Episode 5: Pep Guardiola, proto-tactics blogger
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In the summer of 2006, a recently retired Pep Guardiola was obsessively watching the World Cup and writing about it for El País in an era when newspaper columns were going online. The way he described the game pointed the way to a richer, more detailed tactics writing — one that raises interesting questions for data analytics, too — but the English-speaking world would need years of blogging to catch up.
Blogroll:
Pep Guardiola, El País: All the same (June 2006)
Pep Guardiola, El País: One meter (June 2006)
Pep Guardiola, El País: Going out (June 2006)
Pep Guardiola, El País: Feeling it (March 2007)
Episode 5: Pep Guardiola, proto-tactics blogger
More, pretty please
La Volpe talking about Guardiola's El País analysis of his '06 Mexico team to ESPN FC:
"ESPN FC: Why do you think Guardiola picked up on the way the 2006 Mexico team played?
"Ricardo La Volpe: Because playing out from the back isn't the goalkeeper giving it to the center-back and the center-back passing it just for the sake of it. The job is to get the ball into midfield with numeric superiority, with a man spare. And if you don't have a man spare in the middle of the field after playing out, it's because the opponent left you man-on-man further forward.
"Why is it like couples going out? Because those two center-backs are partners against the No. 9. If the No. 9 wants to close one off we go back to the other side, but I repeat that being the protagonist means dominating the ball in defense with the center-backs. It's not a midfielder coming to get it because what we want is to turn the center-back into a midfielder and then the midfielder generates the numeric difference (in the center).
"ESPN FC: How do you train playing out from the back? Repetition?
"RLV: Every day we'd do 10-15 salidas on the right, 10-15 on the left. It depends on the intelligence and control of the players, plus the talent they have, but it's also about instilling confidence in the players. And if the opponent gifts you a one-on-one [up front], you need to know how to break the lines up top. For example, in the game that Manchester City lost against Liverpool [Jan. 14], City committed the error of always trying to play out the back and not playing it longer up top.
"If [the opposition] is applying that kind of pressing [like Liverpool did] it is surely because they have left you man-on-man up front. If the salida isn't clear, you can't take a risk, it's unnecessary. You have to go longer and pressurize to win the rebounds."
This was my favorite episode, keep up the great work.