Kopion 2016

Living to a Standard: Scot McKnight writes, "Jesus doesn't want just your talents. He doesn't want just your dreams. He doesn't want just your abilities. He doesn't want just your mind. He doesn't want just your job. He doesn't want only your grades. He doesn't want just your money. He doesn't want just your gifts.
He wants you.
He doesn't want something from you, he wants you.
He wants your One.Life
He wants you to live the Committed.Life."

Playing to a Standard....Earlier this summer, I asked all of you to send me your favorite player. Not all of you responded but the ones that did had quite the list of talented players-Messi, Donavan, Sir Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, Xavi, Paul Scholes, JMoneyStackz, Steven Gerrard, Toure, the Brazilian Ronaldo, Clint Dempsey, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Gareth Bale, David Beckham and Neymar. My all time favorite player was Johan Cruyff. The first time that I saw him play was in the 1974 World Cup final vs. West Germany. The Dutch scored off the kickoff with 15 consecutive passes that resulted in Cruyff getting fouled in the box and the Dutch scored on the PK. I had never seen anything like it. It was this team that introduced this idea of Total Football.
Here is an interesting article on Cruyff and his standard of play. Johan Cruyff is quoted as saying, “Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is.” Cruyff was voted the best European Footballer of the 20^th Century and the 2^nd best World Footballer of the 20^th Century. Cruyff was known for his technical ability, speed, acceleration and dribbling but his greatest quality was vision, based on an acute sense of his team-mates' positions as an attack unfolded….Much has been written about Barcelona's brilliant youth development system, with good reason. Today's Barcelona is stocked with homegrown talent, and they have exported some of their most celebrated graduates to teams around the world (Cesc Fabregas is one of the best known). That development system formed the backbone of Spain's European Championship and World Cup winning side, yet the "Barcelona way" - a style that places a premium on passing, technical excellence and a swarming offense - might not have ever come into being had it not been for a Dutch emigree. It is as a theoretician that Cruyff has had the greatest impact. When he helmed Barcelona, Cruyff expanded the work of coach Rinus Michels, taking the 4-3-3 formation that was just coming into vogue (with Manchester United's 1968 European Cup winning side under Matt Busby) and making it a system that afforded every player multiple options and outlets every time they received the ball. The closest American analogue would be Tex Winter's "triangle offense," which Phil Jackson used successfully to steer the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers to multiple NBA titles.
Whenever I had the chance to watch Ajax or Holland play, they Played to a Standard that was so recognizable. Same with Barcelona and Spain today, it looks so simple but we all know that is not the case. Everyone had to play to the same standard in order for it to be effective. Another quote by Cruyff that I love is, “To play well, you need good players, but a good player almost always has the problem of a lack of efficiency. He always wants to do things prettier than strictly necessary. Innumerable super talents don’t make it because they don’t know how to be a team player. They can do anything they want with a ball, except giving a simple pass at the right time with the right speed. Showcasing their skills is what it’s all about for them. They play for themselves, not for the team. It’s all about taming the talent and making him see that his star will only rise if he puts the interests of the team above his own."

This 2013 team needs to Play to Standard that leaves it's thumbprint on Cornerstone soccer.