Guardiola didn’t change the formation of the starting team that he inherited, electing to keep a 4-3-3 going. On top of them stood Bernat, Alonso and Lahm. Opposing teams simply could not handle the many different attacking formations in the form of an attacking double-pivot of either Götze/Robben, Götze/Müller or Müller/Robben. Shall he be marked by a holding midfielder to shield passes towards him? When Leo drops into midfield, shall he be followed by a central defender? 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. 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. Boateng would often pull wide and operate almost as a full-back in support of Lahm and Müller ahead of him. The section above gave a brief explanation about the Positional Play concept Guardiola uses as his coaching methodology. Notice the triangles that form on the wings creating a numerical superiority thereby aiding the team in escaping pressure. Then Valdes passes to Pique who lays it off to Xavi and Xavi releases Alves into space. Also a few players such as Mandzukic suffered as he was forced to make runs out wide and become a provider at times instead of a goal threat and that saw him lose his starting spot to a midfielder with Guardiola preferring to play Müller as the lone striker instead. Barça : Lionel Messi a appelé Pep Guardiola pour évoquer un transfert à City Par Constant Wicherek Publié le 25/08/2020 23:46 - Mis à jour le 26/08 14:44 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. Mehdi Benatia’s arrival has also bolstered the defensive ranks. "I give you my word that we will put in an effort. The two wide CBs had to have to mobility to help cover the width of the pitch. There must be a guideline which the players base their decisions on regarding when to press and when to hold back. Pep Guardiola's unstoppable Barça (2008-2012) Relive the achievements one of the most phenomenal teams in sporting history. 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. 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 Henry in … Another alternative that was seen here, depending on the opposition, was to push Alves higher up the pitch and create space for Xavi to drop beside Busquets. Guardiola has deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation more than any other this season, including his first match in charge against Sunderland. 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. Guardiola’s tactical journey from Barca to Bayern and why he is... May 5, 2016. Barca's 3-4-3 formation another tactical weapon for Guardiola. September 24, 2020 by Sam Stobbart. But his 4-1-4-1 formation, despite offering much flexibility, had a soft underbelly and was exposed as last season wore on and this year, in recognition of that, he has made another alteration. Mourinho celebrates a year in charge of … There’s also Robert Lewandowski at his disposal this year. 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. Due to only one striker up top and a lack of wingers, the role of the wingbacks becomes more important. This is also an underrated point among coaches. Busquets, the midfield pivot who fits Barcelona’s system perfectly with his composure and brilliance in possession and when without it, his interceptions and reading of the game. Messi, Guardiola, Puyol & more: Barca's greatest Academy XI revealed. La Masia is one of the best, if not the best, football academies in the world. Font had previously said he would try to bring Guardiola back to Barca if he is voted in to succeed Josep Bartomeu. The image below shows the team’s formation: For each player in the lineup above there’s a specific role to be carried out on the field: Barcelona’s engine is its midfield, and when such an awe-inspiring trio in Busquets-Xavi-Iniesta is in the team, it is hard not to depend on them. Sat, 19 Dec. 2020 / Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Sponsored Links. 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. 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. They opted for this rigid defensive setup as a base on which to work from. Furthermore, achieving this will prove a “safety net” to protect against potential counter-attacks. The pinnacle of the 2010/11 season was the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final against Manchester United, a match which many considered a testimony of awe-inspiring display from a club at the highest footballing level featuring 8 players from the famous La Masia. 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. age 18 174 cm. In this article, my aim is to provide a detailed explanation how Barça played under Guardiola in their peak 2011 season; a season where they produced one of the most exquisite styles of play the football world ever witnessed in recent time. Guardiola preferred freedom in the final third of the pitch which was effective as the team created many chances per match. To counter it, the center backs split wide and two midfielders drop between them to open up passing lanes. The one in the middle would usually sit deeper as a libero. Décryptage du jeu de cette équipe de légende dirigée par un maître de la tactique footballistique. Isn’t that attacking with the ball? It’s a result of deep analysis and opposition research, and that’s where Guardiola excels; in the minutest of details. Ligue des Champions : Le Barça de Guardiola (2008-12), meilleure équipe de l’histoire ? To clarify more, I’ll be splitting the defensive side into two sections that can be found below: You read that right, with the ball. I don't know if we'll win, but we'll persist. On the rare occasion, they have been trumped by strong teams with tactically astute managers and players built to tackle a Guardiola team. 