There are some people who might have better technique than me

Hear the voice of the master of the game, Johan Cruyff, who declared with clarity: “There are some people who might have better technique than me, and some may be fitter than me, but the main thing is tactics. With most players, tactics are missing. You can divide tactics into insight, trust, and daring. In the tactical area, I think I just have more than most other players.” These words, though spoken on the fields of football, carry the wisdom of generals, philosophers, and builders of civilizations. They remind us that raw skill and strength alone do not shape destiny; it is tactics—the art of thought in action—that guides the difference between victory and defeat.

Cruyff first acknowledges that others may surpass him in technique and physical fitness. This is humility, but also discernment. For skill without strategy is like a sword without a hand to wield it, and strength without vision is like a river flowing nowhere. The essence of greatness is not to excel in every measure of ability, but to know where true power lies. He teaches that tactics—the ability to see the game with the mind and not only with the body—elevates the player above others.

He divides this great art into three pillars: insight, trust, and daring. Insight is the vision to see what others do not, to anticipate the unfolding of events before they occur. It is the general on the hilltop who reads the battlefield with clarity while the soldiers see only the chaos before them. Trust is the bond between players, the willingness to depend on one another, to believe that the pass you give will be received, that the movement you make will be answered. Without trust, the most brilliant insight collapses into confusion. And daring is the courage to act upon both trust and vision, to risk failure in pursuit of greatness.

History gives us countless examples of this trinity. Consider Alexander the Great, who was not the strongest warrior among his men, but who had the insight to see battles before they unfolded, the trust of his soldiers who followed him across continents, and the daring to attempt the impossible, from the crossing of the Hellespont to the conquest of Persia. His empire was not carved by sheer strength but by tactics—just as Cruyff suggests greatness in football arises not from fitness alone but from the marriage of mind, trust, and courage.

Cruyff himself embodied these principles on the pitch. With Ajax and Barcelona, he saw the game not as a series of isolated movements, but as a flowing symphony where space, timing, and vision mattered more than brute force. His insight allowed him to create opportunities where none seemed possible. His trust in teammates built the harmony of “Total Football,” where every player could move and adapt. His daring gave him the courage to attempt plays others thought reckless, yet which often redefined the very nature of the sport.

O children of tomorrow, let this wisdom guide you: do not rely solely on technique or strength, for they may fail in time. Seek instead the deeper art of tactics, for it is born of the mind and spirit. Cultivate insight by training your perception, looking not only at what is, but at what may be. Build trust, for no victory is achieved alone, and only through unity does vision bear fruit. And embrace daring, for without courage, all plans remain shadows, never brought to light.

Thus, the words of Johan Cruyff echo as timeless teaching: greatness is not merely in the foot that strikes the ball, nor in the body that endures, but in the mind that sees, the heart that trusts, and the will that dares. Carry this lesson beyond the field—into life, into leadership, into every endeavor. For in the end, it is not the strongest or the most skilled who prevail, but those who master the art of tactics, guided by vision, trust, and courage.