Wednesday, February 10, 2021

How did Johan Cruyff influence the evolution of great Pep Guardiola?



File:Pep 2017 (cropped).jpg
Pep Guardiola was born on the 18th January 1971 in a town in Catalonia called Santpedor. He was born to Dolors and Valentí whom he grew up with, falling in love with the sport of football.


Guardiola’s genius football tactics have evolved from when he first started learning the game at La Masia to leading European giants Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City to several sensational titles.


He was a Barcelona man playing on the right side of the midfield for the Barca B team. Unexpectedly, he was approached when he was playing at the Mini Estadi, a small stadium down the road from Camp Nou used by Barca B, by a football icon in Johan Cruyff, the current first team manager at the time. Just before half time Cruyff wondered over to the youth team manager and asked to play Pep at the pivot position for the second half. This means he plays at a defensive midfielder role where he floats in deep areas trying to pick up the ball and play a quick pass. This would usually allow a team to utilise the space in behind left by the pressing opponents. It was a difficult position to adapt to and not used by many teams in Spain but brought over by Johan Cruyff from his time at Ajax. 


Guardiola adjusted immediately, just as the Dutchman suspected and when he moved to the first team in 1990 he became that pivot in that famous Barcelona team of the 1990s. It was Cruyff who is widely credited with defining Guardiola’s career, after switching his favoured position as a youth player to the No. 4 position (the mediocentro or pivot) at the base of midfield.


Pep was the replacement for the suspended Guillermo Aemor and became a first team regular in the 1991-92 season where he won the European Cup and La liga. Many heralded Guardiola as the best contemporary young player in the world. Barca retained La liga for the next two seasons and reached the 1994 Champions League final after signing the distinguished Brazilian striker in Romario. Cruyff then left the club in 1996 but the tactical philosophy of the admirable Dutchman had been instilled in Pep’s mind forever. 


Johan Cruyff is widely seen as the benchmark of tactical innovation in modern football. Having enjoyed an illustrious playing career with the likes of Ajax and Barcelona (not to mention the national team), Cruyff went on to successfully manage both these giants, in their own right. 


A major factor in Cruyff’s success was the use of the diamond formation, an approach still widely implemented. But Cruyff’s diamond was quite different, and there remains a misconception in the sport about this very approach. 


He had an obsession with possession football and creating triangles which was a challenging concept for his players to grasp. This innovative strategy was called 'total football'. However, his goal was to create imbalances in the opposition shape and create the spaces that would allow them to penetrate into dangerous areas. Simultaneously, he wanted his team to maintain a compact block. This would allow constant exchanges of positions, and enable easier and faster reorganisations when they lost possession. And the closer together they were, the easier retrieving the ball would be even in the opposition half. Cruyff relied, at his time at Barcelona, on two tactical formations: the 3-4-3 and the 4-3-3.


Defence was attack in Cruyff’s mindset. The defensive midfielder in Guardiola would often drop as a second centre back beside Koeman and the full backs would occupy more traditional roles when reverting to the more defensive 4-3-3. It all relied on positioning over running and physicality. His inclination to offensive play was so strong and it ultimately was Barcelona’s defence.


As Pep Guardiola evolved into a managerial mastermind himself, he emulated the ideas of Johan Cruyff at his decorated time at Barcelona between 2008 and 2012. He was determined to continue Johan's legacy and relied on players like Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets to carry out his plan to overload central areas and retain possession through the duration of a match. The Catalans would often average 66% possession in a game and the phrase ‘tiki-taka’ was made emphasising short passes and retaining the football. Pep wanted to achieve positional superiority within his team depending on teammates, opponents, space and the ball so that possession football allowed them to be easily in control.


When playing out from the back, the two centre backs would split and the ball would be received by the defensive midfielder just like Pep was chosen to do with Johan Cruyff.


Additionally, Guardiola imposed one of his most effective plans for defence (still used in many teams in the modern game) which was the 6-second rule. This involved players swarming the opposition when they get the ball and limit spaces quickly. When someone takes a bad touch or has their back to you, you must immediately pressure and force them into a mistake.

He also used 3-4-3 and 4-3-3 like his mentor Johan Cruyff with a devastating diamond in midfield.


Pep, we mustn’t forget, had the best players in the world at his disposal at which he could play in a diamond in midfield. The diamond was flooded with diminutive and innovative players such as Messi who was capable to adapt to positional routine and trick and dazzle opponents through incisive passes or nimble dribbles.


Johan Cruyff was a big influence to how Pep Guardiola made one of the most brilliantly technical and tactical teams in football. Together they revolutionised football in Spain. The Spanish midfielder clearly aspired to coach like the Dutchman and their similarities are clear. 

Take the ball, pass the ball, take the ball, pass the ball.


Football.ua, CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons

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