in-the-eye assault on Barcelona's assistant trainer was “an act of arrogance and impotence” and Real Madrid must rein in its controversial coach, Dutch great Johan Cruyff said. Mourinho is being investigated by the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) after he jabbed a finger into Tito Vilanova's eye during a mass brawl that flared up during last month's Spanish Super Cup match. Cruyff, who coached Barca to four straight La Liga titles in the early 1990s, told Monday's El Periodico daily Mourinho's behavior was damaging Real Madrid's image and was born of an obsession with beating Barca at any cost. “Mourinho might be a very good person in private and a very good coach but the side he shows the world is something else,” Cruyff said. “Many people say that he does it to deflect attention so that it will be talked about and not the football,” he added. “I don't believe it. It is an act of arrogance and impotence.” Mourinho, who served as an assistant Barca coach in the late 90s, could be handed a lengthy ban (up to 12 games) by the federation and Cruyff said Real shared a responsibility to rein in the former Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan manager. “The current situation is extremely disagreeable,” the Dutchman told El Periodico. “Madrid's responsibility in the world is very great and there are certain things you should not allow to happen. “There are millions of children in the world who have been showed a terrible example and Madrid is not looking out for them in any way. The club has the duty to change the situation. “Madrid has always been great for many years due to the way it is, its style, its behavior.” Ferguson explains Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has had enough of all the talk about this Barcelona team being the best of all time. “It's certainly among the best sides of all time. But so was the Milan side with (Franco) Baresi, (Carlo) Ancelotti, (Roberto) Donadoni and the Dutch players,” Ferguson said, referring to the squad that Arrigo Sacchi coached to back-to-back European Cup titles in 1989 and 1990. “There's a short memory in football. Now everyone says Barcelona is a fantastic squad, but at the time they said the same thing about Milan. “I don't think there's any sense in asking which is the best team of all time,” Ferguson added. “The important thing is to remember that a certain squad was special. That makes me think of the Dutch squads in the 70's, Bayern and Celtic, which beat Inter in the European Cup in 1967. That was a squad in which the players were born within a 25-kilometer radius.” As for Jose Mourinho, Ferguson had nothing but compliments. “I don't find anything wrong with his enthusiasm,” Ferguson said. “When I was younger I showed more enthusiasm on the bench, too — I was always gesticulating and directing. “It's Mourinho's nature to be agitated,” Ferguson added.