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. Without their inputs, Bayern can't maintain their superiority when attacking. We notice the use of cover shadows by the center forward and midfield players to intercept in case any passes were made towards the center. 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. V. // Emiel Hertecantlaan 19a 9290 Berlare - Belgium // BTW (VAT) BE 0693988181. The opposition presses with 5 players, 2 covering Alves & Abidal, 2 covering Piqué & Mascherano, and 1 covering Busquets. Tactically, Barca generally stuck to a 4-3-3 shape throughout the season, playing high up the pitch and pressing from the front. This move was followed by a one-touch cross from Alves to either Messi or Villa for an easy tap-in. 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. To ensure positional superiority and compact structure, the team must play a minimum of 15 passes and progress up the field along those passes. Rewinding the events to the summer preceding the 2010/2011 season; Spain had just lifted their first World Cup ever boasting the most talented Spaniards their fans had witnessed in years. 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. This goal was scored in Barcelona’s 5-0 win over Real Madrid, with the match being described by Xavi as one of their best performances ever under Guardiola. Detailed. 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. With Fabregas and also Alexis Sanchez in the side, Guardiola had a new level of freedom and dexterity with which to operate. 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. Iniesta the needle player that acts more as the attacking midfielder who carries the ball forward into dangerous areas taking advantage of his outstanding individual capacity to dribble. In the typical fashion of a side led by Pep Guardiola, Barça completely dictated the tempo of the match. R foot. 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. Adhering to those points will transform the team into being proactive with the events of the match being in their own control. Can you believe that 2008-09 was the last time that Messi scored less than 49 goals in all competitions? Publié le 21 novembre 2020 à 20h30 par Th.B. To play that in today's game would be outrageous—Guardiola's 2-3-5 with Barcelona … 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 As soon as the pass is made, the team attacks the passing lane and intercepts the ball. 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. ****- The field map has been taken from Spielverlagerung.com and the numbers for the zones have been added by me. Zones 6-7-8-13-14-15 are the most important due to it being the center of the field and the place where players can play between the opposition’s lines. 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. Therefore, Pep’s team became famous for being “possession kings” but people understood it the wrong way therefore labelling the style as “Tiki-taka”. 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. The team’s main focus was to overload the center in order to free the two wingers by getting them isolated against the full back marking either one. Even before we get to talking about the actual formations, I think it is essential that we fully recognize Pep’s philosophy – the philosophy to build teams on the foundations of unison, work rate, patience, ball movement, zonal play, positional play and finally dynamism, both in formations as well as personnel. Valdes as the sweeper keeper who acts as an extra player to aid in possession and sweeps out of goal to clear any long balls. Pique’s forays forward also meant a covering job for Busquets to drop back and aid Puyol and Abidal. Here the opposition commits 6 players and decides to press Valdes. In the 1980s Cruyff returned as coach, gave Barça its "dream team", instilled his ideas into every level of the club, and made his disciple Guardiola captain. 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. 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. Also, unlike at Barca, this Guardiola team played a good number of good long balls because – a. their defenders weren’t the dribbly kind like Pique and b. the presence of aerially gifted players such as Müller and Mario Mandzukic. 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. L foot. Furthermore, triangles and rhombuses all over the pitch are extremely necessary meaning that the players must be in their peak mental awareness to be able to connect with each other and ensure passing lanes are available at all times. Josep Guardiola has described his playing principle like this; ... Barca didn’t do tiki-taka! This fluidity in changing positions is the key to unlocking defenses and scoring goals all while also taking into account the capacity of the opponent to hit the team on counters. This also required a very hard-working central striker and Eto’o did just that, sometimes falling back to receive the ball and actually allowing Henry and Messi to work as a front two. The 4-1-4-1 for all its tactical nuances had some weaknesses. 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. Passionate fan of the beautiful game. The priority during the building up process is maintaining the possession and widening up the pitch too. Put on your seat belts, because we're going to have fun.". Being a product of La Masia himself, Guardiola fully understood the importance of the Academy and the possibilities it holds. What if Pep’s Barcelona played against Sacchi’s AC Milan? As we’ve covered the various formations there are a few things that become very evident as core characteristics of any formation that Guardiola deploys: - Constant and fluid adjustments during a game, - A fetish for multi-skilled and multi-positional players. Today I'm sharing my Football Manager 2020 interpretation of Barca's tiki-taka under Guardiola. Below are some plays used by the team to complete their movement into the final third: Who’s better fit to lead Barcelona’s midfield line other than their own La Masia graduates? 