The thread for Ruud Gullit

Not now, but a (long) while ago. I don't think Van Basten missed many chances. He created two 'easy' tap-ins like you say. This was not the best phase of Gullit his career. He was better between 1985 - 1988 and mid-1991 to 1996 (1994-95 very underrated like I said/explained).

It is fine to be a bit more positive than me, usually it is the other way with people (they don't think our best goalkeepers, defenders, attacking midfielders, wingers, strikers etc. compare to the best of other countries) and it is also not like I do not rate Gullit. Since Gullit we've only had two players of his level I think (Belgium also two). Gullit played with others in the national team of his same level.

 

I really don't think so. Gullit had in his generation at least two others of his level in Rijkaard and Van Basten (Van Basten one tier higher in my view, and that's not just because of euro 1988). Since then there are Bergkamp and Robben. For Belgium Hazard and De Bruyne for me. There is also a case for Ronald Koeman maybe (sofascore has him in the team of the tournament for 1988, 1992 and 1994)

It's better to do a Bergkamp discussion elsewhere but he was 28 when the Champions League opened up to non-champions. He didn't have the chance before because the one time he became domestic champions the UEFA banned Ajax for a year.

As it stood in 1997, Bergkamp was 7th all-time in the UEFA Cup topscorers chart. Excluding penalties he jumps to fourth with three strikers ahead of him (and not too far ahead).

By the end of the 1999-00 season (had reached UEFA Cup final with three different clubs) he was 4th in the table, certainly 2nd without penalties and maybe even number one.

This is the competition, Maradona fans and others insist (and downbashers of the Eredivisie - until they see Twente, PSV, AZ reached UEFA Cup finals in the 70s), that was the strongest and the deepest of the three, until the expansion of the Champions League to three and four teams per country. That expansion in turn caused imbalances, and if Italian teams consistently crash out in the qualifiers then Agnelli lobbies for a certain entry anyway (guaranteed income), and it also causes privileged building up of experience for the happy few.

One half-fit Bergkamp in 1998 is still basically the 2nd best rated forward in Sofascore (and 2nd in combined goals and assists). Ahead of names like Rivaldo. In 1996 his rating is brought down enormously by the chances he missed... that's a valid point (and left the game injured vs France in quarter finals). Yet still some great moments, too...

Maybe to do this discussion here, though:
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/t...cussion-thread.1245347/page-105#post-42295322

 

Because the powers have been successfully scheming against us.

For example: just two days before the 1995 Champions League final the UEFA decided that if Ajax loses the final, they had to go through the entire preliminary/qualification phase. Rangers and Blackburn Rovers benefited and got automatic entry in the main competition. They changed the method to get the desired outcome. Under their old method Ajax had been an automatic entry, by virtue of becoming domestic champion and their club coefficient. But not for the first time 'the cartel' did a job on us (1973 another famous one; clear downgrade back to the level of Greece and Sweden, in spots and in money).

This is fact. 100% fact.

You can also see Krokko his collected ratings for instance (where a hitjob is done on our players, while we clearly played the best football in 1988, 1992 and a few other tournaments) or how Italy has an automatic four spots while previously they crashed out of the qualifiers consistently.

This means more (guaranteed) money, with guaranteed money tied to past trophies (legacy payments) and also building up experience for players at the highest level. Previously all countries had one or two teams all playing at the highest level so not a huge difference in building up valuable experience.

The European Commission has explicitly said that a euro final like 2004 is economically not sustainable. Not desirable.

 

Continuing here this series:

https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/the-thread-for-ruud-gullit.2130952/page-6#post-42371760

Ruud Gullit to remain at AC Milan

MILAN, MAY 8. Ruud Gullit has reached an agreement with AC Milan on a new one-year contract.

Spokespeople for the Italian champions reported yesterday that the Dutch international will sign a new contract in the course of next week. The almost 31-year-old attacker has scored and created several important goals for his club in recent weeks. Partly because of this, Berlusconi, the big boss of AC Milan, concluded that the player is still physically strong enough for at least another season of top football. Berlusconi had previously stated that he assumed that Gullit would stay. (ANP)



Form crisis not over yet; Milan shivering with nerves closer to the title

ROME, MAY 22. With a 1-1 draw away to Cagliari, AC Milan moved a step closer to the championship yesterday, but the team's crisis of form on the eve of the European Cup final is not over yet. Rijkaard and his team fought against themselves and trembling with nerves to drag out a point.

The only reassurance for coach Fabio Capello is that the team will look different on Wednesday in Munich against Olympique Marseille. Yesterday, four first-team players were missing: Van Basten and Albertini were slightly injured, Baresi and Costacurta were disqualified from playing. And Gullit was also in the stands with a slight but not serious muscle injury, but it is still uncertain whether he will be in the starting line-up on Wednesday.

