Johan Cruyff: “Real Madrid is obsessed with Barça and they’ve crossed the line”

Johan Cruyff gave a mammoth interview to El Peridico in which he discussed topics such as Rosell’s presidency and Barca under Guardiola. Yesterday we presented you part of the interview. Here is the concluding part in which he looks at Real Madrid’s changed avatar under Mourinho and also shares his views on the new signings. The original can be found here. The first part can be read here.

From his retirement place, in El Montanyà, Johan Cruyff contemplates Pep’s Barça with pleasure. He is happy that his student has already mastered the art he created about two decades ago. His vision of football is still alive in the current team, and more so, it is getting perfected by thay young skinny man he discovered in the Mini Estadi one day, ignoring those voices that said he wasn’t good enough. Cruyff once gave his blessing to Pep as the new coach appointed by Laporta and Txiki, opposing a lot of people who wanted Mourinho. So he is delighted to talk about Pep and his team.

Pep is doing a fantastic job, he does everythin well.

Why?

From the football point of view, everything is going great. The currect success is a consequence of maintaining the same philosophy for years. But now I witness that the club is not only obsessed with winning silverware, but making money. The approach should be different. Last season, it seems money is the reason to exist for Barça. But I think that football must be the most important thing. Football does not exist to generate money, but just the opposite.

What do you mean?

I was saying that Pep is doing a great job because he isolates his team from the rest of things happening at the club level. They (the directive board) have a different view of things. We saw that in the pre-season, before the Spanish Supercup and the US tour. I know the club must take any chance to earn money, but there’s got to be a balance, training is needed and there’s got to be time to do that, and prepare the tournament properly.

Madrid also went on tour, but it seemed they were much more prepared to win that first title.

Perhaps people didn’t realize, but Barça took many risks. Guardiola knew. Luckily, everything went fine, but losing the Super Cup would have meant a big blow for the start of the season. And the chances of losing it were big because of that difference in preparation between both teams. Guardiola was very brave, he took big decisions and managed enormous risks, and it wasn’t easy, they were facing Madrid. But he said: “I will play them, no matter what happens”. And it worked. But it all has to do with the obssession about money. You have to collect, sure, but you also need time to get ready, to prepare. The balance was not right, at the begining of this season.

And what about the war-like atmosphere that surrounds the clasicos since Mou has arrived?

I have never seen anything like it. The situation has become very unpleasant. Mourinho? I have already talked about him in El Periódico, long time ago. I don’t need to repeat that. The problem seems more serious to me. Madrid has a responsibility as a big football team, and there are things that should not be allowed.

Why do you say that?

There are millions of children worldwide that are receiving a bad example, Madrid does not care about them. Since Valdano left, things have gotten much worse. You can say anything about Valdano, but he is a gentleman. Mourinho may be a good person in private and he is a very good coach, but he shows another face to the world. Madrid needs to  change this situation.

They don’t seem to.

Madrid is suffering of bad luck, bad luck of having this Barça side at such a great level. If Madrid played in another league, or another time, they would do great and win lots of silverware. They are a good team, but they haven’t found the way of defeating Barça yet. And if we discuss about tactics, then I can say I am a bit surprised. There are always some ways of defeating a team. What is worse for them, is that they always make the same mistake. But if they don’t know how to fix it, it’s much better for Barça.

I asumme you won’t tell me what it is..

Of course I won’t say! It’ their problem. I know Madrid can make excuses or justify things that have no justification, but the world does not share their vision. Beyond winning or losing, Barça has a clean image and Madrid’s… is not what it was. And besides, there is Mourinho… if players are submitted to a coach like him, someone that causes trouble every day, what can they do? I mean, how some players react…

You are talking about Casillas, Xabi Alonso…

I speak in general. When you see them acting the way the have in the past games, you think “these are not them”. I guess they think the same, once the game is finished… They’re like between a rock and a hard place. What can they say? That they do not agree with the coach? They can’t. Mourinho’s attitude does not only affect his own image but his players’ reputation as well.

In one of your articles in El Periódico, you said that Florentino’s soul is inside Mourinho’s body.

It’s true. Being a president does not only mean to lift trophies. It also involves taking tough decisions. That’s his job. It is not always nice. Madrid has been a huge club for so many years, thanks to their style, their behaviour..and it’s been huge in Spain and the world. But they are losing their prestige with each passing day. They are obsessed with Barça and they’ve crossed the line. And people here should understand that because it was the other way around, for many years. But we never reached these limits.

About the news signings, Cruyff says he is not surprised by the arrival of Cesc. “Not even when Guardiola used him as a “false” striker. He knows his players and always finds the best way for them to do their job. Cesc motivates the rest, nobody gets relaxed.”

About Alexis, he said, “Alexis is a brave kid. I liked him since his first game. And it was not an easy game, at the Bernabéu, facing a team that was much more prepared than Barça. Alexis works hard, he goes after every ball and does not only think about himself. That is the basic quality for this team, and what I like the most. It doesn’t matter if he scores or doesn’t, or he doesn’t complete a dribble. Now Barça has another player like Pedro, who chases every ball, or Messi, who is the best but also works hard for the team, or Villa, who runs all the time. They’re all honest people.”