This is an overview of the career of a manager. The picture above shows us a scenario where the opposition shifted their midfield line towards one side which allowed Iniesta to easily exploit the big amount of space now available to him on the other side. The team must always aim to provide support for the ball-carrier and avoid isolating a player if he is not in a favorable position to exploit such isolation. Pep Guardiola's unstoppable Barça (2008-2012) Relive the achievements one of the most phenomenal teams in sporting history. The 4-1-4-1 for all its tactical nuances had some weaknesses. The reasoning behind it is that Guardiola thinks of a football match as a series of small-sided battles: 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, 4 vs 4; meaning that freedom in movement is required in order to always guarantee numerical and positional superiority. Mehdi Benatia’s arrival has also bolstered the defensive ranks. 2. 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. Six full seasons on, he stands out as one of the best managers in world football, the reputation of both Barcelona and his own personal brand greatly enhanced. There is no doubt Pep Guardiola changed the way we look at football. Alves was key in the attacking areas of the right flank. That’s why Pep went out and bought Thiago Alcantara, not for old time’s sake. While many critics believe that all he did was put together a … 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. The 3-man backline sacrifices width for numerical superiority in dealing with opposing attackers while providing a man advantage in midfield. Tribuna.com's editorial team have taken a look at how the starting XI made out of the best Barca's Academy products would look like. For example, let’s take 3 players, Pedro has the ball and located in Zone 16, Xavi in Zone 7, and Dani Alves in Zone 8. Then Valdes passes to Pique who lays it off to Xavi and Xavi releases Alves into space. 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. This is reflected when comparing the match stats for the two sides. That would result in Abidal falling back into the left side of a back three, with Pique and Puyol. The system also helps for the cover of Kroos with Alonso now playing Lahm’s role from last year allowing the captain to operate further up the pitch in the right side of a diamond with Alonso bottom, Alaba left and Götze at the tip. After covering the team’s attacking aspect, the defensive side should be focused on as well. Rafinha and Bernat playing generally means they will stay wide to stretch defences providing space for the holding midfielder(s) and centre-backs to join in the attacks; when Alaba and Lahm play, they can go either way, bombing forward in attack or cutting in allowing the likes of Götze, Robben, Ribery and Shaqiri to go wide. To achieve this, players must be positioned in a defined space according to four reference points: the ball, their teammates, the space, and the opponents. The problem most teams have, … SERGIO BUSQUETS. NOTE: All the animations and pictures that have been used in the article were made using TacticalPad. Whichever formation was played, it … At Barcelona, they were at times too one-dimensional and teams would ‘park the bus’ to snuff them out and hit them on the counter to emerge victorious. If no, Messi would get the ball in his favorite position and will either turn and run at the defenders or recycle possession with Xavi & Iniesta; both ways, big trouble. Font had previously said he would try to bring Guardiola back to Barca if he is voted in to succeed Josep Bartomeu. And it was that versatility that got them off to such a flying start last season, eventually helping them win the Bundesliga at a canter. In the typical fashion of a side led by Pep Guardiola, Barça completely dictated the tempo of the match. Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Broma018 ----- DISCLAIMER: THIS VIDEO IS MADE FOR AND TARGETED AT ADULTS. Both Fabregas and Sanchez could play in a multitude of positions, which is why they were bought. The two withdrawn strikers or attacking mids play a critical role as they alternate between shifting wide or tucking in behind the main striker. Isolating each winger with his respective marker, gaining an advantage in terms of quality. 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. 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. Each of Guardiola’s acquisitions was done with a specific goal in mind. 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 tiki-taka style has been very relevant in today’s football tactic. Mercato - Barcelone : Pep Guardiola devrait jouer deux sales tours au Barça ! Guardiola didn’t change the formation of the starting team that he inherited, electing to keep a 4-3-3 going. What if Pep’s Barcelona played against Sacchi’s AC Milan? Boateng would often pull wide and operate almost as a full-back in support of Lahm and Müller ahead of him. Put on your seat belts, because we're going to have fun.". ... the hallowed 4-3-3 that carried on through to Pep Guardiola … Mercato - Barcelone : Xavi est bien impliqué dans un grand projet au Barça ! This was when the triangle offense really came into its own, as Barca’s players would move forward with the ball, triangulating their passing with almost geometric precision to unseat teams. September 24, 2020 by Sam Stobbart. Defenders fell into a dilemma when playing against Barcelona with Messi as a false nine: Playing out from the back is the strategy followed by Barcelona in the first phase of the game, the build-up. That’s not all; Guardiola has thrown in another new tweak in the Bavarian giants’ strategy, which has been quite fascinating. 