Proud Milan were nervous. Pursuer Inter, who play Bryan Roy's Foggia at home on Sunday, have been closing in on them in recent weeks. As an exception, almost the entire selection, 23 men, had flown along to Cagliari to underline the importance of the match. Milan, now five points ahead of Inter and having played a match more, with two matches to go, could not afford to lose. But it was a close call.

After just three minutes, Francescoli, the smooth but dangerous Uruguayan forward of Cagliari, put the home team ahead. Milan lost their bearings. Hadn't Cagliari, who are fighting for a place in the UEFA Cup in seventh place, humiliated Torino 0-5 last week? Goalkeeper Rossi ran under the ball. Maldini, maybe also not fully fit, ran around swimming in thin air in place of Baresi. The otherwise balanced Rijkaard headed under the ball. Papin, the French striker who wanted to earn a starting place against his old club on Wednesday, was invisible and was substituted in the second half.

Milan were outplayed at times. But after half an hour Massaro, the unobtrusive, hard-working striker who has saved Milan so many times, equalised and Milan found itself a little.
Still, doubts remain as to whether there were too many changes this year. Due to the wide selection, injuries were dealt with without too many problems. But the team has changed composition so often that the wheels are no longer turning smoothly. Against the enthusiastic Cagliari, who smelled their chance for a historic victory, the Milan players regularly searched for each other. This probably contributed to the tense atmosphere in the match. Three Milan players and two Cagliari players received a yellow card, and five minutes before the end Evani and Festa were sent off with a red card because they had gone too far against each other. Milan flew back last night, but after this poor dress rehearsal they cannot rest assured about Wednesday's final.

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

https://football-ratings.blogspot.com/2012/11/memory-lane-milan-in-199293-european-cup.html

@Krokko - this is an entry from 12 years ago but where is Gullit? He played four matches too. Van Basten played five matches. It seems strange to me he's rated only four times.

Milan-Marseille in the sign of renewed encounters

MUNICH, MAY 25. Tomorrow night's European Cup I final in Munich between AC Milan and Olympique Marseille will be marked by renewed encounters. It will be a reunion of Papin with the club with which he made a splash, but above all a new rendezvous of the nouveau riche capitalism in top-level football, embodied in Europe by Bernard Tapie and Silvio Berlusconi.

Two years ago, the Italians and French also faced each other in the quarter finals. While the score indicated a rather hopeless position for Milan, Gullit and his team tried to force extra time behind the green table in the Velodrome stadium in Marseille by walking off the pitch when the lights went out. That attempt backfired. Milan were banned from European football for a year, and the responsible technical director Galiani was temporarily suspended from his duties. Olympique steamed towards the final in Bari, where they met Red Star Belgrade. The cup that Tapie so coveted went unnoticed by the multi-entrepreneur when the Yugoslavs took the penalty kicks better after a 0-0 final score.

Marseille will get a second chance tomorrow. Three players from the team that reached the final in '91 will probably be selected: Pele, Boli and Di Meco. It is typical of Tapie's impatience that he has been building a new team since '86. In doing so, he invested tens of millions of guilders in top players. Jean-Pierre Papin, Trevor Steven, Chris Waddle and Carlos Mozer left the southern French port city last summer. The 33-year-old German Rudi Völler, also known for the spitting incident with Frank Rijkaard at the World Cup in '90, and the Croatian Alen Boksic came in their place. The latter also played for Hajduk Split and Cannes. Boksic scored 21 times in the French league last season and six times in the European Cup tournament.

OM is still trained by the unyielding Belgian Raymond Goethals, now 72 years old, who has survived all the storms in recent years. Beckenbauer, Hidalgo, Ivic and this season Fernandez were sidelined after just a few months. Time and again, the Brussels native, who is present in the background as technical director, came forward to put Tapie's train back on track. His approach is not too Spartan and the French footballers like that. One time Goethals appears on the training field with a reddish-brown head of hair, the next time with a jet-black rinse. Goethals has been living in the Palm Beach Hotel in Marseille for three years. After the European Cup final, he will finally check out of there to devote himself solely to his passion, cards. Goethals has promised that he will then open up about the abuses and misdemeanors at Olympique. It is certain that he will denounce the practices of Tapie, who interferes with the line-up just as easily as the management of his companies.

