The night total FOOTBALL conquered Wembley
Let’s hope this latest Holland team don’t turn up playing Like Cruyff and his orange masters
THIS was the night Holland came to town and painted it orange with the supreme craft of Johan Cruyff, the flair of Johan Neeskens and the swagger of Johnny Rep. Wembley stood to applaud the Dutch players from the pitch at half-time as they handed Don Revie’s side a lesson in the power of Total Football. Cruyff was the inevitable star of a slick exhibition rated by some as the most emphatic display by an away team against England since the Hungarians of 1953. But, as MATT BARLOW and NEIL MOXLEY discovered, it was NEC Nijmegen winger Jan Peters who stole the headlines with both goals in a 2-0 triumph . . .
JAN PETERS: ‘That was a very important game. Around that time, we hadn’t had very good results, but we won 2-0, I scored both goals, and it was the first and only time I played in the national team with Johan Cruyff, so for me personally it was extra special.
‘I was only playing for a small team, so to then play at Wembley — a place that every player thinks is the most beautiful stadium in the world — and to score two goals, was wonderful. It was a highlight for me as a player.
‘After the game at Wembley I moved to AZ in Alkmaar. They were one of the best teams in the Netherlands. We won the cup three times, won the championship once and also reached the UEFA Cup final, where we lost to Ipswich Town. It was a very good time for me.’
It would be the only time this wonderful Dutch team of the Seventies would play in England. To many, they were the best international side never to win a major trophy, losing in the World Cup finals of 1974 and 1978 and finishing third in the 1976 European Championship.
England were down in the dumps. They had failed to qualify for the Germany ’74 World Cup and a 2-0 defeat to Italy in Rome, in a World Cup qualifier on their previous outing in November 1976, would ultimately deny them a place at Argentina ’78.
SIR TREVOR BROOKING: ‘ The teams Holland produced in ’74 and ’ 78 showed the quality of that generation, and the outstanding talents were Cruyff and Neeskens. ‘We all knew Cruyff’s strengths but we couldn’t stop him. He was the ultimate two-footed player with devastating acceleration and the ability to go past anyone. Neeskens was the attacking midfielder with the skills to open up defences. I can remember long spells when we couldn’t get the ball.
‘They were the equivalent of the modern Spain team and everyone was trying to understand the Dutch philosophy of possession and rotating positions. They were ahead of their time.
‘I remember studying for my full coaching badge with (FA directors of coaching) Allen Wade and Charles Hughes. They put on a session where we tried to emulate the Total Football but the session never worked and in the end we just abandoned it.’
England had not lost in five games against Holland but went behind after 28 minutes when Cruyff and Neeskens combined to set up Peters (left), who clipped a shot over Ray Clemence. Eight minutes later, Peters drove the second past Clemence and Kevin Beattie, who was prone on the turf after a move involving Cruyff and Hugo Hovenkamp.
KEVIN BEATTIE: ‘They ripped us to pieces that night. I only played nine times for England but that was easily the worst game. Cruyff was unbelievable. They just passed the ball so quickly, all the way through the team from back to front.
‘We couldn’t get near them and even Don Revie afterwards admitted they had played some smashing stuff. It was Total Football and, although on one hand it was just awful, you really had to admire it. I’ve no idea why I’m flat out for the goal. I must have been having a lie-down. I’d been marking Robbie Rensenbrink and he’d tired me out.’
Revie handed a debut to Trevor Francis. Talk about a baptism of fire for the 22-year-old!
TREVOR FRANCIS: ‘I had waited a long time to make my i nternational debut and was thrilled when Don Revie chose me to play. It wasn’t the greatest of starts for me, but I know I won’t be alone when I say it was no disgrace on this particular occasion because that Dutch team contained some very special players.
‘ People ask a bout Total Football, and what it was like to play against, in practice.
‘The fact was that this was the first time that players were expected to be comfortable in possession, regardless of where they stood on the pitch. That was a novelty. It hadn’t been seen before. They were also supposed to interchange their position and be intelligent enough to realise what was going on around them.
‘I would go so far as to say there were three who you could term as world-class. Even now, when you are talking about the greats of the game, they would have to be discussed.
‘ Certainly, that went for Cruyff. He was the best player in Europe at that time. He was the one player I tried to model parts of my own game upon.
‘His speed with the ball that night was terrific. And he had this knack of almost stopping to a standstill. It would lull the defender into a false sense of security. Almost like that nothing was happening, that he was stuck for an idea. Then he would explode into action. He had great pace from a standing start.
‘I also tried to copy the move that became known as the “Cruyff turn”. I practised it relentlessly.
‘ The fulcrum of the team was Johan Neeskens. He was the Dutch version of Bryan Robson who, if he hadn’t been standing in Cruyff ’ s shadow, would have received far more recognition than he did. Lastly, there was Rudi Krol, who wasn’t part of the great Ajax side of the early 1970s, but was nevertheless, in my eyes, the equal of Franz Beckenbauer.’ Peters is now on the coaching staff at amateur club De Treffers in the third tier of Dutch football but is not enamoured with Bert van Marwijk’s Holland team, despite their progress, because they do not uphold the legacy of Total Football.
JAN PETERS: ‘They had good results but the football was not what we like in Holland. When all of the best players are in good form then I think we can win the Euros — but every team will be at a high level.
‘Robin van Persie is one of the most important players. Robin plays in England very well, but in the national team he hasn’t had a big impact. I hope he can reach the same level that he plays for Arsenal.’
A full interview with Jan Peters will appear in the official matchday programme for tonight’s game.