Opposition Crowds Applauding City

[Fat Chance]

Good post.
The 74 Dutch team were coached by Rinus Mikels and there is a line from him to Cruyf to Pep. Mikels introduced total football and I remember the keeper, Jongbloed, dribbling up to the halfway line.
Does anyone here remember the Magical Magyars, the Hungary team of the fifties? (No, im far too young). They introduced the false 9, tho it is believed to have been used in eastern europe before the war. City, of course, copied it soon after with the Revie plan and Pep used Messi this way. Ive seen ignorant journos suggesting that Pep invented the false 9. Bah!
We are, we really are, fit to be compared to those great teams.

From Vic to Grey Mare Lane...
https://thesefootballtimes.co/2015/01/15/vic-buckingham-the-englishman-history-forgot/

 

[Eccles Blue]

The last few away matches I’ve been to, even Wigan, at least one of their fans has been full of praise for our team & the ‘special way’ we play! The Everton fan who caught up to me on Saturday as I walked back to our coach singing; we’ll win the league on Derby day was the one who called it a ‘special way’ and said that’s the best football he’s seen ever!! He also said to make sure we stuff Liverpool in both games and that “other red lot” next week!

 

[KS55]

From Vic to Grey Mare Lane...
https://thesefootballtimes.co/2015/01/15/vic-buckingham-the-englishman-history-forgot/

Thanks for that fascinating article. Buckingham obviously had a greater influence on the game than I had realized.

 

[johnevans]

Good post.
The 74 Dutch team were coached by Rinus Mikels and there is a line from him to Cruyf to Pep. Mikels introduced total football and I remember the keeper, Jongbloed, dribbling up to the halfway line.
Does anyone here remember the Magical Magyars, the Hungary team of the fifties? (No, im far too young). They introduced the false 9, tho it is believed to have been used in eastern europe before the war. City, of course, copied it soon after with the Revie plan and Pep used Messi this way. Ive seen ignorant journos suggesting that Pep invented the false 9. Bah!
We are, we really are, fit to be compared to those great teams.

Only saw the great Hungarian side on newsreels/tv and the like but, as with any Blue growing up in the late 50s/early 60s, I took great pride in learning how Don Revie was used as a deep-lying centre forward on the same lines as Nandor Hidegkuti of that fabulous Hungarian team.

As for Rinus Michels and Vic Buckingham (quoted elsewhere in your follow up posts), I don't know if the following will be of interest to you and others. The so-called 'Father of Modern Dutch Football' was a guy from Manchester, Jack Reynolds. He had a largely undistinguished playing career, which started with City around 1900 (he was a winger but never actually played for the first team.. I think he had a bit of competition from some bloke called Meredith at the time..!) His brother Billy, a centre forward, was also on City's books at the time. Jack went to other clubs as a jobbing-player, then went into coaching, landing up in Amsterdam at the end of WWII as coach of Ajax.

At Ajax, Reynolds set up the club to (a) have a playing style based on possession and 'immediate pressure on opponents in possession' (b) have every team at the club, from junior levels upwards, playing in the same style (c) have training designed around individual players having constant access to a ball, emphasising technical skills over the 'English mentality' of training being all about lapping the pitch/physical exercise. This blueprint carried on throughout the 50s/60s (including Vic Buckingham's time at Ajax after he left Sheffield Wednesday in some disgrace - the Tony Kay/'Bronco' Layne/Peter Swan betting scandal) and was refined/extended and so on by Rinus Michels when he became coach, ultimately developing the great Ajax team which included Johann Cruyff which emulated the feat of Real Madrid of the 50s in winning three consecutive European Cups. Michels and Cruyff, as we all know, took this thinking/system to the Dutch national team (and, oh my! wasn't that a beautiful thing to watch between 1974-78?!) and to Barcelona. And again, we all know what happened when Cruyff took the managerial reins at Barca, with La Masia and Guardiola following on..

I remember reading one interesting quotation from Jack Reynolds not long after the time he took over at Ajax, in which he said 'For me, attack is and remains the best form of defence.. we play an open game, you can't afford to neglect the wings'

It may be something of a stretch to claim that what we are currently witnessing with our beloved Blues runs back all the way to Hyde Road but the links are there! Jack Reynolds took all he learned as a coach and added his own ideas to make something new. It took years of refinement by like-minded thinkers such as Buckingham/Michels/Cruyff and so on to get to the all-conquering club side that was Ajax and the mind-blowing 'total voetbal' of the Dutch 70s team. But that's where the great Barca side (and the great Spanish national side of the past decade, too) came from. And thank goodness Cruyff was at Barca to mentor Guardiola. And even greater thanks to the Sheik for enabling us to get the best of the best to come to Manchester. It really is the most beautiful football I've ever witnessed.