Tapie wants Olympique to become the first French club to win a European Cup. It has become an obsession. In 1988 his dream was shattered by Ajax. Two years later the Belgian referee Van Langenhove ignored a goal scored with a handball by the Benfica player Vata and Tapie could whistle for the cup again. And in '91 his team came closest in Bari. Tapie has promised each player an additional bonus of 350,000 guilders if l'OM does win the Cup. That is a pittance compared to the "douceurtje" that Berlusconi's millionaires can expect. They can have 6.5 tonnes credited to their accounts if the third cup in five years is won.

If Milan misses out on the European Cup, Berlusconi's policy of winning everything there is to win with two equally strong star teams will have failed. Although Olympique is also on its last legs in the French league, the French are nevertheless encouraged by the downward performance curve of the Milanisti. In the last ten matches, Fabio Capello's team has only managed to beat relegated Ancona in the Serie A. In the European Cup, however, the results over the entire season are rock solid: ten wins with a goal difference of 23-1. Van Basten is still struggling with his ankle and Gullit is making desperate attempts in training to force a starting place at the expense of Papin. The Dutch trio, who scored all five goals in the two European Cup finals, can do Berlusconi a good service by trumping their French mirror image and counterpart.

Rijkaard leaves AC Milan

MUNICH, MAY 26. The hustle and bustle of being a star has prompted Frank Rijkaard (30) to end his stay at AC Milan, according to a personal friend of the footballer.

Rijkaard confirmed this morning in Lohhof, where the Italian champions completed their final training for the European Cup final against Olympique Marseille, that he had informed the club management at the end of last week that he did not want to extend his contract. Despite the offer that would have assured him of an income of four million guilders for at least another year. "It has been a wonderful period. Especially if we become champions again and win the European Cup on Wednesday," said Rijkaard. The intention was that the news would only be announced after the final.

Rijkaard has had enough of long training camps, the stress and turmoil at Milan and the lonely existence that are inherent to Italian top football. He is seizing the opportunity to stop at the height of his fame and powers. Rijkaard wants to wind down his career at a different environment. The names of Wenger's Monaco and Van Gaal's Ajax have been mentioned in Italian newspapers. The latter club is his 'childhood sweetheart'. This led to a break after a conflict with trainer Johan Cruijff. According to UEFA rules, Milan can ask a maximum amount of thirty million for the international. However, Rijkaard will be a free agent in September next year due to reaching the age of 32.
Rijkaard can say goodbye to Milan in style tonight with a European Cup and next weekend with the Italian title. Two years ago he helped the club to the coveted European cup by scoring the only goal in the duel with Benfica.

Gullit must watch in cup final

MUNICH, MAY 26. Ruud Gullit will be disappointed again tonight in the European Cup I final between AC Milan and Olympique Marseille. The Amsterdammer, who has fallen out of favour with the world's most expensive team several times this season, is not considered a fit for the final by Milan's coach Fabio Capello. Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard will play in the Olympic Stadium in Munich. They are the only foreigners in Milan's first team.

It is still the question whether Ruud Gullit will be allowed to sit on the bench or banished to the stands. Capello will weigh him and three other players for two places in the dugout. One of them is also Jean-Pierre Papin who, in the eyes of the coach, messed up in the league match against Cagliari. Milan, who, like Marseille, is supported by 25,000 fans, will now start with Van Basten and Massaro in the front. Donadoni will take Gullit's place on the right. Yesterday, the Milanese did not think it was necessary to train in the stadium where Bayern Munich plays its home matches. And that is tradition in the European Cup tournament.

Olympique Marseille has prepared for the clash of giants in a completely different way. The French have been annoyed as to whether Milan is taking them seriously, since Berlusconi's club only arrived in the Bavarian capital at the end of the afternoon yesterday. The Italians have made a habit of keeping their stay abroad as short as possible for European Cup matches. After all, it is good to be at the majestic Milanello.
[...]
A lorry has brought food and hundreds of litres of French mineral water from their own country.
Tonight will have to show whether that traditional, meticulously planned preparation will bear fruit. The Italians think they can impress the French with all their show of power. But whatever happens, Raymond Goethals has no illusions. “If Marseille wins, that is Bernard Tapie's success, if Marseille loses, that stupid Belgian did it.”

AC Milan lacks sharpness

MUNICH, 27 MAY. The Dutch trio of AC Milan is falling apart and, at the departure of at least Frank Rijkaard, has not been able to give club owner Silvio Berlusconi a third European Cup. Despite the coaching of Ted Troost, hired especially for the final. Ruud Gullit was in the stands in the Olympic Stadium in Munich, while Frank Rijkaard and Marco van Basten were unable to make their mark on the final against Olympique Marseille. Van Basten was, however, Milan's best attacker. He gave a few decent crosses, through-balls and shot a few times with a flash on Fabien Barthez's goal. However, he lacked the sharpness to beat the fierce French. In the final phase, Van Basten had to leave the field injured.

