The thread for Ruud Gullit

Adding to this, such a contentious choice was (and is) the Van Gaal call of 2014 to leave Van Dijk at home (he was 22 then, turning 23 during the World Cup). He preferred the older Ron Vlaar, with De Vrij, Blind and (if necessary) Nigel de Jong as his deputies. Ron Vlaar was older and more experienced.

When you look at things like Castrol Index or Sofascore (with De Vrij also in the 'official' team of the tournament) it is hard to argue Van Gaal was fundamentally and clearly wrong. Vlaar was captain of Aston Villa, in Whoscored always one of the best rated players of his club team and at the World Cup foreign pundits made (absurd) comparisons with Ruud Krol, Bobby Moore and the rest of the roll call. He is rated 8.8 and MOTM against Argentina in the semi-final; to give an idea how high that is (and yes, Sofascore at CL level I'd call quite dubious), Cannavaro vs Germany and Italy in 2006 had an 8.0 in both.

De Vrij had done well at Feyenoord and was at under-21 levels often ahead of Van Dijk in the pecking order. It does not help Van Dijk had a major illness around the age of 20 and he is also born quite late in his cohort (this is not an iron law, but you see an underrepresentation there and it can even out when you are in the early 20s). De Vrij was born several months earlier (he is half a year younger than Van Dijk but born earlier in his cohort) and fell right within the Feyenoord scouting area (cf. Kluivert vs Van Nistelrooij - born on the same day and one hour apart).

Furthermore, the Van Dijk of Celtic and Southampton was a more pro-active and aggressive defender (in my view still excellent, with a lot to mention in support of this idea) as around the time when he came close to Messi in the Ballon d'Or. Before 2014 you had on tape him scoring dribbling goals from the halfway line, some Champions League matches and the free kicks. If Van Gaal felt it was like flipping a coin, it is not strange that he went with the older player who had been a proven 'leader'.

Needless to say (probably you had already guessed where this is going to), you can think of something similar about Baresi but *I think* it is pretty clear how Gullit (and Sacchi) his arrival provided a spark and fastened some processes. Milan players could show and demonstrate they played and functioned at a high(er) level rather than this capability being assumed (which is in many, many cases not 'wrong').

edit: you can also think Scirea shouldn't have played at the 1986 World Cup and maybe Baresi (or someone else) had deserved his chance at an earlier point.

 

Thank you!

 

Yes - here specifically from 3:18 onward. It is worth listening to.


I also think though that he was by 1992-1993 maybe smart enough to see where AC Milan was going to, where Capello was going to. 'We' have seen how the 1992-93 season was covered in the press here and with the idea of "two world beating XI", two XIs of equal quality and whether that worked well (per the media over here). Maybe he had heard things from Gullit, Rijkaard and Van Basten as well when they met for the national team.

Before/after euro 1992 I think he decided to leave the Eredivisie in the summer of 1993. The decision for Inter was made in February 1993. The intermediary/liaison Mino Raiola (there we have him, the pizza entrepreneur from Naples) said around that time in the media that Milan immediately bounced back to the old style now Van Basten is out. And it is not like Sacchi's Milan played with three or five forwards or so (Gullit has very often told the anecdote how he wanted to score more team goals, more than Sacchi wanted, that after the 1-0 Gullit wanted more and more).

He would be 24 years old by then (b. 10 may 1969). He had - so to say - completed football (domestically). Many tend to overlook what he achieved/won before the summer of 1993. He scored 16 goals in his first 26 national team games (without penalties), including goals in competitive games against elite teams like England or Germany (or two vs Italy in the first half in a friendly). Joint Euro 1992 topscorer, three times league topscorer (with Romario also in the league), three UEFA finals with Ajax (won two), 9 goals in 19 European games as a forward. Many pretend his career only started in 1994 or so. At the age of 24 it was time for something else (and higher paychecks).