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. Each has its own by-product too. In 2008–09, FC Barcelona started a new era with a new manager, former captain and Barcelona B coach Pep Guardiola, who led the team to the first treble in Spanish football history. And if there’s one word that would aptly sum up all of Guardiola’s coaching adventures so far, it would be ‘dynamism’. Eto’o at the time was at the height of his powers, while Messi had still not reached his magical peak yet. This tactic is used against defensively compact teams who congest the midfield, this leads to an increased need of technically excellent players who can control the ball under tight pressure from the midfielders and defenders. The 3-4-3 formation allowed Johan to have both a diamond shaped midfield and a diamond shaped defense. Basically the moves carried out in the middle third enable the attackers to get a clear chance on goal, so that’s where the extended buildup happens. To have two needle players such as Messi and Iniesta very close to the penalty box shifts the entire defensive focus towards them resulting in spaces for runs in behind by the wingers. With it’s natural triangles and diamonds, as well as it’s three-man midfield, it was perfect for the possession football Guardiola set out to create. He finally has the dynamic possession-based striker he's always wanted. This rule, implemented by none other than Guardiola himself, states that pressure should be applied for a maximum of 6 seconds with the utmost intensity to win the ball back. The presence of multiple playmakers ensured that they could swap roles freely and the ones not on the ball could then run the channels effectively, complementarily opening up space for each other to operate in. Allowing Messi to drop deep without the defense line pushing up since they’ll leave spaces behind for Villa and Pedro. Le disciple de Cruyff Toute grande équipe est entraînée par un grand coach, celle de Barcelone n’échappe pas à la règle. However, if such strategy doesn’t help in clearing the danger away from their goal, Barcelona’s players will cover all possible passing lanes to force the opposition into a long ball. Barcelona started in a bad way, losing to Hercules at the Camp Nou and trailing behind Mourinho’s Real Madrid, who seemed set on breaking Barcelona’s dominance in Spain. 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. 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 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. The three superiority categories mentioned above are a main factor in being able to achieve a smooth ball circulation to kill the game. And as brilliant a sweeper-keeper as Manuel Neuer is, he could not always save the day for them, especially against quality opposition. David Villa would take up Henry’s role out wide on the left after the Frenchman’s departure, and Pedro would take up the wide right position. 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. Whichever formation was played, it … September 17, 2012. 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. Their ability in keeping hold of the ball in small spaces and escaping pressure helped the team in reaching the opposition’s goal with fewer markers blocking their way. Xavi played behind the front three as the deep-lying playmaker and Busquets played the roles of anchor-man and Xavi’s wingman, always moving with him, protecting him from opposing defenders and acting as a foil to receive and spray passes. 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. Opposition bad control of the ball, bad touch, or bad pass. Best images from El Clasico as Real Madrid beat Barcelona. Since Pep Guardiola let Barca play tiki-taka en high pressing football I fell in love with his gameplay. By the end of the 2008-09 season Barcelona had won a whole host of trophies. It also allows him to switch from two midfielders and a striker to one midfielder and two strikers (Müller joining Lewandowski) fluidly during a game. Holding possession by moving the ball both laterally and forward with crisp, short passes was the principle that they religiously stuck to. 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. 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. Avid reader of football articles with a special focus on possession-based teams. Being able to play football in a such stylish way and win trophies. Also, Götze has gotten a greater role (Iniesta’s role) and is the leading scorer overall for the club with 5 goals which tells a story in itself. JORDI ALBA. 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. He is known for his willingness to implement new tactical systems that other, more conservative managers would shy away from. ... a posé les fondations de cette formation historique. 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. Josep Guardiola intègre La Masía, le centre de formation du FC Barcelone, le 28 juin 1984 en provenance du Gimnàstic de Manresa.. À partir de 1991, Johan Cruyff le sélectionne comme milieu central de l'équipe première. 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. As explained, everything happens in relation to the ball and teammates. SERGIO BUSQUETS. The overlying emphasis of this formation was to always have three central midfielders on the pitch at any point of time. Holding possession of the ball without actually attacking the opposition’s goal; that’s what “defending with the ball” means.