Frank Rijkaard was covered and shadowed in midfield by Franck Sauzee. The Amsterdammer did not look particularly inspired, but that must have been an illusion. In the second half he started playing closer behind the strikers. This put extra pressure on Marseille's goal. This did not result in any goals. Rijkaard hopes that Berlusconi will cooperate with him to start working for another club next season. His contract, which is expiring, does not specify a limited transfer fee. The amount he must cost is determined on the basis of his annual salary, plus a multiplication factor. In Milan circles Rijkaard has caused astonishment with his decision to leave Italy, because his body is still in good enough shape to last for years.

In the mainly physical and hardly technical European Cup final, however, that played no role. The chaotic play of Marseille, which was rarely caught in a good combination and therefore suffered a lot of loss of possession, nevertheless paid off with a lucky shot. Shortly before half-time, Boli, the son of a diplomat from Ivory Coast, headed a corner from Abedi Pelé into the net. The second half was predictable. The attacking Milan, powerless and apparently on its last legs, came up against a French fortress. The team kept the playing space very small and continued to hunt the ball fiercely. Before half-time, the offside trap occasionally caused dangerous situations, but with a different linesman, things went a lot better after that. In the first half, the Italians had wasted three chances through Massaro and that broke the team now. The damage could no longer be repaired.
Berlusconi had to draw the painful conclusion that his two equally star-studded teams can always be defeated by the power of a strong, fit and prepared formation.

Gullit puts an end to Oranje and AC Milan

MILAN, MAY 29. Being banished to the stands during the European Cup I final against Olympique Marseille has made Ruud Gullit realise that it is better to leave AC Milan. "I have decided to leave Milan," Gullit said yesterday. "The club's attitude towards me has changed. I am thinking Milan wants me to find another club."

Gullit is also ending his international career. He informed national coach Dick Advocaat of this yesterday evening. He believes it is the right time to give the new and good generation of Oranje a chance. The decision is unrelated to his substitution at Wembley against England, which he was quite angry about at the time. Gullit played for the Dutch national team for twelve years and has 65 caps to his name. The day of the decisions started yesterday for Gullit at Milanello. At one minute past twelve, Gullit entered the bar in the Milanello training centre. He overwhelmed the reporters with the remark: “You already know that Frank Rijkaard is looking for a new club. Hopefully he has also made enquiries for me. I am unconditionally ready for a change of atmosphere.”

Rijkaard announced earlier this week that he wanted to leave Milan. He said that after five years at the top of Italy he was ready for a different life, in a different environment. Gullit has been playing football in the northern Italian city for six seasons.
Coach Capello did not even grant Gullit a place on the bench during the European Cup final in Munich. As the fourth foreigner, he watched the 0-1 defeat against Marseille from the stands, with Papin in favor. Despite the fact that he was sidelined for a few weeks due to a slight thigh injury, he was able to play football in the Olympic stadium. Roberto Donadoni, his replacement on the right wing, delivered a poor performance.

"It's not true that I wasn't fit, I could have taken a place against Olympique. I've come to the conclusion that it's better to look for another club. It's the club's attitude that pushed me in that direction. The extension of my contract was really not a question of money, although the manner they did the last proposal was an insult," Gullit said in Milanello.
For Gullit, the coach's action of passing him was yet another pinprick. In the league this season, he started only thirteen matches, in which he scored seven times. At times, he felt humiliated by Capello. For example, that one time when he got on the bus for the journey to an away match and Capello asked him what he was doing. Hadn't they told Gullit that he didn't have to play at all? "I have the impression that Milan wants to get rid of me," said the international.
According to Gullit, there are no problems with chairman Berlusconi. "I have the highest respect for Silvio Berlusconi." Vice-chairman Galliani did not want to say anything about the continuation of the affair. "The club does not talk about expiring contracts." Gullit remained vague about his future plans. Unlike Rijkaard, who ruled out remaining active in Italy, Gullit leaves the possibilities open. "Everything is possible. I think this course of events is a pity for the supporters, who still like me to this day I think."
The Italian newspapers already reported that Bernard Tapie, chairman of Olympique Marseille, would like to sign Gullit. If Gullit and Rijkaard, for whom Milan can ask several million guilders, really leave, Marco van Basten will remain the only Dutchman at the national champion, who can defend the title on Sunday in the home match against Brescia. The Utrecht native recently signed a three-year contract. "The possible departure of Rijkaard and Gullit is a hard blow for AC Milan", said the striker. "In that case, we really have to make a new start again"



Milan celebrate title with departing Gullit and Rijkaard after draw

ROTTERDAM, 1 JUNE. Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard celebrated their intended farewell to the San Siro stadium with the Italian title. AC Milan drew their last home match of the season against Brescia (1-1). Inter lost 2-0 at Parma, which increased their lead to five points with one round to play.