 

Also see this now (04/10/2022)


Best player you have played with:

Edson Braafheid: "Van der Vaart sits next to me so I should say him... no, I'd say Van Persie everything considered."

Youri Mulder: "In the national team, and I didn't play very often there [he scored once an important goal vs Belarus - PvH] I think Bergkamp. At club level Andreas Möller [more than Olav Thon].... yes, I keep it at Möller."

Van der Vaart: "If you have played with Ronaldo you are almost obliged to say Ronaldo but Guti was the most remarkable. He was strange and crazy but I could see and learn some tiny bits from him. Another way of doing things."

Van Basten: "Johan Cruijff"
--- Host: "By a distance I suppose?"
"Well... Gullit at his finest also excellent. Then Rijkaard, Baresi. The national team is much harder to say."

 

In addition, Inter 'promised' him and Jonk to play more like Barcelona. This never happened. They went through four managers within two years. Milan was naturally not the team to make such guarantees.

He had already played with Van Basten and Rijkaard before. Both at club level and country level.

In the documentary Wiliam posts above he says Hoddle and Van Basten were players he looked up to when he was a youngster. His favorite foreign club was Tottenham Hotspur, not Arsenal (any Feyenoord supporter should say now)

You can see a cameo of him here below, when he was 17 and Van Basten was captain of Ajax. Rijkaard also plays obviously.

Him rejecting Milan makes sense, in more than one way.

More intriguing is him rejecting Bayern Munich and Manchester United. The clubs Inter negotiated with in 1995, and the end of 1994. His agents too.


(for ex. 8:20 until 8:40 - that was only his fourth game as starter in his career)

 

I don't know what was in Gullit his coffee but he is now surprisingly mild mannered in his judgment. Though it was always important to know this line by him: "I wouldn't have criticized him so much if I didn't think he was a top player" (18 march 2024). Many often forget this.

+ Since then, the late 2020 injury, you can think he has actually become gradually a fraction more aggressive again. "but the fact that the Dutchman still ranks among the top 7% of centre-backs across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for carries (57.79) per 90, as per FBref, suggests that his athleticism and robustness remain at an impressive standard." (source)

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01/12/1994 (Nieuwsblad van het Noorden) Gullit once again the great absentee in the Club World Cup final

MILAN - Ruud Gullit is once again the great absentee in Tokyo. AC Milan is currently in the Japanese capital for the fourth time since 1989 to claim the world title and the Amsterdammer is always central in the Japanese previews. Gullit was only actually present once, but this time too AC Milan is depicted on the posters by the world-famous dreadlocks. The transfer to Sampdoria embarrassed the organizers, as Gullit was initially considered the only star of this duel
For AC Milan, the trip to Tokyo is a routine job. However, this time it is different from the previous editions. The match is now not played on Sunday, but on a Thursday evening (in the Netherlands on Thursday morning at eleven o'clock). The entire winter program of the European champion is turned upside down by this duel.
Two league matches have to be set aside for it, which is revolutionary by Italian standards. In addition, AC Milan no longer makes such an unassailable impression as a few months ago due to the blows of Ajax. The players can distance themselves from their weak start to the season in the Far East. The world title can make up for a large part of the football year.
This AC Milan without any Dutch input can become the first European club after the great Ajax (1972) to become national, European and world champion in one calendar year. The Italians are taking into account that this duel could be the last trick of the great Milan. The club management, but also trainer Capello and the players, therefore attach great importance to this trophy, which AC Milan has already won three times before. A fourth world title even gives the club a new prestigious record.
AC Milan mainly stands for wealth, splendor and pomp, the opponent is made of the same stuff. Velez Sarsfield is a modest club from the poor Liniers district of Buenos Aires. In one and a half years, the club has worked its way up from the gray middle group of Argentine football to the global top. Coach Carlos Bianchi is almost single-handedly responsible for this. Two years ago, the former player from France, where he built up a solid reputation as a top scorer in the seventies, returned to lend a helping hand to his 'old love'.
The inexperienced team made a bold bid for the Argentine title and succeeded immediately. In the tournament for the South American championship (the Copa Libertadores), Velez Sarsfield was, with some luck, too strong for Cruzeiro (with Ronaldo), the Colombian champion Junior Barranquilla (with Valderrama) and in the final, defending champion Sao Paulo.
The last two obstacles were overcome by taking better penalties. Velez's most important player is the goalkeeper Chilavert from Paraguay. His most surprising quality is scoring goals from penalties and direct free kicks. He is also a master at provoking the opponent, who has to take a penalty. If it comes to such a conclusion in Tokyo, the Argentines are the favourites. AC Milan has been warned.

