military dictatiorship in Argentina at the time. Those where the "values" he was talking about. It's another of the great things about Johan Cruyff.

Eu sou brasileiro.E acompanhei a trajetória desse jogador,desde 74 com 8 anos.Fiquei triste desse gênio do futebol não ter ido a copa de 78 na Argentina.Tenho a idade de Romário.Romario disse que Cruyff era um excelente treinador e um craque do seu tempo.Eu acho John Cruyff o maior jogador europeu de todos os tempos.Foi uma pena a Holanda de 74 e 78 não ter sido campeã mundial daquele torneio!

Soo good. As a Barca fan since 2008 (yes, shamelessly the Pep era), I have always heard Cruyff's name echoing around the sacrosanct Camp Nou walls. But man, seeing this truly opened my eyes to his legacy. Brilliant Fahad. Thanks a lot.

Masterpiece as usual. My favourite channel related to football, no otheer channel comes even close especially the way your videos are made and the way you narrate it

The most impactful player. Changed Barcelona football, and Guado learned from him, and Spain of 08-12 is the result of learning total football from Holland.

Great documentary on a sublime player. Probably in the top 5 of all time. He could control the game from deep and score freely. RIP.

As someone who's lived most of his life in East-Amsterdam I can only say I'm glad I took the time to listen to Mr Al-Thekair narrate this well-crafted video. My time as an active football fan is over, but this vid helped me remember how my life was once captured by football and all it encompasses. Cruijff is still a source of (obviously misplaced) pride. I miss the time when life was less serious. Subscribed :)

The master, the provocateur and the architect. There will be never another like Johan Cruyff.

One of the VERY BEST football documentaries I've ever seen! My childhood (football) heroes where Gerd Müller, Colin Bell AND Johan Cruyff, and your take on JC (!) is great, you really made me enjoy sitting down with 3 cups of coffee on a Sunday morning. Great ride. Thank you for the storytelling. Great voice too.

True definition of passion of the game, what a man he was and what a legacy he left

Great video. The Dutch WC 1974 team deserves a whole video on its own. The pressing they played, the total football, the 'flying keeper', the introduction of the offside trap.

Saw him live once: his personality on the pitch, with the ball, was remarkable. He feared noone. For me he was one of the very best.

Cruyff in his come back in holland was amazing. Dutch kids just too young to see him star in 74 could nos see him play 2 seasons for ajax again. Weekly. When cruyff steps on to the pitch another dimension opens. I have seen it those seasons. An older superplayer from a lost glory era bought back to the dutch league showing and reminding everybody what football can be and how good he was.

Man..Just Respect....A football documentary but drives me to the cruyff era❤️❤️.Salute to you..

Can you please make a series on world cup tournaments please 1970s till now, history, struggles, finance, rule changes, political angles everything.....just the way you are doing all these videos. It will be absolutely awesome. I simply love your content and the way you present it. Please continue with your great work. Best wishes.

Yet another exceptional video! I'm really amazed by how well you're able to tell these great football stories. The editing is perfect and you deserve every single view. Sending love from Johan's Netherlands 🧡

This makes me want to see a video on Guardiola next. On his career as a player and as a coach, on which Cruyff had a great influence.

The godfather of modern football ❤💙

What a brilliant video. So well done, produced, designed, narrated and presented. Thank you. As for Cruyff, what a legend.

With Beckenbauer and Pele, a true legend of modern football ! Big respect !

Along with Brazil 1970 the 74 Dutch team and Ajax 68 to 74 were poetry to watch. Crujff, Neeskins, Krol, Pele, Tostao, Gerson, Revallino and Jonhny Rep. The Dutch were skilled and very very tough

Great vid! My grandfather was a neighbour of Cruyff in Watergraafsmeer. Took me back 🙏

Just simply a sublime footballer ☘

One of the most iconic characters of all time is certainly much more than a football star, much more than his leader. The football leader who revolutionized football, reinterpreted the philosophy of football, multiplied the pleasure of watching football, is Johan Cruyff.