The 82,000 spectators remembered the great moments of the Dutch. They rewarded the duo with enthusiasm. Rijkaard played from the start, Gullit was a substitute. He repeated afterwards that he really intends to leave Milan. "I will never forget this crowd, but I'm sorry, I have not changed my mind."

AC Milan played against Brescia, which is a candidate for relegation, in the style of the last months: moderate, with little tempo and surprise. International Albertini opened the score in the 82nd minute with a shot from a distance. A little later it was equal again, when defender Brunetti had the opportunity for a beautiful slalom.

Milan chairman Berlusconi gave the following reason for Rijkaard's departure after the match: "He is leaving the club because he does not feel able to maintain the level required for Milan." The midfielder himself stated last week that he is simply ready for something else, a new challenge where he can win trophies. "For Gullit, the question remains open. We will decide when the season is over," Berlusconi said. [...]

Addio

[Column] Even in the announced farewell, the autistic harmony with himself was not broken. He mumbled something about quitting Milan as if it was about someone else. Words like shadows in rhyme that fell from a mask of everydayness.

The elderly chronicler of La Gazzetta dello Sport wiped away a tear. The Cup had already been in Marseille and now this. In a glossy-covered notepad he wrote: "Addio Frenkie. Wherever you go, the camphor smell of mourning that now hangs over Milanello will continue to haunt you." After another grimace from the midfielder, somewhere between love and emptiness, the professional Italian lyricist shook his head even more sadly and continued in stern letters: "But remember Frenkie, you are a Rossonero for life. Wanting to forget only prolongs your exile." La Gazzetta: the only place on earth where heaven and hell meet daily in a haze of Adidas poetry with lots of melancholy and rosy. Everything is homesickness.

Back in the Netherlands I searched the newspapers for a beautiful ballad for the weary footballer who could no longer reconcile himself with the pain of winning. Vain hope. Nowhere a sentence, a word or a sigh that was seamlessly in line with the aristocracy of doubt. On the contrary, it was suggested here and there that the Milanese, driven by extreme greed, was playing a game of bluff poker. Character assassination of triple A footballer.

Admiration is stupid, of course. Footballers do not ask sports reporters to roll themselves out like snowberries at their feet. And even though, like the poet, they have lost the illusion that you can say things directly, they still want to be approached and understood as fully replaceable and normal people.
[...]
Judging by the news reports, no one here is concerned about Van Basten's throbbing ankle. It seems as if the striker has already been written off wholeheartedly. Van Basten is dead, long live Bergkamp, the software update.

Even more embarrassing is the nonchalance with which Gullit is left alone these days in the decision, so painful for him, to withdraw from the selection of the Dutch national team.
[...]
In Italy, Fausto Coppi is still honored daily as the father of the country, more than a quarter century after his death. This summer, there will even be a film about the sporting and amorous explosions of the Great Heron. Rightly so: the plebiscite of the Campionissimo is there for eternity.
Not so in the classless Netherlands. Would a mere bunch of tulips have blown over to Gullit and Van Basten in these dog days?

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

Was this is the end of the tale? That Gullit simply signed for Sampdoria? Of course not. To be continued...

 

I didn't include it above because it had little relation to Gullit but Goethals was also not among the very biggest Maldini fans. After the final he made a short but 'nasty' remark.

"Of course he wanted to give his view on the match. Tactically, there had been nothing secretive about his team. “Because I have been playing the same game ever since I started at Sint Truiden in the 1960s. Milan has fallen into its own trap. In Serie A, this team is used to playing in and around the opponent's penalty area. We have now won for the second time against a phenomenally strong formation. Because if you only lose twice in a season in Serie A, that is very strong.”

Goethals mentioned a victory for the collective, but particularly praised the play of the Ghanaian Abedi Pelé. “Against Lille in the competition I had to tell him ten minutes before the end that he had only hit and touched five balls. But you can count on him in the important matches. Just like against Bruges, I let Pelé play on the right by surprise. He made short work and minced meat of Maldini. Alen Boksic helped us to the French title and to the final. But against Milan he was at the end of his rope.”
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/1993/05/27/europa-cup-eerste-electorale-winst-tapie-7184173-a647484

Goethals had just won the cup but couldn't resist the tempation to make a "I was right" type of remark.

