@AlanHinson better? Maybe, even though Ancelotti would care to disagree, but people are annoyed about the entertainment diminishing that these rigid systems bring, not the lack of effectiveness.
@@razvannegoi9826Ancelotti's style of football isn't actually that good. It depends on his player's having a high level of ability, confidence and motivation in order to create "magical moments" in a game, but Real Madrid usually don't look that good as a team.
@@razvannegoi9826And entertainment in football is born from mistakes. For example, Liverpool coming back from 3-0 down to beat Barcelona 4-3 was highly entertaining. But also, 7 goals were conceded over two games. And if it had only been one team scoring all those 7 goals, then it wouldn't have been as entertaining, would it? In fact, one of the reasons that Man City's games are "boring", is because they don't give their opponents a lot of chances to score. But when those opponents get chances to score e.g against Real Madrid or Man U in the FA Cup final, suddenly those games aren't boring anymore, even if Man City play their usual rigid style.
The problem is not Pep , but the other managers + the format of the tournament : - On a league match , coaches will most of the time try to be more aggresive , risk more , and give their players more freedom. This is because "if you lose" , you still have more matches left and also you now know "what it works" and "what it does not work". - On KO Tournaments however is a whole different story. You wanna play as safe as possible and wait until the opposition makes a mistake and capitalize from it. Pretty much what France and England were doing for the whole EURO 2024. One bad match and you are out of the tournament, is as simple as that. Any mistake from the match can result in you losing. - I think Guardiola on his Champions League 2023 phrase this perfectly : "If you dont win , everything what you did before is useless. We beat Bayern Muninch and Real Madrid , and if we don win the finals against Inter , its gonna be consider a failure. So we have to win because football is cruel and nobody will remember what you did if you lose the final match. Your whole season can be summarize and determine by just one match". And thus , Pep in the finals against Inter , we see City playing a very sluggish first half but pick up the pace on second half and won it with some "luck" and Lakaka being an insane defender for City.
If he gets the credit for his ideas, he also gets the credit for ruining the game. It can't be one or another. It's one and another. ChatGPT created a great chatbot and ruined the process to learning something, it's one and another. Not one or another.
@@ryankwatemba4071 Its Peps fault for setting majority of the biggest clubs academy's to play his way It ruined Germany for years because the Bayern academy had to play his way Schweinsteiger said Germany lost its way for a while thats when the Country fell off(kinda matches the timing Peps influence over German youth teams was high). The dominant team changed their style and the players adjusted to fit The problem is players and other managers arent good enough to replicate it
@@imo098765 You can't blame everything on Pep. The German Academy System was actually introduced around the year 2000, when the DFB realized, that "we" are losing touch to the best nations in the World. They introduced a mandatory academy system for every Bundesliga club. You won't get a license, if you don't hit certain youth standards. This system then led to a certain kind of offensive player being forged: Small, technically brilliant, focused on the pass game, no header. Germany had tons of these players (and still has. Musiala and Wirtz are a scary constellation). But all of a sudden, Germany had no more traditional strikers like Klinsmann, Hubresch or Gerd Müller. To misquote Gareth Southgate "We never found a natural replacement for Miroslav Klose"... and yes, that Füllkrug is the only national player, that had to take a detour through the 2nd league, is telling. But he is the closest Germany got to replace Klose in the last 10 years. None of this has anything to do with Pep, who only worked for 1 club for 3 years.
pep is a victim of his own success. when his style of play is up against others is when football is truly interesting, but when two almost same systems play out, it gets boring. people forget that pep's city side used to be really entertaining and still are against top clubs. i think the sane x aguero x sterling era was probably the most entertaining.
Thank you for bringing up the final point. People have been saying "argh Pep ruins players creativity", but all you have to do is watch Doku or when it comes to defensive players, Rodri. They are given the ball and they look to create something out of nothing. Phil Foden and Bernardo too.
No they don’t, they recycle the ball until they have created the opening they have been drilled to find. Foden and even Kdb’s goals against madrid the past two years we’re lucky af. And any ex player will tell you that. Foden did nothing before or after those goals, and Kdb ripped that shot hoping it would go in. That doesn’t mean they were bad shots, but let’s stop sucking them off anyone that’s ever played at a competitive level knows sometimes you shoot and pray and that’s what those were.
When Pep was a player and Cruyff was a coach, Cruyff never gave solutions to his players because he wanted the players to find solutions themselves. This was then passed on to Pep, and many others. Cruyff and Pep are strict positionally, and this is obviously all part of the system. In this system there are patterns of play which are benefited by the specific structure of the formation they play in, not just complete improvisation. Complete improvisation and no structure doesn't exist because the coach would barely have anything to do once the game starts. The players job is to play in this system, and are signed because they have the qualities to fit in the system. Specifically in a passing oriented team, that has players who cover a wide area of the pitch, you need players who find the right pass into the right gap to open space. You need wingers, sometimes fullbacks too, who are creative enough to finds solutions to get past the defender 1v1 because when he gets past the opponent more space opens up. There are many more examples of creativity, but this should about cover some of the basics.
There are many different reasons. Mainly because a good coach, or a great coach, doesn't come around as often as we might expect. Maybe the coach is good, but he doesn't connect with the player. Some players might have the right qualities to play in a system, but they might not feel comfortable in the team or in that specific system. Some players are great for national team, but not club and vice versa because of these and many more reasons.
@@xMythpugLol, but you're the one using kindergarten age insults. How you transferring responsibility of your childish insults? You just suggested he's "12 years old" and then "11 years old" then told him to stop using your own words? 😂😂😂🤣🤣😅?
