Cruyff slams Mourinho as arrogant
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Shanghai Daily, September 7, 2011
Jose Mourinho's eye-poke on one of Barcelona's assistant coaches was an "act of arrogance and impotence" that reveals the Real Madrid coach's obsession with beating the Spanish champion is beyond reasonable, according to Johan Cruyff.
Mourinho could be banned for up to 12 games for poking Tito Vilanova in the eye during a brawl toward the end of last month's Spanish Supercup, won by the Catalan club.
Former Barcelona coach Cruyff told El Periodico de Catalunya newspaper that he has never seen such behavior in football before.
"The bad example is being shown to millions of kids in the world and Madrid isn't doing a thing about it. Mourinho might be a good person in private and a good coach but what he shows the world is something else altogether," Cruyff said.
Tension between the Spanish rivals is high following six meetings since April, with many ugly scenes accompanying much of the quality play. Emotions have often boiled over in these matches, especially since Mourinho, a former assistant coach at Barcelona, joined Madrid.
"The problem is very serious. Madrid has a very big responsibility to the world and there are things that should not be allowed," Cruyff said. "Madrid has the bad luck of playing against Barcelona at this time. The problem is his obsession with Barcelona has gone beyond the limits."
The Dutchman also criticized Sandro Rosell, saying the Barcelona president backed Mourinho over current coach Pep Guardiola three years ago.
Cruyff was also critical of Rosell's decision to allow advertising on the Barcelona shirt for the first time in history.
"The club is obsessed with not only winning titles but making a lot of money. For me, it should be the reverse," said Cruyff. "Over the last year the desire to seek out money has taken on too much importance."
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