Death of Tiki-Taka? You may want to put a bullet in the head to make sure......
You can't blame these superfluous sputum receptacles for jumping to this conclusion. The comprehensive bottom-spankings dished out gleefully by Netherlands and Chile (or so everyone thinks), coupled with Germany's finest clubs teaching Real Madrid and Barca such a humbling lesson that, if the clubs involved were West Ham and Tottenham, the DVD sales of the games would've reached record sales. To be fair, a DVD of Danny Rose NOT falling over would be a welcome addition to Spurs' DVD collection, but I digress.
Funnily enough, when these defeats were doled out, the death knell for that infuriatingly-titled style of play were sounded in earnest back then, which were two years previous to right now.
Another good reason as to why people believe tiki-taka is on its knees is the watered down version offered by Tata Martino last season. The season before Barca were in disarray as, the now late head coach Vilanova was battling cancer and the Catalan players minds, rightfully so, were not truly tuned to their trade. Martino came in and has not won over the purists. Many games I watched last season in La Liga and I witnessed the unthinkable. This is a problem that faces Arsenal on many occasions so we are more than familiar with it. The Bus parked in an obstructive manner.
This has never really fazed Barca, nor Spain previously, but last season, they were often perplexed, running into corners, pleading for set-plays (more than usual I add) in an attempt to crack open the door an inch. Subs came on, tactics changed more than once but to no avail. They were an insipid Barca, a version that wasn't even half as colourful and threatening as even last years. Same players though. So that is down to the Manager. Strangely enough, he's gone from the club now....
The initial vindicator of this beautiful game was Pep Guardiola. Once midfield general for Barcelona, he made a seamless transition to coach and in his tenure from 2008-12, this indomitable tactic payed huge dividends. The rollcall of honours is breathtaking - 3x La Ligas, 2x Copa Del Reys, 3x Spanish Supercups, 2x Champions Leagues, 2x FIFA World Club Cups. Pretty much everything. Barcelona under Guardiolas' leadership were the fat kid in the lunch line, taking all the best bits and leaving you with pizza crust. It was all down to their style of play. Real Madrid had arguably the better players most seasons, but some Clasicos I viewed were so one-sided it was easy to stop watching, not like the hotly-contested cheat-a-thons we watch now. When he left to join Bayern, I expected a raft of departures to join him in his revolucion of Munchen. Only Thiago Alcantara joined. Let's face it though, what a challenge he faced, he needed all the players he could sign. The previous boss was Jupp Heynckes who had just won every trophy available to them and also smashed the living sh!t out of the Catalans, 7-0 on aggregate. It was a sweeping style of play, adopting the extreme pressing but with swift, incisive attacking. Relentless. Guardiola had to at least match that. He did rather well adapting Bayern's style of play, breaking the record for the earliest Bundesliga to be won, on Match Day 27 coincidentally. The previous record holder was Heynckes Bayern the previous season!
So to clarify, Tiki-Takas champion did rather well at Bayern. The doom-mongers who had predicted that possession football was floating face down in a pool of its own vomit were rather wide of the mark, but the press are scurrilous, drama-chasers.
As mentioned in my droning, there are a few reasons why Spain not only losing their World Crown, but having it ripped from their shining bonce and then being tea-bagged, happened. Tata Martino muddying the waters, Pep leaving those shores, the death of a much loved coach, or just simply not playing well. No one has mentioned that the ingenious Spanish maestros in the centre of the park just had an off few games. The lynchpin in the middle, Xavi, is f*cking 34. It seems sacrilegious to suggest that the standards which they set so high, they now struggle to reach consistently. I think though, the biggest reason for Spains demise, is Diego Costa.
Someone described Costa on Twitter a month or two back. They said he resembles " A serial killer who has gutted Eduardo and is now wearing his ill-fitting skin ". Now, whenever I look at the ugly lump, it's all I can see. It is common knowledge that Costa gave up his birthright to play for the Selecao and switch allegiances to play for Spain. His modus operandi for such a scandalous decision was probably due to Spain lacking a striker in form. Villa had been playing sporadically for Atleti, whilst Lorente wasn't in the squad. Torres was just......Torres. Costa thought this would be an opportune moment to declare his service to the King of Spain and lead them to inevitable glory. Glory in his homeland. The boos that ring out every time he touches the ball tell you what the natives think. I never really understood this decision though. Looking at Brazil and how they line up, they're not exactly suffering from an excess of attacking options. They play Fred up top. He would piss all over Fred. To be fair, the guy down my street who had polio and has a clubfoot may well offer a better option than the man with the least 'Brazil name' since Albert and Keith were close to a call up in 1958. Costa would most certainly be their foremost striker but he's made his paella, he's got to sit down and eat it.
Watching the three Spain games, especially the first two, you notice the main thorn which does the most damage. The midfield operate just as effectively as ever, the defence is weaker due to Puyol being absent but that was never really a strength. The reason is, instead of carrying the passing play on and into the opposition box, they play the ball to Costa. A half-fit Costa. A Costa that wasn't allowed to turn. Thus, every time, he either lost possession, didn't even touch it, or when he managed to turn, shoot wide or pass it back. It didn't work. They had the Tiki, but the Taka was gone. It was like a bad welding job on your car. Just sellotaping a slab of metal to a hole isn't going to work. It needs to be adapted. Why in the name of Bergkamp they didn't start with Villa I'll never know. They did against the Aussies and he proved his selection was the right call. You could see that Costa was the Plan B that Spain needed if things got a little tight, but the plan A should have been the original option. Pass, pass, move. It worked for a reason. Like Floyd Mayweather in a fight, he won't knock you out. He will however, continually land blows and rack up the damage. Costa didn't work. Ultimately, in my eyes, his selection cost them the Cup. By the time they subbed him both games, it was too late. The confidence, such an important attribute in todays' game, was bereft.
Costa will thrive in the Premier League. He's a dirty player, so his card may be marked just like Suarez, but he's physical and will win headers. For the beautiful play of Espana however? That was a mistake of Moyes proportions.
Back to the drawing board, start afresh to incorporate Costa into the Spain way? Or continue to drive with a badly welded exhaust pipe? As an advocate of the beautiful game, like we all are, I think Tiki-Taka, or possession-style football, will make a return from the ashes.
@JokmanAFC Tell us what you think! If you agree, or have a different view, please leave a comment in the comments section or why not write a response or your own article on YouWrite?
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