https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:011005256:mpeg21:a0296

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As previously noted and shared, Berlusconi explicitly wanted to emulate the 1970s Ajax' their successes (31/03/1993) - Milan didn't win the national cup in 1993 and 1994:

'Milan lacks the inspiration of the true champion'
[...]
"Winning is not enough for Berlusconi, he wants Milan to go down in football history with golden letters. Hence the new record of 58 unbeaten matches. That is also why the team bet on a 'Grand Slam' at the start of the season: national champion, national cup, European Cup, World Cup and Super Cup. Only Ajax of the seventies has managed that before, and Berlusconi had put a hefty bonus on it if Milan were to equal this. But Vujadin Boskov's AS Roma put a stop to that,
and Berlusconi was sporting enough afterwards to go to the changing rooms and compliment Roma."
https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=KBNRC01:000030708:mpeg21:a0132


05/12/1994 (Algemeen Dagblad) - Conversation with Cruijff

From our correspondent Barcelona - [National team coach] Guus Hiddink will contact the Cruijff family in January about the possible availability of Jordi Cruijff for the Dutch national team. The new national coach said this today in an interview with the Spanish newspaper ‘Marca’. “At the moment I do not want to get involved with the Dutch national team,” said Hiddink. “But from 1 January I will definitely talk to Jordi Cruijff. He has developed well. I do not find it strange that the Spanish national coach is also after him.” Hiddink rules out a return of (ex-)internationals such as Rijkaard, Gullit, Koeman and Van Basten to the Dutch national team. “Although everyone would be happy with someone like [the current] Koeman, I will continue with the youth. I am betting on the new generation.”
https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=KBPERS01:003125004:mpeg21:a00121



05/12/1994 - Gullit's leading role in derby against Genoa

(From our sports editor) CREMONA - Ruud Gullit was the absolute star in the derby Sampdoria-Genoa (3-2), although he did not score. The absence of John van 't Schip was striking, who, to the anger of many, sat on the bench and only came on for Ruotolo after 65 minutes. The former Ajax player had been a star in recent weeks.
In Van 't Schip's place, the Japanese Miura played, who provided a novelty. His goal after thirteen minutes was the first of Japanese make in the Serie A. But there is another side to the story. Evil tongues claim that Kazu Miura was selected for commercial reasons. Japanese sponsors are said to have demanded that he was in the team. The match was shown live on television in Japan. After Miura's 0-1, Vierchowod and Lombardo ensured the turnaround in the atmospheric match of Genoa before half-time. Seven minutes before the end, Maspero scored from a free kick to make it 3-1. Galante made it 3-2.
Inter moved into shared seventh place with seventeen points from twelve matches after the victory over Cremonese. That is ten less than leaders Parma. This team proved itself a worthy title candidate by beating promoted Brescia 4-0. Crippa, Zola (2) and Dino Baggio scored. The best match in Serie A was Juventus-Fiorentina. The champions of Serie B took a 2-0 lead through Baiano and Carbone. In a hellish final phase, Vialli equalised (73rd and 76th minutes). Two minutes before the end, Del Piero made it 3-2. He is the disciplined replacement for Roberto Baggio and is considered the best young forward in Italy [b. 9 november 1974 - PvH].

