Johan Cruyff

About Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff (1947 - 2016) was a Dutch professional soccer player and coach, regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of the sport. His historical importance, ranked at #528 by MIT's Pantheon project, stems from pioneering the "Total Football" philosophy while playing for Ajax and the Netherlands national team, securing multiple European Cups and Ballon d'Or awards. As a coach, he further developed this style at FC Barcelona, leading to sustained success and establishing a legacy that profoundly shaped modern soccer tactics worldwide.

Despite this high historical ranking, Cruyff receives relatively modest attention online. In 2025, his Wikipedia pageviews totaled approximately 1.0 million, resulting in an Attention Gap of +3x, indicating an overattention bias when compared to his historical significance alone, though this measure can be complex for athletes whose careers span a finite period. Interestingly, his contemporary Diego Maradona, ranked #772 in historical importance, garnered over twice the attention with 2.2 million views in the same year.

Cruyff's 2025 attention shows a slight decline, with a year-over-year view change of -17.7% and a minimal momentum drop of -1% between Q1 and Q3, suggesting his presence on the modern internet is gradually waning following his passing.