Cruyff: Mourinho a poor example; Van Gaal not playing dominating soccer

Johan Cruyff believes Jose Mourinho is setting a bad example to young people with his behavior. Cruyff launched an attack on the former Chelsea manager and reopened his war of words with Louis van Gaal during an interview with Sky Sports News on Tuesday.

Mourinho has come in for criticism for his management of Chelsea so far this season. The champions are languishing in 16th position in the Barclays Premier League after losing four of their opening eight matches, but the Portuguese’s antics on the touchline have annoyed Cruyff.

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The former Ajax and Barcelona manager said:

“He’s controversial.

“What I like about him is he’s always capable of creating good ambience within the players and what I don’t like is that he always puts himself on the first row. He should be on the second row.

“It’s probably because of his background, where he’s never been cheered by 100,000 people, or whistled at by 100,000 people.

“Maybe it’s because of that, maybe because of the interest from the press, but I don’t think he is educating children to play football or educating for life.

“He should behave better because he will be in the press all over the world.”

Another manager Cruyff has little time for is van Gaal. The Dutch pair have had a running feud for some years, and Cruyff decided to reopen old wounds by criticizing Manchester United’s style of play under the 64-year-old.

“He doesn’t dominate. I like dominating football. Manchester (United) doesn’t play like that,” Cruyff said.

Asked if he thought Van Gaal was too cautious, Cruyff said:

“I don’t think so, but it’s strange that against strong teams they’ve got good results and with weak teams they’ve had difficulties.

“That’s a strange situation.

“But the results I think are second. The game is first. Money is very important but always second.

“In England they play different, everybody has their own style. A mix of styles is always good.

“The most important part are the fans, that people are going home happy. It’s their time off and you should give them something to enjoy.”