07/12/1994 (Het Parool) Hegel but not Gullit in encyclopedia

THE American computer company Microsoft recently launched the new version of its multimedia encyclopedia Encarta. The CD-ROM disk contains a surprising amount of content: over 26,000 articles, more than 8,000 illustrations, eight hours of sound and music, and over a hundred cartoons and videos. According to Gerrit Bergsma, responsible for the marketing of Microsoft home products in the Netherlands, Encarta contains as much text as a 29-part encyclopedia. A small sample shows that Encarta does not quite stand up to the comparison. The Winkler Prins contains 90,000 peer-reviewed articles.
[...]
A disadvantage for the Dutch user of Encarta is its focus on the American market. Not that there is nothing about the rest of the world, even Heerlen and Tilburg are (extensively) included in the encyclopedia. But Dutch sports heroes such as Cruijff and Gullit are untraceable. American athletes fare much better. According to Bergsma, it is a difficult and expensive task to publish a Dutch version. "Translating the text is not enough. Much more information about the Netherlands will have to be included in the English version. Perhaps it can be done in collaboration with a Dutch publisher of encyclopedias, but there are no concrete plans for that."
[..]

 

I've already said enough about The Athletic, The Guardian, Kuper, Wilson (and others) in the past. How they cover football and drag the non-football stuff into this. I also find lists like the 1994 Ballon d'Or and 2024 Ballon d'Or incredible (2024 means the first semi-finalist ever without a nomination).

Or the behavior of England fans, which is really worse than most other West-European countries. Argentina fans during the 2005 Youth World Cup (the one with Messi) is also a story.

I have also said enough about stuff as how the Italian referee decides to save Jonathan Tah for the remainder of the first half (he was already in trouble after 24 minutes, when he received his yellow card after the sixth foul - he could have seen a straight red too) and then he said/hinted to Nagelsmann at half-time that he has to be replaced. It cannot go on. Said Nagelsmann himself, who a day earlier dared to suggest the Italians favored Holland. Then writing stuff about how bad Holland has become in football (this overview since 1992 was 100% correct), yet also shamelessly always dividing the increasing Champions League money among the cartel elite - with guaranteed entry - while we see very little of this.

-------------------------------------------------

I don't know though how widely shared the 'pre-conceptions and anger' is across all countries in the world. If we take the most influential country in the world, the USA (let's be honest, they are the reason why I am typing in English now), then apparently Yougov shows this for their most liked countries. It shows us 9th (70%). 23% is neutral and 6% says 'dislike' (Belgium: 57 positive, 34 neutral, 5 negative). Taking into account a margin of error that will mean only the USA 80% (themselves), Italy 74%, Canada 72% and Ireland 72% are ahead. It is similar to Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and Iceland. It seems implausible to me though that one percent more Americans know our country than the UK; and one percent more knows Russia (100%) than their own country at 99%

https://today.yougov.com/ratings/travel/popularity/countries/all

You also see conservatives, of the non-MAGA type, at times showing appreciation. They maybe know this background about the Declaration of Independence.

Gelukkig nieuwjaar to the people of the Netherlands, whose contribution to the history of freedom in the modern world is underrated. https://t.co/AEe3ehLDwv

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) December 30, 2023

At times, throughout the years, it has led Dutch (!!) scholars to write highly critical reflections. For example:

"The story of the Dutch Revolt against foreign domination and the ensuing self-government by ordinary, that is to say, non-noble citizens has often been told. It has always attracted attention from authors everywhere. This story was certainly not framed as a history of democracy from the start, but it helped that the fighters for American independence of the late 18th century looked back at the Dutch Revolt as ‘our great example’ and ‘a proper and seasonable mirror for the Americans’ (Benjamin Franklin).
[...]
Thus, it does not come as a surprise that John Keane writes about the (early modern) Netherlands in his original, impressive and comprehensive history of democracy.9 However, the reputation of liberalism, combined with some isolated texts about democracy, seems to have prompted him to paint an overly rosy picture of early democracy in the Netherlands. The Abjuration was certainly not ‘the first ever modern transition to representative government in the name of democracy’ (my italics). It is even doubtful that it happened in the name of ‘the people’, but even if it did, that was not the same."
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1611894419835747

