I meant to post this yesterday on the seventh anniversary of Johan Cruyff's death. However, being one day late makes no difference.

He was the player I admired the most. All the greatest players had that something special about them. Something that made them stand out. With Cruyff it was his elegance, his grace. He looked like you'd imagine a method actor would play the role of a great but difficult footballer. Everything he did on the pitch bore the hallmark of supreme class.

Cruyff was the heart and brain of Total Football. He was far more than a captain; he did what his manager would have done had he been on the pitch. A general, a leader, a tactician.

That he went on to become a great manager was no surprise.

RIP Maestro

If you haven’t already read the Barca book by Simon Kuper - please do. I wasn’t interested in all of it but the Cruyff bits are fantastic. So many similarities to our team as well.

There are few players who have influenced the game the way Cruyff has. He influenced Guardiola, who has influenced the world of football with playing out from the back, Cruyff as a footballer was before my time, but he is such an important figure in football.

If my memory serves me well, maybe Rinus Michels was the coach that inspired Cruyff. He is certainly the name first associated with the term 'total football '.

One of the best.

Going off on a slight tangent, one of our very own has influenced football massively, and rarely gets mentioned.

Jimmy Hogan.

Extract from wiki