That the great players of his day can do this below... Goethals was not meaning that (Bergkamp had three goals and three assists in six games against Maldini between 1993-1995), but now he kind of did that when mentioning Abedi Pele (in a different context, of "how I won the match")



Johan Cruijff was the same. Vegan 10 confirmed he didn't think much of Maldini at the 1990 World Cup. Later it turned around a fair bit but by 2003 he was saying that Milan signing for ex. Rio Ferdinand would make Milan better and would work very well next to Nesta. He said Maldini was holding Milan back and limiting their areas of play (he was not free of errors indeed, the 2003 CL semi final, also some league games).

Or here for example not a real mistake but showing his age in the decisive stages of the 2003-04 scudetto (1:55):


Of course, sometimes the defense looked shaky while you really cannot blame him (nice brief highlights!). That's also true.

 

The 'Rijkaard to Ajax' story has also an early mention for Zidane. They write 'Zadine', but looking at the pdf it is 100% Zidane. Cannot be someone else.

Interview with the CFO of Ajax in what was then (also) a financial newspaper ('NRC Handelsblad', based in Rotterdam). 31 july 1993.

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

"The disadvantage of the Ajax game is that you need special football players"
[...]
Question: Valencia, Futre, Boksic, Zadine [Zidane... really...], Scifo, Pelé, Rincon, Romario, quicksilver footballers who appeal to the Ajax crowd. Other clubs buy such players, Ajax does not.

We know all those names. We scout all over the world. But Van Gaal also often says that players who perform excellently at Bayern, Barcelona or Marseille can fall through the bottom at Ajax. Because we play a different system. We play the three-striker system, which requires a completely different type of players. Ajax always plays in the opponent's half. Then you need footballers who can play in small spaces and defenders who can attack. Very few footballers fit that bill.

Question: A requiem for Ajax. Most players are leaving, Ajax has to hope that the talent continues to flow.

Ajax is fortunate that it is regarded as the club where the best footballers come from. Rijkaard, Van Vossen and Van den Brom come to play for Ajax for that reason. We are also very fortunate that after Van Basten another has risen and so on. And now Seedorf and Oulida come again. But that does not alter the fact that we should try to retain players longer. And if they do leave, make sure that we get a lot of money so that we can do plenty of other things to make the youth academy even better.
But it is difficult. Ajax plays a special game that you hardly see anywhere. The public likes to come to Ajax because we play technically better football. The public wants that too. A disadvantage is that you need special football players for this. If you have to go get them, they are almost impossible to get.
You can always say that it is great football, that the system is beautifully put together, but if such a team does not become champions, then you are defeating the purpose of competitive sport.
We haven't become champions for a few years [1990]. And then Bergkamp, Jonk, Roy, Winter and Van 't Schip also participated. We are quite annoyed that we don't become champions. The game is beautiful, but not enough to become a champion. Then you should start playing a different game. But will the public still accept that? Fifteen years ago, Ivic was a trainer who played the game from behind. Then we became champions. But then the whole of Amsterdam started complaining and bickering because we played so defensively.
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/1993/07/3...-dat-je-speciale-voetballers-7191124-a1275534

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Ajax worked with a budget of 17 million (it is said, 13 july 1993). PSV 33 million (per 10 december 1992, thus a season before), AC Milan 100+ million according to the same december 1992 article.

But Philips was a major sponsor of UEFA and FIFA back then, and they used that in 1988 to reduce the suspension for Koeman (for a "class act" remark in a magazine about a tactical/professional foul). Earlier elaborated in this thread.

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

28 July 1993
[... column..]
Rijkaard wants to enjoy competitive football for another two years. Then it is time to think about the end of his career. Football is his life, but his life offers even more. He could be the philosopher among professional footballers.
Suddenly, one day in May, before his club was dethroned as Europe's best, he announced he was leaving AC Milan. Who now leaves Milan of their own volition? You do not do that. To turn your back on the club of il ragazzo d'oro, of il tulipo nero, of San Marco. That is sacrilege, desecration of San Siro. Only "the representative of human football", Frank Rijkaard, does that. He returns to earth, back home.
Typical Rijkaard. The footballer who accidentally stirred up the dormant Dutch hatred towards Germans by answering the provocations of the German Völler with two feathers in his hair. The cause of his frustrations lay deeper: the rotten atmosphere surrounding the Dutch national team during the world championship in 1990. It was typical of Rijkaard to immediately decide never to play for the Dutch national team again. And come back to that later.
Typical Rijkaard to mention the minimum amount that Milan wants from his new club, against the rules of the Ajax board. 1.4 million guilders. Typical Rijkaard to have complained about this to Milan for a long time. Typical Rijkaard to let himself be sold for such a small amount, while a few days earlier Ajax was allowed to pay seven million, including potential bonuses, for a certain Peter van Vossen.
[...]