 

[Fat Chance]

Thanks for your post johnevans...much appreciated

We need a banner ' From Jack to Vic to Rinus to Johan to Pep to Grey Mare Lane'

 

[johnevans]

Thanks for your post johnevans...much appreciated

We need a banner ' From Jack to Vic to Rinus to Johan to Pep to Grey Mare Lane'

Btw, Jack Reynolds was captured by the Nazis in WWII and was a prisoner of war alongside the glorious PG Wodehouse.. who knows, maybe he was influenced by the great writer's tactical awareness and ideas over their dippy eggs and soldiers at breakfast? Your banner could include 'Plum's' name too?! 'PG Wodehouse is a Blue' and all that..?!

 

[TheBlueDune]

I'd like to think the remaing United fans will do that at full time on Saturday.

Looking forward to 3000 empty away seats before the final whistle.

When we won the League
When we won the League
You'd 3,000 empty seats
When we won the League

 

[KS55]

Only saw the great Hungarian side on newsreels/tv and the like but, as with any Blue growing up in the late 50s/early 60s, I took great pride in learning how Don Revie was used as a deep-lying centre forward on the same lines as Nandor Hidegkuti of that fabulous Hungarian team.

As for Rinus Michels and Vic Buckingham (quoted elsewhere in your follow up posts), I don't know if the following will be of interest to you and others. The so-called 'Father of Modern Dutch Football' was a guy from Manchester, Jack Reynolds. He had a largely undistinguished playing career, which started with City around 1900 (he was a winger but never actually played for the first team.. I think he had a bit of competition from some bloke called Meredith at the time..!) His brother Billy, a centre forward, was also on City's books at the time. Jack went to other clubs as a jobbing-player, then went into coaching, landing up in Amsterdam at the end of WWII as coach of Ajax.

At Ajax, Reynolds set up the club to (a) have a playing style based on possession and 'immediate pressure on opponents in possession' (b) have every team at the club, from junior levels upwards, playing in the same style (c) have training designed around individual players having constant access to a ball, emphasising technical skills over the 'English mentality' of training being all about lapping the pitch/physical exercise. This blueprint carried on throughout the 50s/60s (including Vic Buckingham's time at Ajax after he left Sheffield Wednesday in some disgrace - the Tony Kay/'Bronco' Layne/Peter Swan betting scandal) and was refined/extended and so on by Rinus Michels when he became coach, ultimately developing the great Ajax team which included Johann Cruyff which emulated the feat of Real Madrid of the 50s in winning three consecutive European Cups. Michels and Cruyff, as we all know, took this thinking/system to the Dutch national team (and, oh my! wasn't that a beautiful thing to watch between 1974-78?!) and to Barcelona. And again, we all know what happened when Cruyff took the managerial reins at Barca, with La Masia and Guardiola following on..

I remember reading one interesting quotation from Jack Reynolds not long after the time he took over at Ajax, in which he said 'For me, attack is and remains the best form of defence.. we play an open game, you can't afford to neglect the wings'

It may be something of a stretch to claim that what we are currently witnessing with our beloved Blues runs back all the way to Hyde Road but the links are there! Jack Reynolds took all he learned as a coach and added his own ideas to make something new. It took years of refinement by like-minded thinkers such as Buckingham/Michels/Cruyff and so on to get to the all-conquering club side that was Ajax and the mind-blowing 'total voetbal' of the Dutch 70s team. But that's where the great Barca side (and the great Spanish national side of the past decade, too) came from. And thank goodness Cruyff was at Barca to mentor Guardiola. And even greater thanks to the Sheik for enabling us to get the best of the best to come to Manchester. It really is the most beautiful football I've ever witnessed.

Thanks for that. I remember reading an article on JR years ago, but i had forgotten almost everything you posted.
What fascinates me is the fact that English players and coaches, despite our history of involvement in the development of sophisticated play, produce such agricultural garbage. Not all, but many do. Up and at 'em, long ball to the big fella etc etc. Perhaps Pep's success will change that. Honourable mentions to Poch and Klopp for decent attacking play (but not tomorrow).
Before Pep arrived, Henry Winter wrote "He will change the face of English football". Let's hope so.

 

[oakiecokie]

The 68 Chanpions were regularly applauded at away grounds from November onwards. We had a terrific team & played thrilling football.

I was at Reading for the 7-0 cup replay. At the end the pa guy said
"You've been privileged to watch the finest team in the country"

The late George Heslop scored his first City goal that night & we went on to win t cup.

Big Hesser !! I was at OT when we went behind in the first minute to a Best goal and later on up popped Big George to score.We won 1-3 and that was in April of 1968,when 4/5 weeks later we won the League.

 

[KS55]

Big Hesser !! I was at OT when we went behind in the first minute to a Best goal and later on up popped Big George to score.We won 1-3 and that was in April of 1968,when 4/5 weeks later we won the League.

I loved George, a real old fashioned centre half. We picked him up from Everton reserves. I remember once at Maine Road, he picked up the ball, nothing on, so he trundled forward and suddenly found himself in the opponents box. A look of complete panic came over him, resulting in a shot which nearly cleared the Platt Lane stand. Cue ironic cheers from the Kippax.