Book Review "My Turn: The Autobiography"

Great work of mind to express what does the passion to football mean. The book shows the contradictive persona of Johan Cruyff within and outside of the art he was performing. The author reflects on topics of football management, coaching, and playing the game itself. The evolution of Johan goes along with the changes we see in football rules. His struggles to receive the right to coach reflects the decisions the football governing bodies had to take worldwide. Great start for understanding the modern European football paradigm.

Authors of this review:

Nikita Goncharenko

Date of Publication:

18/05/2022

Academic Reference:

Cruyff, J., 2016. My Turn: The Autobiography by Johan Cruyff. Pan Macmillan. London.

Tags:football coaching football history sports management

Key Ideas

As a coach, Johan Cruyff was strongly promoting distrubition of tasks. In a way, that can be compared with macro management, leaving micro management to subordinates. That mentality also promoted the shared responsibility concept, making assistant coaches equally important roles in reaching the team results.

When hiring a football coach, Johan defined a simple, yet invisible principle: coaches are different. Someone could be good at lifting the club from the relegation, while not so good at winning the trophy. That being said, there is a obviously another difference: someone could be great youth coach. But qualities needed for coaching youth are significantly differnt to qualities necessary to adults. In principle, the difference is the mentality and the knowledge.

The analysis of the football performance at the highest level starts from the details. Seeing the timings of passes, as well as the techniques of receiving, together with positioning and body profile requires a high-level of in-depth knowledge of football. Knowing these basics, first, offers the chance to notice 2-3 steps before the action, and second, helps communicating them to players.

Johan belongs to the school of thought that defines football to be the main pillar in player development. In favor of this perspective, he shares the belief that when a player has enjoyed the game of football, his/her mental and physical states wouldn't bother him/her. In his vision, the happiness from the game itself would switch the attention from tiredness and psychological issues. [Remark: What about the happy player who is going to get injured because the stretching is boring?]

Johan claims to believe in bottom-up approach, where the hierarchy seem to be looking something like this: (1) players, (2) coaches, (3) managers, (4) directors in the boardroom. In his vision, the strong problem comes when coaches try to explain somthing to director. That cause directors to reject the good ideas which they do not understand due to lower knowledge of the field. [Remark: That sounds like a universal issue across the industries.]

Citations

For me, two things are important: in principle, your players have to be able to play 120 minutes and they've got to have a laugh.

The third man decides where the ball goes. ... It is not the person with the ball who decides where the ball goes. Players without the ball determines the action.

if you've got someone who dribbles too much, you do not stop him from dribbling. Instead, you put him up against big, physically strong opponent.

The club that's at the top or in the mid-table or at the bottom often require three totally different types of trainers.

Top level football is about Technique, Tactics, Training, and Finance.

Examples of questions to analyze a moment: How is the ball received? And how is it played on? Did it require one touch or two? How good was the receiving player's control?

At least 2 players are involved in any move. But too much attention is put to how they play individually when it's really about how they play together.

From the pitch upwards, right to the boardroom ... Top-Down attitude. As I mentioned, people who think in that way often feel superior and compelled to convince others that they are right.

In a good team, you do not often see a left-footed player receiving the ball on his right foot.

The difference between good and bad player's technique is 'Agility'.

The most important thing for a player is that he knows how to do the simple actions. I mean: passing, receiving, controlling the ball with his chest, being able to use his weaker foot, and heading.

Learning to pass the ball correctly is simply a matter of repeating it over and over.