When you talk about the country in general (and let's keep in mind that the so called Golden Age had only 1.5 million people; around 1900 countries as Sweden and Belgium had a higher population), and excluding what the football media makes of it, I think there are two main issues:

1) Amsterdam and Holland is not the whole country. Similarly, Ajax football is not the same as Dutch football. Amsterdam is even relatively small compared to most European capitals. London or Paris (or Stockholm, Vienna) is a much larger population share within their own countries. Indeed, you can ask yourself what is 'liberalism'? Orthodox Christians finding a place might be called liberal, in the same way as gays in pink dresses parading through Amsterdam is liberal. Amsterdam is Havana at the Amstel.

2) They don't come further than a few painters. They may know about some novelties or inventions (even the 20th century like the Compact Disc and DVD, or Bluetooth), certain institutions that other countries took over, but linking it to names is much harder (the Great Man theory of inventions and discoveries is a flawed one, even with Einstein a thought like this is possible). Suggestions that the wealth of that time came through slave trade is ridiculous (again: serfdom and slave-holding was banned within the Republic itself, the world share was never higher than 5% and it was a time when almost all surrounding countries used forced conscription, press gangs, for the armies). Many also erroneously believe our flag is a copy of the French flag (no, it is not).




When it comes to the country as a whole I am far from sure, but again, naturally people have a distorted picture and Anglosaxon history also bends it in a certain way (emphasizing things, leaving out other things). That's with French and German history no different.

It is the same as the idea that computers, data and football started in England while Norway in the 1990s was called 'computer football' (they beat Brazil with it in a few games), Lobanovsky and USSR modelled players, Netherlands did some things as well and had for euro 1988 a databank with penalties (it contained 2000 foreign footballers).

 

I don't know about this. He's often critical, yes, and has also said stuff as that VvD should focus on his own football (as if Gullit himself was a 'win at all costs' player). That Van Dijk is not a leader. I find that bordering on touching someone's character without knowing/saying what a 'leader' is for you. How can someone prove that he is? 'Leadership' equals screaming and cursing around?

They are both for a part Surinamese; Gullit did say once it is now much easier for them then when he was a child and other blahblah. That it was so much more difficult for a colored person in the 1970s. Sounds like Archie Bunker complaining about the 'youngsters of today having it easy' but there is maybe some truth to it:




"According to Save the Children, 4.3 million children in the UK, or 30 percent of all British children, are in relative poverty. A child is said to be living in poverty if they live in a household with an income below 60 percent of the median income, according to UK charity Child Poverty Action Group. In the Netherlands, 12.7 percent of children lived in poverty as of 2021." (the UN says 13.5 in 2021 - it has probably decreased since)

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/9/5/why-are-uk-teens-the-least-happy-in-europe
https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/aug/29/uk-teenagers-low-life-satisfaction-europe

Gullit also indicated, and I am more sympathetic to this stance, that when the hypothesis is 'he is maybe the best Oranje defender in history' that you don't only look for confirmation.

This week he has been surprisingly mild. After the Germany match it is now "he is the world's best defender, who was this at the age of 33? [...] He has really played a lot isn't it?". I listened to half of the episode.

Jack van Gelder (the commentator of the Argentina '98 goal) said in June - and he is the real Archie Bunker nowadays (aged 73) - this. In this case I think he has a point.

