The much anticipated Classico in the Champions League final suddenly became an all German affair!
So let’s take a closer look at the above statements and dissect them accordingly…
1. The Demise of Tiki-Taka
Before we discuss the eulogy of Tiki-Taka, how about we take a look at how the term saw light.
During the 2006 World Cup match between Spain and Tunisia, late Spanish announcer Andres Montes described Spain’s intricate and quick short passing as Tiki-Taka.
So we can define “Tiki-Taka” as a style of football characterized by short passing and movement, maintaining possession and working the ball through the various channels. It is a style focused on individual orders rather than the traditional thinking of a rigid football formation.
But was Tiki-Taka first implemented by Luis Aragones during the world cup in 2006?
The answer is a definite No!
This style of play adored by the football pop-culture first became famous with Ajax under the management of Rinus Michels during the late 60’s and early 70’s although some football historians claim that remnants of this tactical approach was witnessed by Ajax as early as 1915 and by the Hungarian national team in the 1950’s.
At the time, this tactical approach was known as “Total Football” where every outfield player could take over the role of any other player in the team. In Total Football, a player who moves out of his position is covered by another from the same team, thus retaining the team's intended organizational shape. In this fluid system, no outfield player is fixed to a single role; anyone can be successively an attacker, a midfielder and a defender. The only player with a fixed position is the goalkeeper.
Under the tutelage of Rinus Michels, Ajax were to enjoy their most successful era while also leading the Dutch national team to the World Cup final in 1974.
Flexible movement and adaptability are key components for the success of Total Football and so was the constant creation of space as ex-Ajax defender Barry Hulshoff explains: “We discussed space the whole time. Johan Cruyff always talked about where people should run and where they should stand, and when they should not move. It (total football) was about making space, coming into space, and organizing space - like architecture on the football pitch.”
When the term “Total Football” is spoken, the name Johan Cruyff immediately comes to mind. He became the man who personified this tactical style both as a football player and later on as a coach.
During his playing days, Cruyff who was deployed as a forward, wandered all over the pitch and popping up where he can inflict most damage to the opposition defenses (rings any bells?). The players around him would move dynamically adapting themselves around his movement, switching positions to ensure no tactical gaps are left open.
Sounds very familiar doesn’t it?
A version of “Total Football” appeared with the mighty Liverpool teams of the late 70’s and early 80’s under the guidance of Messrs Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and Kenny Dalglish which was simply titled “Pass & Move”.
Johan Cruyff then brought “Total Football” to Barcelona as manager during his tenure between 1988 and 1996, an era which saw the Dutch legend claim 11 trophies.
But, Cruyff’s greatest achievement was establishing “Total Football” as the foundation for the Barcelona sides that followed. The Dutch tactician did not just apply his brand of football only on the first team but ensured the reserves and youth teams were well versed with the requirements to implement Total Football.
After Cruyff’s departure from the Nou Camp, the youth and reserve teams continued to be trained on delicate short passing and movement under the keen eye of Pep Segura and Rodolfo Borrell which eventually gave rise to Barcelona’s golden generation which include the likes of superstars Xavi, Iniesta, Pique and Messi to name but a few.
In the summer of 2008, Pep Guardiola was appointed as Barcelona’s first team manager to take “Total Football” to its next level of evolution.
Guardiola implemented the basics of “Total Football” he acquired under Cruyff with a twist!
Messi was deployed in the “Cruyff” role with Barca’s stars dovetailing around the mercurial Argentine. The flexible movement, adaptability and space creation of “Total Football” was complemented by defending from the front and a high defensive line.
The young Spanish coach, who spent one year with Barcelona’s team B, ensured that his team plays with a high defensive line with his players pressing and hassling opposition players high up the pitch. The Spanish tactician famously stating: "You win the ball back when there are thirty meters to their goal not eighty."
Pep’s Barcelona became a tactical conundrum as they maintained high percentage of possession while they broke down defenses with ease. Guardiola added high fitness levels to the attacking talent of his team while instructing them to defend from the front. Opposition teams did not just struggle with the likes of Messi, Eto’o and Iniesta offensively but were also suffocated at the rare occasions they had possession.
Guardiola’s Tiki-Taka brought Barcelona the most successful season in football history with the Balugrana winning every competition they participated in; a total of 6 trophies.
The dominance of Barcelona’s Tiki-Taka waned during Pep’s last season as teams found ways around the intricacies of this tactical approach.
This season, Tito Vilanova’s edition of the Tiki-Taka continued the downfall witnessed last season - but, is this really the end of the Tiki-Taka?
Perhaps this is the end of the media friendly term “Tiki-Taka” as “Total Football” continues to develop and evolve.
Versions of “Total Football” are now being deployed at several clubs including Ajax, Bayern, Dortmund, Liverpool and Swansea. Football is evolving and the days of long-ball based tactics are dying quickly with the reliance on short passing and high pressing become more common.
“Total Football” will now choose a new home, or return to an older cauldron to continue its adventure of growth and evolution bringing rewards to the team which implements this approach successfully.
