Friday 25 March 2016 18:38, UK
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola has paid tribute to Johan Cruyff, his mentor at Barcelona, saying he knew 'nothing about football' until he was taken under the wing of the Dutch legend.
Cryuff died on Thursday at the age of 68 after losing a battle with lung cancer.
The 45-year-old Guardiola, who will take over as manager of Manchester City next season, was a defensive midfielder in the Cruyff-led Barcelona 'Dream Team' that won the European Cup for the first time in 1992.
Cruyff helped inspire the Total Football philosophy, where every player had to be ready to take on every position, and Guardiola said that the advice given by the Dutchman sometimes took his players by surprise.
"I knew nothing about football before knowing Cruyff," Guardiola told Spanish radio. "He protected me in my early days as a footballer. He gave me a footballing lesson in how to conduct myself, to keep my distance from the media.
"At half-time when you had played badly, you expected to get an earful and be told to push yourself and fight more.
"He told you that you were playing badly because you were running too much. You had to send the ball where you wanted it to go and not to run after it. Lionel Messi is the [Barcelona] player who runs the least and in that he was Cruyff's best pupil. He told you completely the opposite to what you had always learned.
"He left us many things. We have all followed him in one way or another. Some as coaches, others as sporting directors, others commentators... and that's only possible if someone gives you something.
"It's not by chance that [Andoni] Zubizarreta and Txiki [Begiristain] are great sporting directors."
Both Begiristain and Zubizarreta were on Cruyff's Dream Team and went on to be sporting directors at Barcelona. Begiristain is currently the director of football at Manchester City.
Guardiola said: "He helped us to understand football... and he encouraged you to trust your instinct, your nose. To make decisions."
Guardiola admitted that often when he was having a problem he tried to put himself in the shoes of his former mentor.
Bayern were trailing 2-0 to Juventus in the Champions League last 16 second leg earlier this month but Guardiola's side went on to win 4-2 after extra time to qualify for the quarter-finals.
He said: "Sometimes I ask myself, 'What would Johan do?' That's what happened to me against Juventus, I already had the rope around my neck but we finished by winning."
Meanwhile Germany coach Joachim Low also paid tribute to Cruyff, saying: "I got to meet and talk to Johan Cruyff on one occasion and I am very sorry that he has passed away. I would like to express my sincere condolences.
"I remember him not only as a very good player, from the things he did during the 1974 World Cup, but also as a coach. He revolutionised football and, in particular, he embodied everything about Barcelona's playing philosophy."
