With a career that includes playing under Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford and a successful World Cup with the “Dashing Danes” side of 1986 and the 1984 Euros, Olsen has plenty to draw on when quizzed on his career.

But the winger's experiences in the early 1980s with a then veteran Johan Cruyff at Ajax is what he remembers most fondly.

Cruyff, generally regarded as in the class of a Pele, Maradona or Best, had returned to Holland in the twilight of his career.

Olsen was just 20 then but a regular up and coming winger at Ajax – a side that was like a who's who of the time with Marco Van Basten, Frank Rijkaard (now coach of Socceroo World Cup opponents Saudi Arabia) and Ronald Koeman.

However the arrival of Cruyff and his influence on him was something Olsen has never forgotten.

As an example, he recalled one particular penalty against Helmond Sport which has since become football folklore in Holland. 

The unusual spot kick become a perfect example of the Dutch master’s mad genius, as Olsen recalled to au.fourfourtwo.com. 

“We were winning easily at the time so he [Cruyff] steps up for the penalty," said Olsen. "But then he rolls it to me and I run into the box from outside the area.

"I reach the ball, pass it back to him and he scores."

Olsen and Cruyff had practised this routine in training a few months earlier but were unsure how it would be interpreted. 

“The referee wasn’t sure if he should give it," he admitted. "Even we weren’t quite sure! The goalkeeper came to me as I ran in, and I played it back and he scores the goal.”

Arsenal fans may remember a similar plan involving Thierry Henry and Robert Pires – though that went horribly wrong after the pair messed it up terribly. 

“I wasn’t sure it would work,” added Olsen. “It was something completely different. The referee hesitated because obviously he’d never seen it before. But he gave it!”

In recent times the Olsen and Cruyff version has become a popular search item on YouTube.

That penalty was just one of the great memories the livewire Dane enjoyed with the great Cruyff, who’d returned from his spell in US football for a final fling with the Dutch super club.

Olsen, now 50, was an assistant coach with Melbourne Heart last season and while he retains his links with the A-League outfit the has branched out into junior coaching.

Olsen is now using his experiences  to help guide players at Melbourne’s Football Star Academy (www.footballstaracademy.com.au).

The former tricky winger - who has lived in Melbourne for most of the last decade - played almost 140 times for the Red Devils after being signed by Ron Saunders. He also played over 85 times for Ajax and enjoyed three seasons in the French league at Bordeaux and Caen.

But the Cruyff era at Ajax is always a touchstone for Olsen. 

“There were lots of things he showed us. How to protect the ball, think ahead and that makes sense. He was someone to aim for, if he could play like that at 37," said Olsen, who said Cruyff was a strong advocate of a 4-3-3 formation.

“He’d get the ball and wait for players to move into the right position or get them into the right position.

“Talking all the time, directing, thinking, and talking all the time. His belief, he had no problems on the pitch, it was just unbelievable.

“So far ahead of the game, left foot, right foot. I played every game for nearly three seasons … you look back and think, ‘what a player’ and obviously also a fantastic coach with Barcelona.

“It was a real inspiration because he wasn’t a big guy, a bit taller than me but tactically and technically was fantastic.  When you start playing with him and he was 37 you realise just how good he must have been early on in his career."

Olsen rated Cruyff as in some ways on a higher level than his luminaries.

“He was able to control the game when he had the ball. If you talk about tactical awareness if you talk about Pele, Maradona and him, he was much more of a leader by influencing so many things on the pitch.”

*Follow me on Twitter @Aidothejourno