"Yes, there is criticism for Frenkie de Jong. Gullit is doing those things for some time. It reminds me of Johan Cruijff, when he was a commentator. In the past he paid attention to the players who had added value, something extra. Bergkamp, Seedorf, Van Bommel, Van Nistelrooij, we know them. Gullit also does that now. He challenges him in an often positive way. He thinks De Jong can do a lot more than he shows. In his national team games he has not scored a lot of goals. He drops deeper, is often deployed in the last line, as center-back. But he is a fantastic footballer who has added value and who - Sneijder knows this like no other - can play out a man so that you get outnumbered situations. He has some specific abilities, carrying the ball in midfield, that very few footballers in the world have. As I see it, Gullit sees it now as his turn. He himself has seen it when he was a footballer himself, Cruijff is no longer among us, there is a void, and yes, then someone else has to do it. Someone as Gullit. I think it is that."

 

One of the things Gullit mentioned is that FDJ is now the best paid player in European football. According to Fbref, Gullit is correct in this (is Fbref correct?). The salary from the club, this means. Not the additional income. This is for a part because of deferred wages during corona. That he can play football (the 'scan professor' is a fan) is I think hard to doubt. He can also play well as center-back, yes, even against elite teams (like many years ago vs Juventus with Barcelona).

He's vice-captain (2nd captain) now of the club, behind the goalkeeper.

"The Dutchman’s dressing-room status is clear from how highly other Barca players speak of him in interviews, regularly saying he is the player who surprised them the most in training in terms of his ability. He is another of the club’s longest-serving players at present and was named vice-captain of the Netherlands last year. Curiously, De Jong was named one of Barca’s captains a year after the summer of 2022 — when the club’s attempts to sell him to Manchester United were made very public. But De Jong enjoyed a fine season following that transfer window, forming an impressive midfield partnership with Busquets and gaining in stature in the dressing room."
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5759896/2024/09/12/barcelona-captains-ter-stegen-pedri-raphinha/

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(12/12/1994) - Lazio loses sight of title after loss

From our sports editor AMSTERDAM Lazio Roma has been eliminated as a contender for the Italian title after the 4-3 defeat at home to Juventus. The club from Turin took over the lead from Parma. Del Piero, Marocchi and Grabbi provided the production for Juventus, Rambaudi, Casiraghi and Fuser for the Romans. AC Milan won an away match in the national competition for the first time in more than nine months. 'It looks like we are on the way back', concluded coach Capello rather prematurely. The team that had managed to qualify for the quarter finals of the Champions League on Wednesday, owed its 3:1 victory at Foggia to two goals from Simone and one from Savicevic. At 0-2, Di Baggio scored for Foggia. Fiorentina defeated AS Roma: 1-0. The only goal, halfway through the second half, came from Roma defender Carboni who deflected a free kick from Rui Costa. Parma had a great advantage on the pitch of Genoa, which played without Van 't Schip, but saw no chance to express that in goals. The score remained 0-0. Zola missed the best chance of the match. Wim Jonk, who had been deployed as a libero at Inter Milan to replace the suspended Bia, made a name for himself by passing his own goalkeeper. He promoted a shot from Napoli attacker Buso to the opening goal. In the second half, Brazilian Cruz determined the final score at 0-2. Earlier, Sosa had missed a penalty for Inter. His shot was stopped by goalkeeper Taglialatela. Padova, the club of former Ajax player Kreek, did well in the relegation corner. They defeated Cagiari 2-1. The winning goal came in the final phase by Croatian Vlaovic. Sampdoria drew 0-0 at Brescia, the only team in Serie A yet to win a match. Gullit came closest to scoring, his shot going just wide.

(14/12/1994) - Gullit in farewell match

On 23 December, Ruud Gullit will play in the farewell match of Cameroonian international Joseph-Antoine Bell between a European star team and Cameroon. The great African star George Weah (Paris Saint-Germain), next to Basile Boli (Glasgow Rangers) and Marcel Desailly (AC Milan) will also be in action in this match. Bell retired from international football after the World Cup in the United States. Gullit has made agreements with Sampdoria about playing.



