Rinus Michels

Rinus Michels played his entire career as a forward for Ajax, then returned to manage the club and later took four separate stints with the Dutch national team. He led Ajax to the European Cup and Barcelona to the Spanish league title before guiding the Netherlands to the 1974 World Cup final and, fourteen years later, to victory at Euro 1988. In the 1970s he developed Total Football, a fluid tactical philosophy in which any outfield player could take over any position, remaking how the game was played. FIFA named him Coach of the Century in 1999; France Football called him the greatest coach…