Written by: Theodore, Reporter in ISFM
When it comes to tactics in soccer/football, Tiki-taka is one of the most famous. Created by Pep Guardiola, this tactic has turned football into an art, from creating spaces from thin air. The tactic was revolutionary, when Barcelona had some of the world’s top talents. But without them, Tiki-Taka is nothing. It requires a lot of skill and intelligence, chemistry and practice. “Without the ball, we are a horrible team, a disastrous team, so we need the ball”
Style of play, passing options & and positioning
Pep Guardiola followed a very positional playstyle* keeping passes short and quick: allowing fluid movement and passing He divided the pitch into areas, where he would allow only 3 players to be on the same row and 2 on the same column. Barcelona started with a 4-3-3 normally but used an asymmetrical formation during offense. The right back, Alves would go up next to the right wing, Pedro, letting the LB, Abdibal, and both CBs shift towards the right to keep a 3 man backline. The LW, Villa however stayed wide to let Iniasta come up to fill in. This made a sort of 5 player dome with Messi on top. This makes it easy for Barcelona to pass the ball from one side to another. Sometimes, Messi and the RW would drop deep as a False nine (A False 9 is a center-forward who, instead of leading their team’s offensive line, drops into deeper positions).
* A positional playstyle is a style where a team tries to control the game by keeping the players in certain positions and creating numerical overloads in areas of the pitch. This lets others make runs into space. It also focuses on passes.
The 4 player Diamond
He would often use a diamond at the back, where the keeper would go up between the Center Backs (Central Defenders) Mascherano and Pique, and the CDM (Busquets) would drop deep. This allowed them to pass the ball around in a circle, causing the 3 opposing attackers to end up in a 3v4 situation: not ideal. This pattern continued until they got a breakthrough. The same would imply the midfield where Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi would form the same thing. Xavi was particularly useful as a link between Iniasta and Busquets, whilst Iniasta was the main playmaker.
Exploiting half space
Before explaining how Barcelona used half spaces, let me explain what a half space even is. A half space is the area around the central area. These are particularly important, as it is where a striker has the best angle to shoot. It also offers a field of view perfect for passing and attacking, causing defenses to get confused and outnumbered. This is also why the CBs are placed in the half-spaces. Barcelona used their players to draw out the CBs, opening space for their teammates on the wings and center possibly creating weaknesses and attacking possibilities.
Quickly switching the ball from one side to another
Using their quick passes, they could move the ball from one side of the pitch, without risking losing possession by attempting a long ball.
Pep Guardiola’s 6 second rule/1st,2nd & 3rd shield of defense
Pep’s Barcelona lost the ball, he would instruct his players nearest to the ball carrier to press him intensely to win possession back within 6 seconds, before the opponent could find a good passing option. This area was the first shield of defense: the area of intervention. The second shield: The area of mutual help consisted of players who, instead of marking the opponent with the ball, defended players who could receive a pass. The third shield was the same thing as the second, and was there if the opposition got the ball through the 1st and 2nd shields, or made a long ball.
Written by: Theodore, Reporter in ISFM
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