MX23RW : Monday, June 3 17:14:12| >> :120:13790:13790:

Thomas Christiansen looking to instil Johan Cruyff philosophy at Leeds United

New Leeds United boss Thomas Christiansen says that he wants to instil Johan Cruyff's footballing philosophy into the club.

New Leeds United manager Thomas Christiansen has said that he wants to instil a similar philosophy at the club to that held by Johan Cruyff.

Cruyff was at the forefront of the 'Total Football' style of play during his time at the likes of Ajax, Netherlands and Barcelona, prioritising free-flowing and easy-on-the-eye attacking football.

Christiansen was signed by Cruyff for Barcelona as an 18-year-old and went on to win two caps for Spain, and he insists that he will not betray the football values that the legendary Dutchman taught him during their time together.

"Everyone has their way to coach, to perform with the team, but of course he was very important. There were many things that I didn't understand, that he showed us, normal things for me now to understand, but in that moment I couldn't see it because he was a genius - on the pitch, coaching," Christiansen told reporters.

"He's the one who also changed football a little bit and this is one of the things I want to bring to Leeds. All coaches have a different way to see football. The most important is to be effective and to get the results.

"Of course everyone wants to play nice football, attractive, having the ball and scoring a lot of goals. But at the end, if you don't take the points, you're not doing anything. So I have to adapt many situations to Leeds, to the team, to the system, everything that goes around the team. But having my ideas - I will die with my ideas, my philosophy."

Christiansen succeeds Garry Monk at Elland Road and becomes Leeds's eighth different manager since May 2014.

ID:300898: cacheID:300898:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2582:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
General view of Elland Road Stadium on January 9, 2013
Read Next:
Leeds boss targeting promotion
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CLeicester CityLeicester463141189414897
3Leeds UnitedLeeds462791081433890
4Southampton462691187632487
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4621121370472375
6Norwich CityNorwich4621101579641573
7Hull City461913146860870
8Middlesbrough46209177162969
9Coventry CityCoventry4617131670591164
10Preston North EndPreston46189195667-1163
11Bristol City461711185351262
12Cardiff CityCardiff46195225370-1762
13Millwall461611194555-1059
14Swansea CitySwansea461512195965-657
15Watford461317166161056
16Sunderland46168225254-256
17Stoke CityStoke461511204960-1156
18Queens Park RangersQPR461511204758-1156
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn461411216074-1453
20Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds46158234468-2453
21Plymouth ArgylePlymouth461312215970-1151
RBirmingham CityBirmingham461311225065-1550
RHuddersfield TownHuddersfield46918194877-2945
RRotherham UnitedRotherham46512293789-5227


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!