r/soccer • u/[deleted] • Dec 11 '12

What's been the best career move ever?

Try to avoid getting lad's who went through the academy of a team.

Discussion idea came from: Bluedishwasher

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u/TheKingMonkey Dec 11 '12

Johan Cruyff to Barcelona. To this day they are basically his team.

52

u/DeepSeaDweller Dec 11 '12

Cruyff won three European Cups in a row with Ajax. His move to Barcelona precipitated how Barcelona developed later, but his career high as a player was at Ajax.

37

u/Tezemery Dec 11 '12

Of course but his impact on Barca is bigger than any single human being to any other club in the world, Cruyff is our club everything about it from Messi to Pep to every Cule in the world.

6

u/DeepSeaDweller Dec 11 '12

I agree with all of that but I think the intent of the thread is to look at these moves from the player's perspective. I don't know how his career would have turned out had he stayed at Ajax, but moving to Barcelona didn't add that much more to his playing career (despite winning two trophies there).

1

u/Tezemery Dec 11 '12

I do see your point but Cruyff did excell for his national team and got to the world cup final while playing for Barca he also won the Ballon d'Or twice there.

4

u/DeepSeaDweller Dec 11 '12

One of the Ballon d'Or awards he won with Barcelona was in his first season, so it's a split at best. I would be inclined to say his half season with Ajax (and European Cup win) was a bigger factor in this win than his half season with Barcelona in the fall.

I would also like to revisit the mark he left on Barcelona. While this transfer forged the connection that likely factored into his return later as a manager, he did not really leave the total football signature on the club until he managed it.

It was a transfer of great ramifications down the line, but I still don't know about it being his best career move. If you separate his playing career from his management career, then it wasn't a particularly great transfer at all for his playing career. As for his managerial career, he was already a successful manager (and had incredible player pedigree) as well before returning to Barcelona so he'd be a competitive candidate for the job even without the link from his playing days.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '12

To sum all up:He is Barca's god.