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 … He also covered for Busquets and Pique in their respective roles whenever Barca were in pursuit of a goal and pushed more bodies forward. This is done in the aim of either stretching the opposition’s midfield line thus creating gaps to pass into, or shift the opposition’s midfield towards one side and strike them with a switch of play to their under-loaded side. To get into how players learn this philosophy, Pep uses the now-famous field shown below: At each club, Guardiola demands this field to be arranged, it’s the place where his ideas can reach his players in an understandable way. If either of Dante or Boateng got drawn out wide on the right, Badstuber would deputise in their positions and Bernat would drop further back to take Badstuber’s place. It was the first time we ever saw Sir Alex Ferguson a bit of sorts, an image that’ll never fade from the Champion’s League history. R foot. Since its creation, by Johan Cruyff, some managers have been implementing it in their respective teams, but with some modifications. 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. Guardiola’s tactical journey from Barca to Bayern and why he is... May 5, 2016. Tactically, Barca generally stuck to a 4-3-3 shape throughout the season, playing high up the pitch and pressing from the front. Fabregas enabled Pep to play the striker-less formations, the conventional 4-4-2 with Messi and Pedro/Sanchez up front, and the 4-1-3-2 with him playing in a midfield three with Iniesta and Xavi and Pedro, and Sanchez either side of Messi up front. As explained, everything happens in relation to the ball and teammates. With that being said, Pep focused on bringing in some fresh blood to the team: Mascherano from Liverpool, David Villa from Valencia, Adriano from Sevilla, and Ibrahim Afellay from PSV. Since Pep Guardiola let Barca play tiki-taka en high pressing football I fell in love with his gameplay. This has meant that Guardiola’s alternative formation has had to change, and he has been experimenting with a system with one traditional striker dropping deep, with a supporting cast of three – composed of Messi, Pedro Rodriguez and Andres Iniesta. While at Barca, Guardiola had players of short stature at his disposal who were very good in possession; at Bayern he had more direct players in the likes of Thomas Müller, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery and he tried to cater to their strengths by banking on the influential Kroos. 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. 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. However, below I have mentioned some plays or excerpts from famous matches that resulted in goals for the Catalan team: United’s lines were broken by Iniesta’s pass to Xavi. Busquets-Xavi-Iniesta formed the fulcrum of this Barcelona side that enabled them to control games that Pep Guardiola strove (and still strives) for. If yes, then that means the opposition is man-marking Leo; man-marking the player who dazzles anyone with his movement in and out of space; thus creating channels for others to move into and head towards goal. With all that had gone by and seeing the limitations that the 4-1-4-1 caused, Guardiola introduced a 3-4-3 system against Borussia Dortmund in the DFB Pokal final of last year to redeem himself after the chastening defeat to Madrid. The common occurrence was Busquets in the defensive center of the circle, Xavi closer to him on the right, and Iniesta on the left but in an advanced position. Embed from Getty Images. Don’t believe a word of it! Someone like Javi Martinez and Holger Badstuber, both of whom have played as defensive midfielders, can play centre-back better in this formation as it helps them break up play, even at the cost of leaving their position thanks to added protection from the sides and also helps in their distribution. FC Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman already has his starting XI and formation for the upcoming 2020/2021 season. © Copyright 2019 - Ronnie Dog Media All Rights Reserved. Therefore, Pep’s team became famous for being “possession kings” but people understood it the wrong way therefore labelling the style as “Tiki-taka”. “I felt truly satisfied with the performance and I’m sure the players did too because they played a great game and enjoyed themselves. By the end of the 2008-09 season Barcelona had won a whole host of trophies. So even one slip-up can be costly. The formation worked against Villareal, because they were attacking by pushing numbers forward, leaving spaces for Barça’s front three. Positioning players in a diagonal manner opens up different angles for passing and makes it hard for the opposition to properly mark them without disorganizing their lines. Pep Guardiola is amongst the most thought provoking tactical intellectual’s of football history, and is the pioneer for tactical evolution in the modern age. When I mentioned that “numbers are of least importance” for Pep, I meant that there is no way the team remains structured in a 4-3-3 in all phases of the game. Carrière de joueur Carrière de joueur au Barça. The general recommendations to ensure the fluid flow of the game using this field can be categorized as the following: no more than 3 players can occupy the same horizontal line and no more than 2 players can occupy the same vertical line. Below are the guidelines that should be followed in order to fully adopt the Positional Play model: Pep doesn’t believe in numbers and formations, they all go up in the wind when the game starts. When faced with difficulty in circulating the ball, Messi joins into midfield and the triangle transforms into a Rhombus; Xavi & Busquets on the defensive side and Iniesta & Messi on the offensive side between the defense and midfield. 