Even the ground is named after the high priest of a footballing formation. When Liverpool visit Amsterdam on Wednesday, they will play in the Johan Cruijff ArenA, the title reflecting both the original and Dutch spelling of his surname and his vast influence. Cruyff is indelibly associated with the concept of total football and the shape of 4-3-3.
Cruyff’s legacy lives on. His disciple Pep Guardiola perhaps played his most Cruyffian version of 4-3-3 with Barcelona and, in the last two seasons, with Manchester City, when the use of a false nine brought the most rotation between players. Jurgen Klopp was a byword for 4-3-3, too, but not in the same way as Guardiola. The Catalan’s wingers are ordered to operate so wide that, at Barcelona, Thierry Henry was famously substituted for coming infield. The German’s wide men were so narrow that they were in effect channel runners, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane becoming so prolific in part because they were charged with operating between the opposition’s full-backs and centre-backs.