(19/12/1994) - Panic at Inter is complete

From one of our reporters Rotterdam - In Italy, panic at Inter is complete after the third consecutive loss with 2-0, this time against Lazio. The board of the Milanese club had to be protected by thirty riot police in the Giuseppe Meazza stadium against a horde of angry fans who attacked chairman Pellegrini and his men. Well before time, the most fanatic part of the supporters, more than 2000 strong, left the arena while chanting the name of Massimo Moratti, candidate buyer of Inter. The final score had already been reached before half-time by goals from Cravero and Fuser, which could not be prevented by Wim Jonk, who played the entire match. Dennis Bergkamp had already rushed to Amsterdam the day before, where he is being treated by Anthony Willems for his lingering groin injury with the approval of the board. Once again it has become clear that playing without Bergkamp only increases the problems.

Parma won 2-1 at Bari and took over the lead from Juventus, who still have a game to catch up. The old lady lost the win against Genoa (1-1) in the penultimate minute. Galante then cancelled out Ravanelli's opening goal. Sampdoria were in fine form against Cagliari, who were already 4-0 down at half-time. It eventually became 5-0, Ruud Gullit scored the second and third goals. He felt at ease at Sampdoria. Attilio Lombardo was the most celebrated performer. He made it 1-0 after a very subtle movement of his foot and enabled Mancini to score the fourth goal. The European Cup winner Sinisa Mihajlovic has become a center-back out of necessity. Padova, Michel Kreek's team, missed their suspended defenders Balleri and Lalas in the relegation duel with Reggiana (3-0). In Reggio Emilia, Padovano (!), twice, and Esposito took advantage. Roma and Milan finished as they had started.

(this was Gullit his last competitive game of this calendar year)

 

Re: Cruijff and Van Nistelrooij - I see that he responded in his column. This time not ghostwritten but done by himself (november 2007). He mentioned Gullit.

As noted here:
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/a...ers-this-century.2131536/page-4#post-42503909

The response was (December 2007 - Nummer 14 magazine):

"There has been quite a commotion about my statement that I don't think Van Nistelrooy is such a good footballer. It surprised me. I would like to elaborate on that.

What I meant by that was that he has technical shortcomings, if you are talking about pure top players. Think of Ronaldinho, but also less flashy players as Ruud Gullit and Jari Litmanen (the all-time topscorer in Europe for 'my' club).

It was always my belief that beauty and results should go together. Metaphorically I want to die with this opinion. Also for the results however players as Michael Essien or Robin van Persie are a bit more valuable. Not twice as good, but the difference exists.

In that respect, Van Nistelrooij cannot be compared to Thierry Henry, for example. As the serial topscorer from Brabant said himself. But that is not bad at all, because Van Nistelrooij simply scores. From inside the box and now at Madrid also outside the box. With a strong first touch.

That is an extremely good quality that you should cherish. It is even the case that the worse Real Madrid plays, the more often Van Nistelrooy scores. Because if a team plays less, you go back a bit further and there is room for Van Nistelrooy. A lot of excellent footballers lack the quality that he has.

That is why I also think that Van Nistelrooy should simply play as a striker for the Dutch national team. At euro 2008 he has to play. He will combine well.

I did not mean my remarks about him at the time to be negative at all. The comparison with Gerd Müller is a compliment. From the bottom of professional football, finishing dead last, to the top of the Champions League is impressive. Many so called 'nice weather footballers' will get stuck somewhere along the road. But there you go again, a lot of observations are misinterpreted. That he only scores tap-ins was never said.

Kind regards,

H.J. Cruijff, Barcelona"

Example today (who played vs Bosnia as number nine but not Germany).

https://t.co/7rzxJhaxQg

— 𝙀. (@jnevesera1) September 14, 2024

 

Gullit had played his last game of the year 1994. What can be noted is that he created goals in each debut match. Sampdoria 1993, Milan 1994 (in the supercup and league) and then Sampdoria again in 1994.

