in 1947 a baby was welcomed into his family who lived just five minutes away from ayak stadium it would be influenced by his father into falling in love with football when he turned well its dad would die of a heart attack just four years later he made his debut for iax his name was johan cruyff in his first season at iax they finished in 13th place the worst since the start of professional football the second time around i accident a revolution and what better man to start it than creep himself he worked his way up to becoming a regular in the team's lineup then he started scoring by march it get its first hat trick 25 goals in 23 games and just like that he had made iax league champions it win the league the next two years winning the best player in the league award both times as well the next year 1969 it would fail to win the league but it would make it to the final of the european champions cup but it would lose to ac milan despite the lack of success that year it would still win the best dutch player of the year in 1969 he would win the domestic double but the ear would be tainted as the netherlands would fail to qualify for the world cup only getting third place in their group behind poland and bulgaria the next season crew would bounce back despite starting the season with an injury to make that season even more iconic it would take on the number 14 in a time where it was not common for players to wear numbers that did not represent their own field position almost as a power move when he faced azmar that season he would score six goals against him as iax beat them eight to one in the european champions cup they would destroy everything they faced leading them to the final where they would beat panathinaiku's two-nil and become european champions despite kriv only scoring once that tournament he would win the ballon d'or as he had still been the most influential player for ayax as ayax maintained their dominance and battled their way to a second european final they would face inter crave scored twice to get the win as the newspapers announced that total football had come to take over as the defensive italian playstyle seemed to crumble in its presence krief would be this time the top scorer of the european champions cup with 5 goals that same year as you might imagine they also won the league and the cup to complete the travel despite all this success he'd miss out on the ballon d'or as beckon bauer would take it as west germany won the euros a competition in which the netherlands did not take part in in what would be his last season at ayax kriff made a point to live in greatness as they once again won the league and the european champions cup this time facing juventus in the final and griff won the ballon d'or the second time a feat which only alfredo di stefano had managed at the time it would be transferred to barcelona for 1. 2 million euros becoming the first ever player to be sold for more than a million which was even more impressive as the previous record was nearly half that no matter how much money that was at the time he certainly instantly proved that it was worth it in his first season it would lead barcelona to a five-nil win over real madrid and eventually the league title it had been almost 14 years since that at last happened kruef came into barcelona and with his total football philosophy and resurrected the catalan fighting spirits this same year he would score what was known as crypt's impossible goal while barcelona faced atletico madrid curry would have the ball crossed to him but that cross would miss that this was an aquaratic goal that even zlatan will be proud of but the most significant moment in kriff's career over these years would come as he took part in his first world cup where the netherlands would prove themselves seemingly unbeatable as they would qualify with 24 goals scored twice as much as belgium who got second place in the group as they advanced to the group stage they would face sweden uruguay and bulgaria still they would manage not to lose a single game and would take first place in the group back then the world cup took on a different format as there were four groups from which the two best teams of each would qualify to another group stage with only two groups and whoever topped those groups would have to face each other in the final the netherlands would beat all teams in their group with griff being top scorer but meanwhile the other group would face similar situation as west germany would also beat everyone despite this the netherlands would still seem like the strongest team as they only considered a single goal these two teams would face each other in the final the game would start with a penalty being awarded to the netherlands in the second minute which they would convert the opposite would happen just 23 minutes later as west germany converted one themselves in a world cup final the greatest players seem to show themselves but that day it wouldn't be grief or prove himself but gerd mullah would score the winning goal as west germany to comb the world cup trophy regardless the world of football would once again recognize chris's influence it was a new kind of footballer intelligent sharp resourceful and despite only earning 11 more points than beckenbauer it would be worth it his third ballon d'or becoming the first player to ever get three of them and the first player to win them consecutively it would play four more years at barcelona where he would ascend to becoming the biggest name in the club's history despite those years being relatively unsuccessful trophy wise as barcelona protested real's dominance their immense power would look impossible to overcome over those four years kriff managed three second place