Man, you are so amazing. I love your work. All the best from the USA.

As a football fan, I follow a lot of channels that have football content. This channel is easily the best, no contest. The amount of research that goes into every single video and the way you put it all together is amazing and inspiring. Best of luck, it's just a matter of time until you get million subscribers. P.S. "Do we know the TOTAL story?" I see what you did there....

Now we need a 2nd part on this and thanks balon for this incredible work ....keep going we'll support u till the end

We are truly blessed for the fact that these videos are free. They're so good they should be on Netflix. Keep on going Mr Fahad 💪👍

My favourite football player and coach. Genius.

Another excellent video. Thanks so much for these; brilliantly put together, no hyperbole or annoying soundtracks or cliches. Can't wait for the Cruyff the manager video!

The best the world has ever seen and will see. The man was a genius, he changed football all over the world. There was never a player who had so much influence to football. The man is still like a God of football all over the world. There will never be a better one, never!!!

Him and Rinus Michels are an irreplaceable pair in Total Football. While they're not invented the technique, but they developed and executed well. As usual, great documentary! I'd like the fact KNVB surrendered and make Cruyff dream to play across the border happened.

YESSSSSS!!!!!! I have been waiting you to drop this video since the trailer/teaser!! Can’t wait to watch! Thank you!

Can’t wait for part two, amazing work as always

Absolute masterpiece. Much appreciated making a doc on my favourite player ever he is too underappreciated

your videos are world class, as someone who loves learning about football history, this truly helps me, you are very underrated for the type of videos u post and the class of em.

An incredible documentary. That was amazing! Your storytelling and the portrayal of narratives is well researched and nicely visualised. Especially your research to the footage of certain games. To identify and order the goals to the right teams MUST BE incredibly painful, because most teams were still in amateur status until the beginning of the 70‘s. Which means little to no commercialization, which means no one did care about footage at all. To Johan Cruyff himself: What a fascinating football personality. A revolutionary on the football pitch, a (relative) conservative person outside the pitch. The chainsmoker who could run for days. The successor of Alfredo Di Stefano and basically the father of Lionel Messi (in terms of his False 9 era). But more importantly: A fantastic footballer, a more fantastic football manager, but more importantly a football philosopher. The one who brought success to his respective stations (Ajax, Barca and the Netherlands itself, even though he never coached them. But his impact was incredible), but were still dependent on him, because of his expertise. An arrogant genius, which work you can only have for the highest respect. Thank you again Balon for your incredible work (I hope you rest well during your video uploads). I can’t wait what you have in store for us next!

Man.. The content just keeps getting better with each upload. Phenomenal work!

Amazing work Fahad. Cruyff will always be the godfather of Dutch football.

Amazing account of easily one of the greatest if not the greatest player ever, definitely the most intelligent footballer ever, Brilliant documentary on Cruyff

One of the best documentareis on Johan I have ever seen. Incredible work!

Thank You So Much Balon-English Channel for this informative behind the scene bio about the Dutch Master Johan Cruyff!

Thank you for the dedication and hard work in your videos. It is really appreciated

Another great video balon! 50 mins felt like nothing. Truly one of the best channels on RU-vid! I hope you all get the recognition you deserve soon!

This was great. Truly inspiring work and a fantastic tribute to one of footballs legends. Thanks for uploading!

Helping Feyenoord f.c. winning the Dutch League over Ajax f.c. in the 1983 / 1984 Season was the icing of the Brilliance of Johan Cruyff , the #14 Dutch Superstar! For the many Barcelona f.c. Fans of the 1970s ... Johan Cruyff was their Superstar idol too! ... Sadly , Johan Cruyff has left all of us on the 26thMarch2016 due to lung cancer ... He was 69 ... May Johan Cruyff be Blessed to a Better World & Realm ...

This, in addition to all the documentaries of yours I’ve seen are truly top shelf.

I'm SO thrilled you covered my all-time favorite player. Great content, keep up the stellar work!