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

Tomorrow the Gullit drama, the Bayern Munich story and all the smoke and mirrors that often surrounded Gullit. Against Rio Ferdinand in the video he mentioned Beckham (9.00)... it had at times something like that yes, and it triggered people in the wrong way. A certain slickness and yet drama. Great amount of pretense and posture I'd say, yes. The veneer at the top. The fashion nonsense.

 

Yes I will come to that and when I get to 1998 (the end), or maybe earlier, 1996, I will start again at the very beginning.

Because I see @Wiliam Felipe Gracek wants to go there, and that's logical of course.

It is well possible to argue it was more like around 1994 the Serie A was at peak strength and dominance. Not 1999 or 1985, as is often thought.

Just interesting Zidane already pops up halfway 1993...

 

So, up early in the morning. Some things need to be done;

There is some bit in Eriksson his book about Gullit I think (and many other players, including Dutch ones). Yes, that 'playing the World Cup with Cruijff as coach' would have been an interesting proposition and I'll just add some thoughts from my side then. I start with the 'dark side' and then become lighter and more connected to the actual football.

- Already said earlier in the thread, from my point of view, that I am in this case not convinced of the 'it was Havelange his last tournament' sort of theories that you'll find even in Italian publications. I see too many things speaking against it, compared to other Yallop/Jennings stuff. Wiliam is Brazilian and is edging more to that side if I understand him right.

"This game would have ramifications for the final appointment - in a 2003 interview, Badilla stated that had he played half as much additional time as he did (six minutes - correctly and courageously so long), Brazil would not have rejected him as fourth official for the final. How much or little all-powerful FIFA President João Havelange had to do with that is up for debate."
https://wc94refs.blogspot.com/2020/12/46-nedbra-badilla.html

That would mean there is a chance for success. Yet you don't know what the reaction will be if we had moved past Brazil. Maybe the Brazilian FA and Havelange/Texeira trigger a revenge act, as they have done previously and after, and with them meddling in the pick for the final, certainly. Italy on the other side of the bracket would play Bulgaria. That was their best performance. They had escaped elimination and further red cards against Nigeria. Italy had then the money and thus (as often) the power then. The power to change referees (e.g. 1994 CL final, 1993 Parma vs Ajax), the power to make careers and the power to manipulate drug tests (1996 CL final, played in Rome, the Rome lab).

We are now seeing that with (in some quarters martial, imperialistic) England, I believe. The money and the power. 'Project 2022' with the whole FA and government standing behind, no special fiefdoms and isolated departments. The influence to throw three times in a row a German referee to the most dangerous team in your bracket (that has the worst record with them; British referees also high up), and also the grab the same opportunity in 2021 (Stuart Atwell, VAR, his career). The difference of course is that Italy has really not the same long-standing tradition of Dutchophobia and likewise ingrained culture and thoughts (the WW-I song; indeed 'we' were back then if anything pro-Germany and formally neutral).

You'll see Italian videos for Ruud Krol on Youtube and they mentioning Havelange, Kissinger and Videla (rather than: "only one solo goal in career" - blatantly wrong - and a whole expose for "he was no early instalment of Lahm").

It might well be Italy would think, we would rather have Sweden in the final than an uncertain and trickier 'Holland' (with a strong head-to-head in competitive games, also club football). With Brazil they cannot do that as easily of course.

- Oranje finished first in their group in 1994, despite losing to their neighbors (does that still happen with Cruijff?). In some 'Holland' circles there is the easy belief of 'beating Brazil means you are in the final'. Yes, we saw how that worked in 1992. Those annoying unified Germans are played off the park and beaten, and then you go out against Denmark (the 1988 final also an afterthought). Denmark, that was according to Sofascore, the 2nd best team of the tournament and therefore not comparable to Greece 2004 or Portugal 2016 (I always felt that and good to have that confirmation).

In 1994 there was Sweden. Certainly a country 'we' have no superiority complex against (hello Simon Kuper, and your remarks about what we think of England in your Barcelona book), but also too easily assumed you can beat them. By some at least, a plurality, not all and maybe not even a majority. Just as easily it happens we see in 2021 Austria and Ukraine and 'we' think "oh, about five of them might as well play in the Holland/Belgium side easily" (or 1994 Belgium.. seriously...).

