A petty loser or maybe Cruyff's most loyal spiritual son: ETH blaims referees for Kobenhavn crash

There's a great anecdote Jorge Valdano, former Argentina forward and Real Madrid boss, told about his encounter with the legendary late Johan Cruyff while they were at the helm of Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively. Valdano-led Royals needed a win in El Clasico to save their title hopes, and the match ended in a 1-1 draw. Walking into the tunnel - Valdano recollects - he was aware that his work at Santiago Bernabeu was done and that he'll get sacked any time soon. At the end of the tunnel, he met Cruyff, congratulating the Dutch colleague for the title-worth stalemate. Instead of thanking, the charismatic Barca manager raised his voice like scolding his son.

"Stop that rubbish! And I want you to go now straight to the press centre and blame your president for everything. That's your chance."

Wow.

That's how the unique yet cunning brain of Johan Cruyff worked, as Valdano still remembers that unforgettable moment.

Some ten years prior, Cruyff appeared in a Dutch TV show, talking to various kids about football and everything surrounding it. One of the boys in that studio was a 13-year-old Erik ten Hag. Footage recently appeared on the Internet shows then-young Ten Hag discussing how to communicate with players with Cruyff.

And for some reason, those two short episodes of Cruyff's life have come to our mind this Thursday after reading ETH's statement following a disturbing, almost shameful Manchester United's 4-3 away loss to FC Kobenhavn in the Champions League last night.

Instead of taking the blame for another disappointing result (to put it politely!) or addressing the issues as they should be done, Ten Hag went for a Cruyff-esque approach in a nutshell. Blaming it all on referees!

This is your final destination, Erik! Manchester United die a painful death in Denmark

Man Utd boss said the decisions that went against his side are part of a pattern that has helped to contribute to the nine defeats they have suffered in 17 games this season - the most at this stage of a campaign in 50 years!

"We concede two goals that should not count," Ten Hag argued. "The first is offside, and the second goal, it's so close, and the hand is in a normal position. What can you do for that?

"Four penalties against us in four games and two or three are very debatable. The game can't be like this."

His rant didn't end there, of course...

Copenhagen had more of the possession and registered 16 shots to United's nine, but Ten Hag insisted:

"It's a game of mistakes. I wouldn't say we did everything right, but there are a lot of positives.

"Even with ten men, after Rashford was sent off, we were dictating the game. We are very disappointed because we played very well. We started the game so well. These were our best minutes of the season! We are winning the game, and the red card changes everything," said ETH, forgetting to mention, though, that those 'best minutes' lasted - wait for it - only ten minutes!?

If Johan is somewhere up there in the sky, he'd be proud of Erik, his most loyal spiritual son. Only... Cruyff had some sensational achievements as a coach - first Barca's Champions League title ever, for instance. Using his little tricks from the notebook is legitimate, but that's simply not enough. Especially not for a man trying to become a successor of another football great, Sir Alex Ferguson.