Jordi Cruyff knows better than most the threat Ajax coach Peter Bosz poses to Jose Mourinho's Manchester United side in the Europa League final.
The teams go head to head at Stockholm's Friends Arena on Wednesday, with Ajax's talented youngsters looking to stun United's highly-paid stars and land a first continental trophy in 22 years.
Cruyff joined the Dutch club aged seven, although never played for the first team as he moved to Spain in 1988 when his late father Johan - after whom the Amsterdam club's stadium is set to be renamed - was appointed Barcelona coach.
The 43-year-old knows what it is like to line up for United, though, having signed for Sir Alex Ferguson's side from Barca in 1996.
"United is the club with the bigger budget, with bigger signings, probably a bit more pressure but more experienced players that are all good players," Cruyff told Press Association Sport.
"You always think in finals it always gives an edge, but Ajax is difficult because they can have two sides.
"They can have the invincible, unstoppable side that beat Schalke at home and Lyon 4-1, or it can have the other side in which their players are a bit nervous and they have their away form. You just never know.
"If United has the bad luck that Ajax has a good game, it is going to be a very open and tough game."
Cruyff will be watching the match from Israel, where he has worked as Maccabi Tel Aviv's sports director since 2012.
And he is a big admirer of Bosz.
"I remember when we sold (manager) Slavisa Jokanovic to Fulham (in 2015), I was speaking on the phone with my father and I said, 'Listen, I've got to try to get this guy, Peter Bosz'," Cruyff recalled.
"My father sort of laughed and said, 'Well, you've got good taste, but it is probably going to be an impossible mission'.
"Those words just made it like, 'No, this is the guy - we're going to do everything we can'."
Cruyff's determination, and contact over several years, bore fruit as Bosz left Vitesse Arnhem to take the reins in Israel in January 2016.
A diligent head coach with a "360 awareness" thanks to his playing days as a defensive midfielder, Cruyff speaks glowingly of his compatriot's attacking mindset.
Players are charged with regaining possession within five seconds and playing vertically whenever possible - an approach that led Maccabi to go unbeaten in 23 matches under him and Ajax to come calling last summer.
Bosz speaks fondly of his brief time in Israel and in particular an invaluable week spent with Johan Cruyff that taught him "enough for 10 years".
"He loves my father," Jordi said. "My father visited here once in a while and used to love to go to the training.
"When it's a Dutch coach, obviously there is no language barrier and a similar football philosophy.
"They spent quite some hours in the week that my father spent here talking about football, about this, about that.
"But even though Peter Bosz might have adopted my father's style of football, the way my father liked it, I must also say he has his own touch of personality."
Ajax and United will be battling for not only the Europa League trophy on Wednesday but the Champions League berth that comes with it.
Cruyff, who spent the end of the 1998-99 campaign on loan at Celta Vigo before joining Alaves the following year, looks back on his time at Old Trafford with pride, but admits he made mistakes.
"Let's put it this way, I think was probably a little bit immature at that time," said the former Holland midfielder, whose career has also taken him to Ukraine, Malta and Cyprus.
"The physical side of the Premier League was hard to cope with and I suppose I was a bit of a stubborn one also.
"Things didn't work out and now when I look back I just think everything in my career helps me.
"You take lessons from every stage of your life and it is something I bring in to my principles of nowadays, outside but also on the field.
"There's a lot of things that maybe I didn't understand back then but now I actually see that, wow, Ferguson was one step ahead in many of his things, which at that moment I didn't really understand.
"So with time you actually get to understand a lot of things and look in the mirror a little bit better and understand that the one that was wrong was basically myself, not anybody else.
"But that's life and I can only say I was proud to have been in a club, especially in a nice and successful period, with some great team-mates and a great manager."
Source: PA