Sampdoria didn't do as well in 1994-95 but I think it is possible to see this as Gullit his most underappreciated season in his career, although it is not his best. Although football is more than this, he is (when excluding penalties) still high up in the scorers and creators charts. Some public relations disasters - such as his face used for the 1994 Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo - maybe did not help for his average grade. He had later on, in 1995, a notable game against the Parma of Zola.

As posted before:

No Orange near the top [NRC]
Guus van Holland, 27 December 1994
[...]
Our 'national ambassador' Ruud Gullit is back at Sampdoria and still scoring and doing his stuff as usual. Then I am shocked when I see the election results of the European footballer of the year and the world's best footballer of the year.
[...]
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/the-thread-for-ruud-gullit.2130952/page-24#post-42506076

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20/12/1994 - 'Dennis should leave Inter'

By Peter Kuyper Milan - Vujadin Boskov knows the mentality of the Dutch top footballers in Italian service like no other. That is why the top coach, who joined Napoli in November, can sometimes allow himself a harsh judgement on the often controversial performance of Dennis Bergkamp, Wim Jonk, Ruud Gullit, Aron Winter, John van ’t Schip and Michel Kreek. “If I were in Bergkamp’s shoes, I would leave Inter immediately,” says the 65-year-old Slovenian, who was coach of FC Den Haag and Feyenoord in the mid-1970s. "I can speak freely."
[...]
"Jonk is also disappointing according to Inter," Boskov continues. "But he is technically and tactically perfect. Only physically a little less. He is slow in his first steps. That is why he should always play in a central role in front of the defense. But that does not happen. The fact that Jonk does not produce the expected results is not his fault. I assure you that Bergkamp and Jonk would be at the top in Europe if I were the coach of Inter. The criticism of Cruijff's assistant Tonnie Bruins Slot and his conclusion that Bergkamp and Jonk have failed to pass the test in Italy is nonsense. Jonk plays at the World Cup against Brazil and the later stages of the UEFA Cup, which is his real ability.
[...]
According to Boskov, Gullit has made two big mistakes recently. He should never have returned to Milan and the Dutch national team. "If you are divorced from a woman, you should never go back. I am convinced that the Dutch team would have performed much better in America with Gullit. It doesn't matter which team he plays for, Milan, Sampdoria or the Dutch team, every opponent is busy with Gullit. Corner kicks, counter-attacks, through-balls, you have to think about Gullit. Also now he is thirty-two years old. In your country they see the pomposity, the drama and smoke around him, but he is really one of the outstanding figures during the golden age of Italian club football. That's why I'm surprised that Dick Advocaat didn't intervene and used everything he had. He completely misjudged it."

"Aron Winter is, in my opinion, the best North-European footballer in Italy now. Always at least a six. Just as Gullit he is a lovely person. He is also lucky, because their new coach Zdenek Zeman [since summer 1994] lets his team play a kind of Ajax football; nice and attacking. We recently played against Lazio Roma, a candidate for the league title. Unbelievable, what a player Winter was on the day! Molto forte, very powerful, and he also scores. There is one problem at the club. The game is completely geared towards Signori and Boksic. The coach should take Winter into account a bit more. That guy has sudden movements. A very hard shot. Never stands still on the field. In that respect, Winter is the ideal player for Inter and the incoming Moratti."

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This was indeed a good rated season of Winter in the press, although the next one (1995-96) more so
https://www.dbscalcio.it/sn-schedaC...omePlayer=Winter&dataNascitaPlayer=01-03-1967

I don't see 1994-95 ratings on this website (@Krokko?) but there is from halfway 1995-96 (with goalkeeper Tagliatela of Napoli and Weah on top and then Winter)
https://football-ratings.blogspot.com/2013/01/today-17-years-ago-top-rated-players.html