Jordi Cruyff had a decent football career, there’s not a lot of people who get to play for both Barcelona and Manchester United, and represent the Netherlands and Catalonia.
He was inevitably always in the shadow of his father and that may be why after retirement he’s taken an unusual path, being a sports director at AEK Larnaca, then the same at Maccabi Tel Aviv and now manager at Chongqing Dangdai.
There would certainly have been opportunities in Dutch football, and the Catalan press have made it clear multiple times that Barcelona have made efforts to get him involved with the club.
So far, Jordi hasn’t been interested enough.
One thing he does do in Dutch football is a column for De Telegraaf, taking it in turns with others to share his thoughts on current issues in the game.
This week, the 44 year old compares and contrasts Barcelona and Manchester United, and clearly believes that the English club has been left to slide too far.
A 4-1 victory over Fulham at the weekend saw Jose Mourinho’s side climb to sixth in the Premier League table, but for Jordi that’s way too low… even in a bad period.
‘In and around Old Trafford everything was all about winning. At home or away, Manchester United always went for the win. Everyone in the club was busy with it every day.
That is why the current situation worries me. If Barcelona has a bad year, the club will not finish in third place in the Spanish league. That should also apply to Manchester United, but is not the case. In recent years, the club has been struggling to stay even in the Premier League’s sub-top.’
Whereas once it was an easy choice between United or City, if a player was given the option, Jordi believes it’s now very different and that this is a sign of problems in itself.
‘The choice of the Barcelona trio Guardiola, Begiristain and Soriano indicates that Manchester City works from a clear philosophy and that is connected both sportingly and professionally.
That’s missing at Manchester United. I don’t get the feeling that there is a clear plan that indicates which way everyone in the club should go. And if you do not take any steps in the current Premier League, you will be caught up. Manchester United now sees almost weekly that the competition has indeed not stopped.
Then another danger arises. Like any other footballer, I didn’t have to think for a second whether I should choose Manchester United or Manchester City. Just like Barcelona, the attraction of Manchester United was irresistible. Because of the developments at City it is no longer so obvious that a footballer now blindly chooses United.’
