Jose's Dutch delight?
Last updated: 27th February 2008
Cruyff: influential at Barca
At this stage, Barca would be crazy not to be weighing up their options and primary of those options is what the future would look like under Mourinho.
Graham Hunter
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Graham Hunter told Revista de la Liga why Johann Cruyff's influence at Barcelona is on the wane - and why that could open the door for Jose Mourinho to become the club's next manager.
Cruyff is a firm friend of Barcelona president Joan Laporta and is often consulted over policy decisions at the Spanish club, even though he does not have an official position at the Camp Nou.
However, he is expected to move to Amsterdam to take up an advisory role overseeing youth development at Ajax and with Laporta's presidency coming to an end, Spanish-based journalist Hunter believes the two men are slowly going their separate ways.
He told Revista: "Clearly Johann Cruyff's attention will be turned to what he's doing in youth development at Ajax and he takes that very seriously. Ever since he left he's been criticising the way they develop their footballers.
"But he's never had a paid post at Barcelona. He's never been a vice-president or a scout, it's based on his friendship with Joan Laporta. The Barca president likes to run a one-man show, but he holds Cruyff's opinion in complete thrall.
"Therefore there will be times when Cruyff is down in Amsterdam and Laporta will phone him to seek advice. His opinion will hold as much sway as it ever did.
"But if we look a little bit deeper, the two men are starting to go their separate ways - not as friends, but in the way that Laporta runs the club and what Cruyff does with his life.
"Cruyff knows Laporta's regime is running down and the next president will not depend on him. We're in the dog days of the outright relationship between Cruyff's opinion and club policy and I think we'll see Laporta edging away from him in the coming months."
Beauty parade
Hunter believes Cruyff's diminishing influence could pave the way for Mourinho to replace coach Frank Rijkaard, who is widely expected to leave Barcelona in the summer.
Mourinho has already met with Laporta to discuss a potential appointment and the Cruyff situation will boost the chances of the former Chelsea boss because Hunter does not believe the two men would have been able to work together.
He added: "Nothing Johan Cruyff has ever said leads you to believe he admires Jose Mourinho's footballing tactics, but equally the two men are guys who want their own voice to be the dominant one.
"Coming away from the Roman Abramovich situation at Chelsea, I don't think Mourinho would accept an outside voice and Cruyff's dominating over his.
"Therefore, if Cruyff were to back off or if Laporta was to ignore him, it would clearly open things up for Mourinho.
"And indeed, Mourinho has been part of what you would call in the advertising industry a 'beauty parade'.
"Barcelona are weighing up their options because they're not clear if Rijkaard will stay or whether they want him to stay and therefore there has been a direct meeting between Laporta and Mourinho, during which the Portugese presented a dossier.
"He showed the future under him and he explained what the team would look like, what the scouting would look like and what the buying policy would be.
"At this stage, Barca would be crazy not to be weighing up their options and primary of those options is what the future would look like under Mourinho."