2010-2011 proved to be the season Barcelona reached its peak level in terms of perfecting the Positional Play model under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola. This is also an underrated point among coaches. The creative midfield players are chosen by Pep to play in Zones 6 and 8, and, 13 and 15; the reasoning behind it being that they are the popular “half-spaces” that most opponents’ formations can’t cover. What aids in this tactic is the positional superiority of the team during the attacking phase, compact and proximate to each other, that will help in performing the pressing scheme in a swift and effective way. However, Pedro wasn’t a regular in the team and Guardiola would go quite a few games with Iniesta/Villa/Messi as the front three. The mobility the Pole brings into that frontline allows Pep to use different combinations of attacking midfielders behind him. Can you believe that 2008-09 was the last time that Messi scored less than 49 goals in all competitions? This move was followed by a one-touch cross from Alves to either Messi or Villa for an easy tap-in. As always, Guardiola is thinking, scheming and looking to constantly adjust his team so that they don’t become predictable. Lesson plans from Guardiola’s 2007-08 title-winning season as Barça B coach are available online. 18. Isolation concept is extremely popular in basketball and this shows how Pep is universal in his methods and learning process. With a full-throttle 4-3-3 formation that his successors have been using ever since, Guardiola became the club’s most successful manager of all time by winning a stupendous 15 titles in only 4 seasons to surpass his idol Johan Cruyff’s record of 11 trophies. La Masia is one of the best, if not the best, football academies in the world. The two wide CBs had to have to mobility to help cover the width of the pitch. The use of ‘false full-backs’ was made possible by the presence of Ribery and Robben, who provided the width with their forays out wide to reduce the necessity for advanced full-backs. In his first three seasons at the club, Guardiola used the 4-3-3 formation that Barcelona have been synonymous with for decades. He is known for his willingness to implement new tactical systems that other, more conservative managers would shy away from. 8 months ago, Victoria Myznikova. As soon as the pass is made, the team attacks the passing lane and intercepts the ball. Barcelona. Josep Guardiola i Sala: Date of Birth: Jan 18, 1971: Place of Birth: Santpedor : Age: 49: Citizenship: Spain Avg. The home side played a 2-2-6 formation, while the visitors went with an even more ambitious 1-2-7. Holding possession by moving the ball both laterally and forward with crisp, short passes was the principle that they religiously stuck to. 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. When Messi moved into the middle as a false nine, Alves continued to play high up the pitch, importantly stretching the play, especially since both Villa and Pedro too were more inclined to move in from out wide. 2011-2012: 3-4-3. Publié le 10 décembre 2020 à 23h00 par D.M. Upon his arrival at Bayern, many predicted he would imbibe the tiki-taka system there too, but he didn’t (not entirely) choosing to work around the strengths of the players present in the team. Ronaldo and Bale ran roughshod over the two ‘false full-backs’ and Benzema’s movement in combination with one of the two plus di Maria took the two centre-backs out of the equation as well. Décryptage du jeu de cette équipe de légende dirigée par un maître de la tactique footballistique. It’s completely made up! In 2008, Pep Guardiola took over as the club's manager, having previously coached Barcelona's B Team. Defensively, Alves would bomb forward on the right with Puyol covering for him. Barcelona mostly came up against teams playing with a 4-4-2 defensive formation, when it happened, Dani Alves would push up on the wing along with Xavi shifting towards him also, creating a 2vs1 situation with the opposition’s ball-side winger; the fullback wouldn’t be able to help because Pedro would be pinning him wide and back. The overlying emphasis of this formation was to always have three central midfielders on the pitch at any point of time. Abidal was hugely important in compensating for Alves. Often considered as the tactical tweak that revolutionized Barcelona’s playing style, shifting Messi to False Nine not only benefitted the team, but also brought huge success upon the Argentinian. This is the exact reason why Guardiola hates the word “tiki-taka”; it means passing the ball for the sake of passing. Till now, Guardiola has used six different players in the full-back roles this season – Pierre Hoijberg, Juan Bernat, Philip Lahm, David Alaba, Rafinha and Sebastian Rode. Guardiola has played 20 games against Premier League opponents, winning nine and losing five. Valdes will be utilized to escape the press as he is the spare man thus creating 6 vs 5 with the full-backs being the potential outlets after Valdes receives the pass from Busquets. Isn’t that attacking with the ball? 