The Second Pep-Ademic Infecting Soccer
Pep Guardiola is without a doubt one of the best and most influential managers of all time, perhaps too influential. The first time his genius infected the soccer world was with Barcelona when he created the false-nine position for Lionel Messi and the tiki-taka play style for the rest of the team. It was a play style that emphasized keeping the ball through short passes and movement off the ball to break down opponents. It was extremely successful and became a style of play that took over soccer with many teams both clubs and countries trying to emulate it mostly to only be cheap copies. This play style was criticized for being boring to watch as there were very few teams that had the skill to emulate the Barcelona squad it was created for. Pep has evolved this style to fit into the English game with Manchester City being more direct and has come under just as much scrutiny as the soccer world is now trying to copy his new ideas.
The new style is said to turn players into robots prioritizing efficiency and structure over passion. He once again created new positions being the inverted winger and the roaming center-back. The inverted winger has been picked up by many top teams in club and country competitions in which a left-footed player plays right wing and vice versa. Once again, Pep has used his players to create a style of play that is ultra-effective and seemingly easily replicable, but many managers are finding they don’t have the same tools. For example, Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri, and Phil Foden are extreme talents that do things most others can’t even attempt. Not to mention, the addition of Erling Haaland, who can score goals seemingly from nothing at an alarming rate. Pep is like a Navy Seal leader using the best of the best and the rest of his copycats are like the army trying to replicate the best of the best.
By no means is Pep trying to turn kids into robots who see the game through efficiency, spacing, and roles but because of his team’s success his tactics have seemed into every nook and cranny of the soccer world. Traditionalists see videos of kids playing out from the back using one of two touches to score a goal after fifteen passes and can’t help but feel their beautiful game has been ruined. They feel that the old days of Ronaldinho or Kaká are long gone when a player could carry a team through sheer brilliance and creativity to break out and create chances out of nothing. Or the days of each country having a distinct play style from the rough and tumble English game to the flair and dancing from Brazil. They despise the scientific and analytical feel Pep’s play style evokes and yearn for the days of opposing kay styles meeting weekly. Pep is a genius who unfortunately has influenced soccer to the point of being the one blamed for the evolution of the game towards professional efficiency whether he is truly to blame or not.