2. Changing of the Guard
Now that we have gone over the faith of “Tiki-Taka”, let’s look at the recent regression at Barcelona and the potential change of the guard in European football.
The recent defeats suffered by Barcelona to Bayern Munich have been compared to the 4-0 defeat suffered against Milan in the 1994 Champions League final as an omen for the end of an era at the Nou Camp.
So what happened at Barca over the past couple of seasons that got them here?
Transfers
Before we look into tactics and the difference in approach between Guardiola and Vilanova we’ll start with what I believe is the root of trouble at Barca and that is transfers!
Imagine being a club supporter with Samuel Eto’s as your number 9 – Eto’s just scored over 30 goals in the 2008/2009 season and he is approaching his prime at 28 years old.
Then suddenly, the club you support decides to give your leading scorer away plus an extra 46 million Euros to sign Zlatan Ibrahimovich. Now, no disrespect to Ibra, but Eto’o would cost 30 million Euros at the very least – so potentially, Barcelona just gave 76 million Euros away.
To make matters worse, Zlatan ended up falling out with Guardiola and was then loaned to Milan. Do I need to keep crunching the numbers to depict this financial catastrophe?
Ah, but wait, there is more; see the table below:
Player Name
|
Signed For (£)
|
Number of Appearances
|
Sold For (£)
|
Henrique
|
7 Million
|
0
|
Free Transfer
(Contract Cancelled)
|
Aleksander Hleb
|
14.8 Million
|
19
|
2 Million
|
Martin Caceres
|
14.5 Million
|
13
|
2.6 Million
|
Dmitro Chygrynskiy
|
22 Million
|
12
|
13.2 Million
|
Total
|
58.3 Million
|
44
|
17.8 Million
|
The table above shows that Barcelona have suffered a 40.5 Million Pounds Sterling on just four players. That’s a 0.9 Million Pounds per game for the above players!
How much do you think David Villa will cost when he is eventually sold? Are you happy with the contribution of Alexis Sanchez? What about Cesc Fabregas? How about Alex Song?
The above four have cost over 120 Million Euros and none of them are members of the starting eleven!
Recent managers at Barcelona, including Pep Guardiola, have failed to bring the best out of their new signings with the onus set firmly on the players to adapt to the current model.
Adaptability is part of parcel of Tiki-Taka as mentioned earlier but neglecting certain traits in a player who costs over 20 Million pounds and simply asking them to adapt is certainly disruptive to the player, the club and the club’s finances.
Tactics:
There are two main tactical approaches to a game of football.
You have managers like Rafa Benitez who sets his team up to nullify the opposition while managers like Jupp Heynckes looks to dominate the opposition – both managers maintain a good balance between the two approaches though.
And here lies the problem at Barcelona tactically.
The dominant Tiki-Taka has forced several teams in the Spanish League and the European Champions League to throw the towel even before a ball was kicked but to expect that at all times from all teams is arrogant whether or not Barcelona possess the best player in the world or not.
Barcelona have shown a continuous weakness in adapting their tactics against the key strengths of the opposition.
Tiki-Taka forces the opposition to adapt more often than not but what Barca have lacked this season is the pressing high up the pitch thus allowing opposition midfielders more time on the ball thus allowing them to impose their will further.
So is it the end of an era?
There are so many variables to this question!
Personally, I believe Tito Vilanova should be shown the door at the end of the season – the Barcelona head coach showed a lack of respect to the history of the club in the defeat to Bayern Munich at the Nou Camp by resting key members of the team.
Bringing in a new manager at Barcelona, however, is a dilemma – they need to recruit someone who believes in “Total Football” and that limits the choices available.
Whoever is the manager at Barcelona next season, the team will still possess the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Dani Alves, Pique, Jordi Alba and Messi of course.
You can’t count a team with so much talent out.
The answer would have been far easier if Jupp Heynckes was to stay at Bayern next season as they are the club ready to take the reins from Barcelona.
But with Guardiola coming in, expect the kind of revolution he embarked on when he was appointed by Barcelona. Keeping that in mind, we could see the likes of Ribery, Robben, Mario Gomez depart the club.
If Guardiola was to settle in quickly into his Bavarian surroundings then Bayern Munich will have the edge to start a new era of dominance.
How about the domination of the Spanish Armada?
This is slightly easier to answer.
Spain will remain a force – yes, the likes of Xavi, Puyol and Villa are nearing the end of their international careers but the Spanish youth supply lines continue to produce adequate talent.
Tiki-Taka was first deployed by Luis Aragones to maintain possession and protect a susceptible defensive line and I believe future Spanish coaches will maintain this approach.
Having said that, I believe the current crop of German internationals who were key to Bayern and Dortmund dismantling their Spanish opposition will be crowned with a major international tournament sooner rather than later.
I can’t see a European nation winning the World Cup in Brazil but by 2016 most of the current German stars will be at the ideal age to lead their nation to glory at the European Championship or the World Cup in Russia.
A power shift on the international stage is at hand!