It's notable your 1993-94 Serie A average grades list here contains Jonas Thern high up (red carded in the 1994 semi final vs Brazil). The fifth outfield player, just 0.02 removed from number two. I remembered vaguely he might have been captain for Sweden and indeed he was.

Sofascore has, maybe surprisingly, Sweden as the best team of the tournament. The 3rd place game (7.63) is well above their tournament average (7.26), but still. There is maybe a similarity with Denmark in 1992, that is in contrast to Greece 2004 also high up (in an eight teams tournament, Italy didn't qualify).

- Many feel Cruijff was a better club footballer than a national team footballer. I have my thoughts about this... also about all those European Championship games when he could be bothered and released to play. You can however think this very same thing for him as manager and coach. A great amount of his proven strength was related to him coaching on a daily basis. Bring in the opera singers to learn footballers to breathe better. Establish La Masia in 1979 and then use this a decade later. All those more 'sophisticated' playing patterns and concepts work arguably better in a club environment. It's not impossible he felt that deep down himself.



https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/t...cussion-thread.1245347/page-115#post-42340970

While I am for 90% a Cruijff fan and believer, 'we' also have to admit even the best have weaknesses and their faults. One of his stipulations in 1990 and 1994 was that he'd get the keys of the entire KNVB and could pick his own staff and support group. The KNVB, to an extent also understandable from their side, did not want to go this far and has practically never done this since. Also not with Van Gaal in 2000, 2012 and 2021. In a 1986 interview with Jurriaan van Wessem this Cruijff said the same about Barcelona. He wants to do it, in the future, but only if he has 100% control (on the technical-managerial side).

 

Again, to show I am not waffling:

"In 1994, the refereeing committee had originally appointed Peter Mikkelsen to referee the final, but the powerful now departed FIFA president Joao Havelange got the committee to overturn the decision at the last minute and instead appoint the Hungarian Sandor Puhl to referee the final match. Peter Mikkelsen was also at the European Championship finals in 1992 and 1996."
https://jyllands-posten.dk/sport/ECE3261663/Peter-Mikkelsen-Sidste-fløjt/

https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Mikkelsen
https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Mikkelsen

"07-09-1994 (Boston): Mauro Tassotti attacked Luis Enrique inside the area, breaking his nose. Hungarian Sandor Puhl does not sanction anything and Italy wins 2-1 in the quarterfinals. FIFA sanctions Tassotti with seven matches but gives Puhl the direction of the tournament final."
https://www.eluniverso.com/2002/06/23/0001/653/AE3F2C95C13E4923A1CC5A08A21E3F76.html/
https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/17/sports/world-cup-94-some-referees-deserve-red-cards.html
(the name Rothlisberger also there... later banned for life. Thanks to Man United and the English. The same English establishment who supported the Germans to put this man on the infamous Belgium vs Germany match of '94. Was also the man in charge for the 1993 Champions League final)

This is a very reputable source, with excellent blogs as well:
"ITAESP - an absolutely epic quarterfinal! Puhl's ultra-leniency isn't my favourite style, but in the bigger picture you'd have to say he had a good performance right until the Tassotti elbow incident which he missed. The game was total anarchy after that and Spain should have had a penalty and been up a player for ET (hard to see for the ref, tbf); Puhl's chance for the final should have been gone.

BRAITA - Blatter and the refs committee wanted to give the final to Peter Mikkelsen, but then-FIFA president Havelange pushed through Puhl, probably to spite his Italian enemies. Puhl's performance is widely regarded as excellent and indeed there was lots to like about it, but the way he treated his assistants, Zárate from Paraguay and Fanaei from Iran, was extremely disappointing."
https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/ngvxzl/sándor_puhl_referee_of_1994_world_cup_final_and/

Finally, this example below is also power, chilling effect and deterrence. We, and a number of other countries, don't have that veto and career ending power. Nor the power to decide history and historiography (including all the 100% clear lies like "one solo goal"). Propelled by a few martial, gamesmanship and imperialistic minds (though certainly not all are like this!).

Hungary's Sandor Puhl will not referee another European club match this season after his failure to punish Feyenoord's Paul Bosvelt for his blatant foul on Denis Irwin in Manchester United's European Champions' League match in Rotterdam last month.

European football's ruling body UEFA announced the sanction against Puhl, who refereed the 1994 World Cup final between Brazil and Italy, last night after a meeting of their referees' commission.

Puhl failed even to book Bosvelt after the Dutch player appeared to deliberately stamp on the Republic of Ireland defender just below the knee during United's 3-1 win in Rotterdam on November 5th. Irwin was left with damaged knee ligaments.
https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/irwin-injury-referee-gets-knuckles-rapped-1.133730

edit: thanks for the appreciation Wiliam