[7] After his retirement in 1991, Neeskens was assistant manager to Guus Hiddink with the Dutch and Australian national teams, and to Frank Rijkaard for the Netherlands, Barcelona and Galatasaray.

Ajax completed a hat-trick of European Cup wins between 1971 and 1973, and Neeskens moved on to FC Barcelona in 1974 to join Cruyff and Michels.

[9] In 1974 World Cup qualification, Neeskens scored a hat-trick in a 9–0 win over Norway and also neutralised the attacking threat of Paul Van Himst against Belgium; the latter performance was criticised as a "disgrace" in Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant for having committed 13 fouls.

[11] At the tournament in West Germany, he scored two penalties against Bulgaria, and a goal in a 2–0 win over reigning champions Brazil to put the Netherlands into the final.

[16] Four years later, Neeskens was a crucial player for the Netherlands (despite a rib injury suffered in the Scotland defeat), in the absence of Cruyff who had retired from international football in 1977.

[11] After his nine-month ban for club absences was lifted, he was reintroduced to the national squad by manager Kees Rijvers in late 1981 for two qualifiers to the 1982 FIFA World Cup.

[18] In 2000 he was appointed coach of Dutch side NEC Nijmegen, leading them to their first European appearance in twenty years in 2003, but was fired in December 2004 with the team in 14th place.

[20] After the 2006 World Cup, Neeskens returned to FC Barcelona to replace Henk ten Cate in the club's technical staff, reuniting with Rijkaard.

[23] Speaking of Neeskens, the UEFA website stated that the "steel-hard midfielder was a tireless runner yet also had nice technique and scored goals, helping to set the stage for Cruyff to shine.

A box-to-box midfielder with incredible stamina, great mentality, and a powerful shot, Neeskens excelled at pressuring opponents to regain possession.

He played in the Total Football team designed by Kovács's predecessor Rinus Michels, in which players were expected to change position fluidly.