*Astonishingly great channel which's heavily underrated, those videos , those paper clippings along with your presentation takes us back to that era* 👏👏 *Thank you for giving us the content which should be a paid service* 🙌

Amazingly done again Fahad! You could even make his time managing Barcelona as a part two. Thank you for your hard work creating these videos and keep it up!

All your videos have been top tier elite! Even though I know a lot about the topic, you still provide a refreshing and entertaining product which enables the viewers to remain focussed. Continue the great work!

One of the best videos I’ve ever watched

I just finished watching this and wow, one of the best watches ever. What a well put together documentary 👏🏻👏🏻 a part 2 on his managerial career is needed

Absolutely enjoyed the video. Can't wait for the sequel Cruyff: The Total Manager.

Awesome review of this legendary footballer, one of the very few who set a before and after in football, not only as a player as we can see here but as a manager as well. I really look forward for your documentary of his years as a manager as well, no doubt itll be superbly well done as this one was!

This is the best summary of Cruyuff's career I have seen to date. Great research and editing. The narration was even paced and captivating. Good job.

Amazingly done! Loved every second, your are legend!

I have never seen a more captivating piece of football documentary like this. Wow! Thank you and good luck to the entire team.

These videos have truly, truly reignited my love and passion for football. Especially the Arsenal video, that sent shivers down my spine and made me start to tune in and support Arsenal again. Thank you Balòn, for the amazing and jaw dropping content.

this is so amazingly well done, this channel is a gem. Lovely and amazing video, learning and remembering things about Cruyff is always the biggest pleasure. He's my favorite player ever, such a beautiful video and history. You will live forever

What a video! Thanks to creator of the video. I've always being big fan of Cruyf. Enjoyed it watching.

Sir I’ve only just found your channel and I’m blown away with this production! Beautifully put together, I’ve already watched your Van Baston Vid and wow, you are extremely talented and I hope somehow your work makes it on to prime time television, this is the sort of work we men want to see, the joy, the heartache and all the emotions in between, it’s the perfect viewer’s experience bravo Sir 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

رحمك الله عزيزي كريف. أمتعتنا مجانا ،جعلها الله في ميزان حسناتك. إلى اللقاء في جنة الفردوس. نحبك كثيرا.

Woww, woww, woww! Great documentary about this great footballplayer who was an example for us Dutch kids playing football in the 70's! Thnx for the making and upload!🧡

Amazing Documentary... thanks for this detailed story...!!!

I just googled Dutch football history and found this video and your channel, top notch. The archival footage and journalistic efforts to tell a great story are world class. Subbed

Well done Fahad. Yet another superb football documentary. Great work packing so much of Johan's life into just over 50 minutes. ( I was thrilled too, with your generous mention of Fierce Genius!). Keep them coming.

that ending was GOOSEBUMPS

Yet another great video Fahad. We are lucky to have you providing such amazing content... for free. Keep up the great work. I'm an avid fan of your channel, and tell all my football-mad friends about your videos. Here's to many more likes, views and subscribers for you!

Loved this! Your channel and the work you put into these videos is extraordinary, become my all time favorite RU-vid channel!

the research that goes into these must take forever, take a bow

This video has proved something that i have been thinking about for a long time. Cruyff brought success wherever he went, but he also brought arrogance and therefore brought only temporary success. I can see how Pep Guardiola and Xavi have brought initial success but struggle to bring any long-term success. They are, at times, unwilling to change their philosophy during the game if things are not going their way. I honestly believe Luis Enrique is the perfect manager for Barcelona. He would need the players and financial backing to be successful, but he would add so much to the future of Barcelona

Great video. So comprehensive, I've never watched a documentary of yours that wasn't outstanding. Read his book a few years back, great read I'd recommend to anyone with an interest in football.

I applaud you for making this excellent crafted video about our Dutch Master. It’s incredibly impressive and I’m humbled by your expertise regarding the Dutch total football historic. Thank you