'Guardiola's the best, he's taken over Cruyff'

'Guardiola's the best, he's taken over Cruyff'

Cruyf y Guardiola, en los tiempos del Dream Team
Cruyf y Guardiola, en los tiempos del Dream Team | Fernando Zueras

Koeman was full of praise for his former teammate

New Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman says his former teammate Pep Guardiola has become a better coach than their former mentor Johan Cruyff. 

In an interview in The Mirror, Koeman was very clear: “In my opinion, Pep is the best football coach in the world.”

And he reasoned: “The football he’s bringing is sensational and he gets the best out of every player. All his teams produce fantastic football. He’s done it at Barcelona, at Bayern Munich and now at City."

The Dutchman, authour of Barcelona's winning goal in the European Cup they won under Cruyff in 1992 and Pep's one-time teammate, continued: “I know his ideas about football probably better than anyone else. His ideas come, obviously, from the Cruyff philosophy at Barcelona. We both played under Cruyff and we both knew how adventurous that was."

“It was attacking football like people had never seen, with a central defender moving into midfield, wingers, a striker, a shadow striker, and always putting pressure on the opponents."

The Dutch coach added that Guardiola "has taken Cruyff’s ideas even more to the extreme. His tactical plans start with the keeper in the build up and his right and left-back become attacking players on the wings. He always has players on the inside and outside, and everywhere on the pitch he will create a situation with an extra man to combine with."

Ronaldo has no doubts that "the football Pep wants his teams to play is the most difficult there is at top level. It is fantastic to watch and I cannot underline enough how much we should all admire it.”