We all feel that hunger in football. With Cruyff, it was different. He deepened and changed the hunger so you became conscious of why you are getting better.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
In hindsight, that time out of football gives you the hunger to want to get back to basics and play football.
You hear all these people saying, 'Oh, Pep, what a good manager he is.' Forget about it. Cruyff was the best, by far.
From my point of view what I have to do now is appreciate and enjoy what football gave me, but now do something else with the same energy and enthusiasm I gave to football without expecting the same results.
I think all players reach a point in their career where it's natural to lose some of that hunger, that desire, to sort of break out or be a star.
This was how Johan Cruyff worked. He was demanding a lot, but when you got there, and you were in his team, he was an incredible protector. He would push and push you, and then he would protect you. He was a master at handling players. He knew when you needed to be pushed or protected.
You know, I was crap. But I had the commitment, and I had the understanding, that the basis of football is skill on the ball, and if you spend the time with it, you're gonna reap the rewards.
If you don't feel hunger, you don't succeed at anything.
I stopped playing football because I'd done as much as I could. I needed something which was going to excite me as much as football had excited me.
Too much money at a young age, it just takes your eye off the ball. And you're not as hungry as players used to be. You think you've made it before you've done anything.
I used to think that losing made you more hungry and determined but after my success at the Olympics and the U.S. Open I realise that winning is the biggest motivation.
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