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. After selling off high-profiled players such as Deco and Ronaldinho, Barcelona played scintillating football throughout the season, winning the Copa del Rey, La Liga, and the UEFA Champions League 0. commenter. For the vast majority of the time, his formations and their underlying ethos have served his teams brilliantly. to change formation. R foot 16. Ribery and Robben were forced to make the unnatural shift to receiving the ball and quickly giving it back, instead of venturing forward to take on the defenders which took the destructive nature out of Bayern’s attacks. The area targeted will be the furthest diagonal point away from the ball where a skillful winger would be waiting for the switch. Henry stayed wide on the left, with Messi having more license to come in off the right wing, knowing that the energetic Dani Alves would be providing width. And they would wait for their opportunities when the opposing defence would get unhinged to strike the final blow. Well, that’s the trick that Barcelona thrived in performing. R foot. Perhaps that’s why they went for him over Sami Khedira. Depending on what weakness a certain opponent has and what he wants to guard against regards his own team, Guardiola can pick his personnel. His philosophy is the total opposite, it implies that possession acts as “means to an end” with the end being to move the opposition and disorganize their defensive shape for his team to attack the opposite side. April 15, 2012. The opposition presses with 5 players, 2 covering Alves & Abidal, 2 covering Piqué & Mascherano, and 1 covering Busquets. Two trophy-less seasons had passed at the Nou Camp when ‘Pep’ Guardiola was appointed manager of FC Barcelona ahead of the 2008/09 season; the above were his words during his presentation to the fans. Philippe COUTINHO. Guardiola, who also claimed that “Barca didn’t do tiki-taka! On top of them stood Bernat, Alonso and Lahm. When used ineffectively the overload of playmakers in the centre muddled the midfield and made their attack look toothless and the build-up slow. 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. KEY FEATURES AND OVERVIEW - High defensive line Pep Guardiola reckons Tottenham have become title contenders once again under his old rival Jose Mourinho. age 28 172 cm. Bernat played as a left winger almost when in possession, but would drop back in front of Badstuber and alongside Alonso when defending. The wing-backs' overlapping capabilities overwhelmed oppositions as the formation essentially became 5 up front with threats from every angle. Guardiola has deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation more than any other this season, including his first match in charge against Sunderland. To ensure positional superiority and compact structure, the team must play a minimum of 15 passes and progress up the field along those passes. Adhering to those points will transform the team into being proactive with the events of the match being in their own control. The 3-4-3 formation allowed Johan to have both a diamond shaped midfield and a diamond shaped defense. The presence of Lewandowski has accentuated the talents of his midfielders. The iconic 4-3-3 was used by Pep that changes to 3-4-3 and the 3-3-4 sometimes, depending on the phases of the game, yet bear in mind that for him, numbers are of least importance. It will get even better when Thiago returns from injury for he brings with him an added dimension where he can play double-pivot with Lahm (as Kroos did last year). German giants Bayern Munich came calling for Guardiola’s services and he agreed to take over the reins from the 2013-14 season onwards in what was a tough act to follow as his predecessor Jupp Heynckes signed off in some style leading the Bavarians to a historic treble with a team that was devastatingly destructive. Subsequently, Guardiola converted Messi into a full-fledged striker from a winger, and Eto’o and Henry would depart. This scenario allowed for dangerous chances to be created using the wings in case the midfield was having a bad day; that’s why Alves was such a vital piece in that period. In his all-conquering first season, when Barcelona won the treble, Guardiola operated predominantly with a 4-3-3 formation. Below is an illustration of how Barcelona presses the opposition in the middle of the field (i.e. “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. 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. Yet with all that being said, Guardiola still felt he “failed” that night; a perfect representation of how much of a perfectionist Pep is, the same trait that unleashed the monster of 2011, the team Catalans proudly told stories about, El Futbol Club Barcelona. Avant-centre de formation, ... L'histoire tactique du Barça aurait pu s'arrêter là, et Guardiola aurait peut-être pu continuer à empiler les trophées cette saison. Villa as the second striker who stays wide but performs curved runs to the penalty box and finish attacks for being one of the best strikers in Spanish history. The opposing team is closing down Valdes, Piqué, Mascherano, Alves, Abidal, and Busquets. Today I'm sharing my Football Manager 2020 interpretation of Barca's tiki-taka under Guardiola. The acquisition of Xabi Alonso has also greatly aided this formation as he acts as a defensive cover, partnering Lahm and due to his long-ball ability can support the attack without ceding his position from deep.