and a third place finish their most notable moment would come in second season there where barcelona would compete in the european champions cup and would beat everyone up till the semi-finals where they would lose on minimal margin to the mighty leads united our times have changed in 1977 he would retire from international football as his family would suffer a kidnapped attempt where gunmen invaded their house in the middle of the night they tied them and intimidated them there isn't much information of how the family managed to make it out safe but there are some rumors that kriff managed to escape and contact the authorities which led to the rescue of his family i couldn't find any information about whether or not the criminals were captured but what i can tell you is that the scare was enough to make proof not feel safe enough to leave the country as he says he was put under witness protection for months having all of his family accompanied by the police wherever they went and even having police officers sleeping in their own after leaving barcelona in 1978 he seemed to have retired even playing some exhibition matches with psg despite not signing for them but then a series of poor financial decisions which have been proposed to him by a con artist who was trying to scam him cruelty lost most of his money and was forced to come back to football it would sign for the los angeles aztecs his experience in the usa was very helpful to the development of his footballing philosophies later he would even admit that it was a mistake for him to retire at 31 as he still had a lot to give to the world of football in his season with the aztecs he would win player of the season and then he would switch to the washington diplomats it wouldn't be as successful there eventually leaving the club as he missed the start of the season as he was playing for ac milan as a guest player then he would play for levant in a spanish second division but he would face many issues with the managers and administration which would lead him to deciding to leave the club for good after all these issues he would decide to go back to where he knew he would certainly be happy ayax first it would only serve them as a technical advisor and as he came into the club they were eighth in the league but his advice would lead them to finishing second the next season he would join them and for the next two years he would lead iax to becoming league champions twice for some wild reason ayax decided not to renew his contract this angered grief who decided to join their rivals feyenoord in retaliation where he would join future ballon d'or winner ruth gullit and lead them to a first league title in 10 years the perfect way to show iex how much their success was owed to him it would announce his retirement as he won dutch player of the year for a fifth time it cannot be left and said that it would take on a managerial role after his retirement leading ayax and barcelona to major domestic success as well as leading barcelona to winning the champions league in the 1991-1992 season grief was the main reason for the rising popularity of total football this philosophy was based around the concept of formation fluidity in place of the traditional rigid player roles as well as the belief that bold possession was the ultimate factor in terms of what determines the team's dominance in a game chris dominance was often attributed to the combination of natural talent intelligence and love for the game van basten once said that grief and dominated every technical aspect of the game by the age of 20 so he was forced into developing the tactical side grief is by far the biggest innovator football has seen he defined the blueprint for modern football the amount of players and managers that attribute their style to griff's inspiration is astonishing croif represents a willpower and love for something can lead you to greatness getting into our ranking system he will first be judged on his finishing he was a fine finisher with some really impressive strikes and very prolific he gets an 8 out of 10. when it comes to play making that is not a bait whatsoever this man will earn a 10 out of 10.
when you have one of the most iconic football skills named after you that's when you know you're seriously good on the ball griff earns himself another 10 out of 10. in terms of speed and physicality he was fast and relatively tall but he had a slender frame which made it more difficult for him to enter in duels with other players he gets a 6 out of 10. lastly his mentality crave is arguably the most intelligent individual the game has seen and he gets another 10 out of 10.
now we will focus on his legacy in terms of consistency though he did disappoint a bit at barcelona as he only managed two domestic trophies there isn't much to blame him for as barcelona were underdogs back then and were a team in need of a rebuild and as everyone knows he cemented himself as one of the most significant players in the club's history that earns him an 8 out of 10. it was one of the most graceful players of the 1970s so in terms of flair you will learn a 10 out of 10. his trophy cabinet is very impressive but since most of his trophies were earned while he played for iax and he never managed an international trophy he will earn an 8 out of 10.
when it comes to longevity he helped his case by coming back from retirement but regardless it wasn't the same as he spent most of his time with iax this only gets them an 8 out of 10. the last attribute is the icon factor and well it's johan cruyff it made football what it is today every aspiring coach goes back and studies his work the most ballon d'ors behind messi and ronaldo a legendary player he gets the 10 out of 10.
