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Tiki-taka is dead. Long live tiki-taka; Barcelona’s evolution

By on June 4, 2015

Pep Guardiola was famously zealous about many things; about tiki-taka, club culture, training, and about Coldplay’s song, “Viva La Vida.” He’d play it to his Barcelona team before every game and often over the loudspeakers at the Nou Camp.

The song begins so: “I used to rule the world. Seas would rise when I gave the word.”

Barcelona, at their peak, were the kings of football. Guardiola won three from four league titles, two domestic Cups, three Supercopa titles, and two Champions League trophies in his four seasons at the Nou Camp. When Barca’s onslaught began, nobody could stop them.

“I used to roll the dice. Feel the fear in my enemy’s eyes. Listened as the crowd would sing,” the song continues.

Messi had the contours of a magician. With one fatal touch, he may be going right, left, or through you. Blink and you’d miss him. Enemies quaked before him; former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes, a maestro in his own right, admitted he avoided the Argentine forward after his first taste of grass.

Barca would listen to the roars of the 99,000 at the Camp Nou and respond. Scholes has said that he never heard Messi speak on the pitch — he and Barca would respond with their feet, not their mouths, and a tidal wave of creative possession would engulf the opposition. For a time it looked too easy for Guardiola’s men.

“Now in the morning I sleep alone. Sweep the streets I used to own.”

Guardiola played the song as a warning. To remind them that every touch, goal, and trophy was numbered and precious; that it could all come crashing down if they didn’t give it their all on the pitch. The results were self-explanatory; their consistency was unrivaled.

“One minute I held the key. Next the walls were closed on me.”

Barca’s downfall began. Not so much because they stopped working (though that was part of it), but also because their style stagnated, allowing others to adjust and to exploit their (minor) flaws.

“And I discovered that my castles stand. Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand.”

Guardiola’s departure in 2012 was the catalyst for the so-called downfall of orthodox tiki-taka. Barca became a shadow of former selves, a hollow shell of what they used to be. It all came crumbling down like sand in the 2012/2013 season when Bayern Munich smashed through the walls of their empire with a crushing 7-0 aggregate win in the Champions League.

Messi lost his touch, gained weight and was plagued by injuries. No longer did teams fear Barca as they used to, they remained dangerous but were now surmountable. The critics predicted impending doom.

“Now the old king is dead, long live the king.”

But Guardiola’s influence lives on. When Jose Enrique took charge at the beginning of the 2013/2014 season, a rebuilding job began. Rising from the shadows of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, Barca evolved. No longer is their style orthodox tiki-taka, or possession-first, but have become more versatile, more physical in attack (thanks significantly to Luis Suarez), and more open to quick, counter-attacking football (thanks in large part to Neymar). Meanwhile Messi’s form is peaking again, just at the right time.

Meanwhile, the aging Blaugrana royalty, including Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique and Dani Alves have managed to channel their energy for another run, with elder-statesman Xavi hoping to depart the club on the back of an unprecedented second treble. As a group, they have heeded Guardiola’s warning just in time and dug themselves out of a rut with effort, tactical tweaks, and some excellent new signings. They’re one step from reclaiming their European throne — just a Champions League final meeting with Juventus ahead on Saturday. Enjoy them. Tiki-taka is dead. Long live Tiki-taka.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.