Talking tactics with Jordi Cruyff: Modern football is all about angles

A painting of Johan Cruyff dominates one wall in Jordi Cruyff’s Barcelona home, watching over his son. On another, a large television shows Real Madrid about to host Manchester City.

I’ve been invited to watch the game with Jordi who has been in football all his life and worked around the world. He played in Spain with Barcelona, Celta Vigo, Espanyol and Alaves; in England with Manchester United, Ukraine with Shakhtar Donetsk as well as Valletta in Malta. He also represented the Netherlands and Catalonia. As a coach or sports director, he worked in Malta, Israel, Cyprus, China and Ecuador before he returned to his home city, Barcelona, to become sports director of FC Barcelona for two years. Almost a year ago, he decided it was time to put family first for a year.

Cruyff’s just turned 50. He’s ready to go again. He’s done the good cop/bad cop role as the sports director enough for now and says: “I have the energy to coach again.”

But first, there’s the game at the Bernabeu, the first leg of a Champions League quarter-final between two giants of world football, and the second leg next week.

“I remember my first game at the Bernabeu for Barcelona. The stadium seems to go up forever,” he says. “You can feel the people on you. It’s loud, hot tempered and you feel that more when you go with Barca, less so with Alaves. Yet I’m not sure Madrid are even favourites [against City] in their own home.”

Within two minutes, City lead through a Bernardo Silva goal.

“Madrid won’t be happy with this. If you concede a goal from good play that’s one thing, but that was a poor goal. But Guardiola and City know with Madrid it’s a marathon.”

And so, it proves.

“That’s a foul in Spain, but not in the Champions League,” Cruyff points out one