The most important part are the fans, that people going home are happy. It's their time off, and you should give them something to enjoy.
Interpretation
Fans should enjoy their experience, making it meaningful during their leisure time.
Johan Cruyff emphasizes the significance of fans in sports, stating that their happiness and enjoyment should be a priority for players and teams. This reflects a deep understanding of the role of entertainment in people's lives, particularly during their time off, and highlights the responsibility athletes have to provide memorable experiences.
In practice
During a sports event, a coach could remind the team of the importance of the fans' experience.
Ajax is a multicultural club, and we have found that many talented immigrant players quit when they reach puberty. So we wanted to tackle this problem with someone from the same background who had come through it. And that was Edgar Davids. During one of our fights, I pointed that out to him. But it had nothing to do with his skin colour.
It's disappointing to see how football, the world's No. 1 sport, is not No. 1 when it comes to development. It seems to me that a wealth of practical football knowledge is being squandered.
Football is not about suffering. It's about enjoyment. Control the ball, be friendly with it, try to attack, try to score goals. Of course defending is part of it, but you can defend in a lot of ways.
If you look at other countries, you see they have different values: defend more, pass the ball out more, winning is holy. In England, you could say that sport itself is holy. They say, 'Look, guys, it's about more than just winning.'
If you take golf, you have a teacher for the drive, a teacher for the approach play, and a teacher for the putt. That's three specialist coaches for one player. In football, one coach looks after 25 players.
Football is about having the best offensive play possible. I always like to play offensive football, and nobody will convince me otherwise.
Sports do not build character. They reveal it.
Home plate is 17 inches wide, but I ignore the middle 12 inches. I pitch to the two-and-a-half inches on each side.
A lot of black guys always ask me, 'Did Larry Bird really play that good?' I said, 'Larry Bird is so good it's frightening.'
Football is a vocation and an opportunity for ministry. But it's not a life.
I don't look at football as a violent, barbaric sport. It's a very spiritual sport, especially for someone facing the challenges during a game: the fear of failure, the fear of getting too big an ego, of making a mistake and everybody criticizing you.
I think I could describe the perfect quarterback. Take a little piece of everybody. Take John Elway's arm, Dan Marino's release, maybe Troy Aikman's drop-back, Brett Favre's scrambling ability, Joe Montana's two-minute poise and, naturally, my speed.
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