age 18 174 cm. © Copyright 2019 - Ronnie Dog Media All Rights Reserved. He was also the added cover for the backline, slotting in for one of the centre-backs, notably Gerard Pique, whenever he ventured forward. Guardiola had a plan and a reason for putting in each of the players that he inserted regularly into his line-ups. And this system also kept up the bargain of tactical flexibility for Guardiola as it could morph into a 3-4-1-2, 4-4-2, 4-3-3, even a 2-4-4 at times if chasing a game. While many critics believe that all he did was put together a group of some of the most talented players around, that is not necessarily true. The section above gave a brief explanation about the Positional Play concept Guardiola uses as his coaching methodology. goalkeeper): Messi stays between the two centerbacks, Villa and Pedro each with the opposition’s full back, Xavi and Iniesta  stepping up to protect passes into the half space, Busquets protects the area in front of the central defenders, Alves and Abidal with freedom to either press the opposition’s wingers  or push forward to overload the midfield, finally Pique and Mascherano/Puyol stay back to sweep any long passes behind them, with an exception being Mascherano having the authority to venture into midfield to block any passes to the midfield line. The name Guardiola does not merely represent a man any more; it has come to represent a faith, a belief, a philosophy; one that has delivered success on a consistent basis at the highest level. Pep Guardiola's unstoppable Barça (2008-2012) Relive the achievements one of the most phenomenal teams in sporting history. Whichever formation was played, it … And as brilliant a sweeper-keeper as Manuel Neuer is, he could not always save the day for them, especially against quality opposition. age 31 170 cm. The opposition presses with 5 players, 2 covering Alves & Abidal, 2 covering Piqué & Mascherano, and 1 covering Busquets. Subsequently, Guardiola converted Messi into a full-fledged striker from a winger, and Eto’o and Henry would depart. Depending on what weakness a certain opponent has and what he wants to guard against regards his own team, Guardiola can pick his personnel. “The team that interpreted Positional Play in a most extraordinary way was the Barcelona of Pep Guardiola,” says Marti Perarnau, the author who wrote two books about Guardiola’s stint with Bayern Munich. Avid reader of football articles with a special focus on possession-based teams. 8 months ago, Victoria Myznikova. Here the opposition commits 6 players and decides to press Valdes. This formation was another continuation in the triangle system of Guardiola, except that instead of widening the pitch to stretch the defence like at Barca, here the system was about overloading the centre of the park with triangles formed all around the centremost midfielder, usually either Kroos, Lahm or Schweinsteiger. But, the uncompromising perfection by the gaffer for his style of play led him to immediate success. However, despite this, one of his greatest exploits was his ability to coach the usage of wing-backs, especially with Dani Alves, who Barca acquired from Sevilla in 2008 at the start of Guardiola’s reign. The home side played a 2-2-6 formation, while the visitors went with an even more ambitious 1-2-7. Embed from Getty Images. Josep Guardiola, Pep Confidential ... the 4-3-3 formation or a variation of it (3-4-3 / 3-1-3-3) has generally been in the helm. When Leo drops into midfield, shall he be followed by a central defender? This formation like the 4-1-4-1 last year can also seamlessly morph into a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3, a 3-5-2, or even a 3-2-2-3 (as against Manchester United in the Champions League last year) as the situation demands. His need for a more mobile holding player with good passing range saw him make the shift and that meant Rafinha would take Lahm’s place at right-back. Guardiola has used a variety of formations including fielding three-at-the-back against Sheffield United this season, but usually lines out in 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. Under Pep Guardiola the club still play 4-3-3 even though before the start of his reign many thought a diamond formation to accommodate … Therefore, Pep’s team became famous for being “possession kings” but people understood it the wrong way therefore labelling the style as “Tiki-taka”. Two strikers press Piqué and Mascherano, as a result they split wide and Busquets drops deep; known as “Salida Lavolpiana”, a concept Guardiola learned from his days in Mexico. The two wide CBs had to have to mobility to help cover the width of the pitch. R foot. Guardiola’s job is to facilitate his team to enter the final third and establish a platform for them to best exploit their individual qualities. Axel Allag, publié le vendredi 20 novembre 2020 à 15h34 Pep Guardiola, qui a prolongé son contrat avec Manchester City jusqu'en 2023, a évoqué le cas de Lionel Messi en conférence de presse. April 11, 2019 12:45PM. JORDI ALBA. Xavi with a brilliant switch of body position confused the defence line, complemented by the brilliant movement of Villa and Pedro; starting wide then cutting inside then going back wide again to lose their markers. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was bought in as Guardiola wanted to find a different way of scoring goals, but that experiment didn’t go very well and he used him sparingly. The team that went down in history books for managing to not only win titles but also change our view  towards football as to how aesthetically pleasing the game can be, when played the ‘right’ way. 4-3-3 was famously used by Pep that changes to 3-4-3 during transitions. Back in Catalonia, Guardiola was put under spotlight; doubts were raised surrounding his ability to maintain his players’ winning mentality after achieving every trophy they could possibly win. Add Messi to this trio, who drops into midfield, you get the diamond that managed to dominate European teams with their exquisite passing and intelligent positioning. As a manager Pep Guardiola has won 27 trophies – winning eight league titles in 11 years as a coach in La Liga, Bundesliga and the Premier League – he is considered by many as the greatest coach of his generation. September 17, 2012. For this to work, the defenders and goalkeeper must be at the highest technical level as well as being confident when in possession of the ball. The tiki-taka style has been very relevant in today’s football tactic. If he moved up to support Lewandowski, Lahm would go right to provide width and again would be supported by Boateng. All in all, Guardiola’s formula at Barca for much of his stay was built on the full-backs, dribbling centre-backs, the wide forwards who would dart in and the midfield duo of Iniesta and Xavi and later the concept of the ‘false forward’. If Pedro needs to cut inside to Zone 15, Dani Alves will provide an overlapping run and enters Zone 10 to reach Zone 16, whereas Xavi will provide support for both of them by shifting towards Zone 8, thus forming a triangle with him being its base point. Sat, 19 Dec. 2020 / Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Sponsored Links. FM18 Tiki-Taka Tactic: A Different Version with the 4-3-3 Formation, Inspired by Pep Guardiola. For the vast majority of the time, his formations and their underlying ethos have served his teams brilliantly. Throughout his time at Barca, there were two players outside of Messi that were of utmost importance to make the formation work and make it dynamic – Alves and Abidal. A front six of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, Angel di Maria, Luka Modric and Xabi Alonso had too much pace, power, and on-ball ability to be contained by the 4-1-4-1. But the City boss last week signed a contract extension at the Etihad until 2023. This is reflected when comparing the match stats for the two sides. On top of them stood Bernat, Alonso and Lahm. The opposing team is closing down Valdes, Piqué, Mascherano, Alves, Abidal, and Busquets. Barcelona. Toni Freixa sees no reason why Pep Guardiola won't go back to manage Barca; Guardiola had a successful four-year stint in charge of Barcelona's first team; He … For ever so quietly, away from the main stories making the rounds in the continent, Guardiola’s Bayern have made another impressive start and are looking the best amongst all the reigning league champions. As has been relayed many times in the build up to his maiden term in the Camp Nou hotseat, the Dutchman will rely on a 4-2-3-1 with double pivots. After achieving Numerical Superiority, it’s guaranteed that the team will gain a qualitative superiority in an under-loaded side of the pitch where the one of the team’s more talented player will be matched up against the opposition’s (weakest) player. Tiki taka of Pep's Barca - formation and tactics. This early version though played slightly quicker, largely due to the presence of forwards Thierry Henry, who played wide left, Samuel Eto’o, who played through the middle, and Lionel Messi, who started wide right. The main key here that allowed Barcelona to score is the central overload that was created, a 3 vs 2 with Xavi-Iniesta-Messi having an edge over Park and Carrick. Being able to play football in a such stylish way and win trophies. We have also seen Bayern operate in a 3-3-3-1 in a couple of games where three clear lines of three (defenders, holding mids, attacking mids) stack up on top of each other with a lone forward up front. As soon as Barça’s players lost the ball, they would swarm around the ball carrier and his potential options in what was named as the “6-second rule”. The mobility the Pole brings into that frontline allows Pep to use different combinations of attacking midfielders behind him. Some of the pressing triggers that Barcelona used, depending on the opposition, were: The picture above shows that the team’s high pressure is passing-lane oriented. In his all-conquering first season, when Barcelona won the treble, Guardiola operated predominantly with a 4-3-3 formation. The one in the middle would usually sit deeper as a libero. This is the exact reason why Guardiola hates the word “tiki-taka”; it means passing the ball for the sake of passing. After bypassing the first line of pressure, the team will push its lines forward and dominate the midfield by congesting as many players in that area as discussed before. Messi- the jewel to complete the Catalan’s masterpiece, best player above all who has the utmost freedom in dropping deep or moving to the wings, whichever Leo thinks, he does. His new tactical venture seems to moving towards the use of […] centre-back for Jerome Boateng whenever necessary, The evolution of Pep Guardiola's formations from Barcelona to Bayern Munich are not only fascinating from a fan point of view but also provide a great insight into the workings of a great football mind. Pep used a base formation which was the 4-3-3 but Barcelona were fluid and would often transition into other formations like the 3-4-3 perfected by Guardiols's mentor Johan Cruyff.