Most of the managers gaining prominence today were either Pep's former players or assistants. The guy is brilliant no doubt, but this is a case of us having too much of a good thing.
He isn't forcing anyone to play his system. I'll rather call it a lack of innovation and imagination from the other managers and systems, because instead of finding ways of beating Pep everyone is trying to copy him. Pep is a master at what he does and every year evolves into something new; inverts fullbacks, pushes Stones to midfield, play with 4 CBs etc each year he comes up with something but all the others just copy. Look at all the teams that regularly beat Pep; Real and before Liverpool. Those were teams with distinct styles different from Pep
@@bigmitchtv3922yup. Pep is so good that people haven’t figured out a way to be dominant against his philosophy except to either embrace it, park the bus or go very gungho by pressing and chasing. All three are reactionary to Pep rather than proactive where Pep has to adapt to them.
Pep has been very influential on football if not the most influential manager ever, there’s even football terms named after his tactics from false 9 to Pepefication, defender playing CDM, much respect to him for that. Issue for football viewers/lovers starts when there’s too many Pep clones being created like Arteta for example: when Arsenal faces City, because the tactics are so similar the game becomes boring because now the two managers cancelling each other out, but when two different tactics clash (Liverpool vs City) it is usually a thriller and entertaining because the philosophy is different & each manager is imposing their own game plan which opens up the other team’s vulnerability spots and that is what pleases the eye of a football lover/viewer. It’s not an issue of too much tacticality rather a lack of versatile tacticality amongst football managers. It is always entertaining when German philosophy meets Spanish football philosophy, these in my view two top tier football philosophies. Example being latest Spain Vs German Euro clash, or 2011-2013 Barcelona (Pep) vs Bayern (Heynckes).
@@Joelkenneth3102 Hm. Or could it be that the people claiming that Guardiola's style is boring are the fans of the teams that consistently lose against him? Because that sure is what I remember from his tenure in Barcelona, where Real Madrid fans always complained that Barcelona's football was boring. How is 'boring' any objective a measure, and why should anyone care what others consider boring? I mean, I can't say definitively what football style is boring, but what I can say is this: in the last seven years, Guardiola's Manchester City has won the Premier League six times. And in the last couple of years, Guardiola's so called 'disciple' has been the runner up, finishing well above all the other super rich and powerful teams, such as Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, now Newcastle too, etc. Yeah it's no wonder that so many people are so bored...
You can't blame Pep for the lack of innovation and ideas of other managers that's their fault. Did Pep ask anyone to copy from him? No. He perfected a style of football based on his ideologies and is the best at it. So all others decided to copy rather than find new innoative ways of playing against that. Morever it's not like he's rigid, every year he innovates something to stay ahead of the curve i.e Inverted FB, False nine, Playing with basically 4CBs, Pushing a CB to midfield, bringing a throwbacj striker into his system. He constantly tweaks something and all the others do is copy. That's why he's at the top, all they can do is play catch-up and that's why I say as much as Arsenal play good football it'll be hard for them to win the PL ahead of City because they are basically copy-cats. Look at the teams Pep has difficulties against; Real is a fuild team centered around the strenghts off it players, ancient Liverpool pressing machine with very direct and vertical play. You can't do what he's doing better than him, so find a different way. Unfortunately they rather copy
I couldn't agree more!! A lot of people think Pep is the problem when actually the managers are the ones who are trying to be him. Few coaches are the ones who are embracing their uniqueness while others are always in Pep's shadow. I think if maybe every manager would find their own style of play it wouldn't be that boring as people say it is
Exaaactly, pep is literally the last one to blame for "pepefication", its others fault, and he, being the genius he is, doesnt settle and always innovates new stuff
@@FootballMadeSimplecan you please do an analysis of how Martin Anselmi’s Blue Cross plays? Perhaps the team that plays the best in all of the americas
Sorry if Arsenal’s football doesn’t sufficiently entertain neutrals but as an Arsenal fan, I’d rather be in a title race than in 8th and I think we’ve been playing great football to go alongside it.
As a Brazilian is really cool to see such a great youtube channel mentioning Fernando Diniz and how different his coaching style is from Guardiola's cuz it has been misunderstood for so long due to his focus on ball posession even though the approach is completely different. Thank you for other great analysis. I've been learning a lot with you!
Pep Guardiola didn’t invent 4 at the back becoming 3 at the back or a defender in the midfield during the attacking phase of play or false nine and many more. He adopted/learnt a lot of these ideas from other managers. He is influential as a result of his great success, bravery and an attacking mindset. -Tim Walter used a defender in midfield during the attacking phase @ Holstein Kiel before Pep adopted it. - Chelsea 2004 played a variation of three at the back with Paulo Ferraira staying back during attacking phase
Amazing video. For me and I have said this for years. Pep is the greatest manager in history. He has completely revolutionized football in the modern era and was the coach of the greatest footballing team I have ever seen. That team performed like an orchestra when they took the pitch. It was like the team was in complete harmony with each other and could play with their eyes closed. Then the topper of course is the greatest of them all and every 3rd day would put on his solo virtuoso performance. Kudos to Pep for recognizing this and putting him in the position where he could put his full abilities on display for the world to see
Except Don Carlo. Study also game play in the 70s and 80s. Juego de posicion had its own permutation then. Nothing new. No need to call it Pep-ification of the game. Bec in fact, he employed tiki-taka back in 2008-2010. So nothing original.
Ancelotti and Real Madrid are the final bosses of football. They can play beautifully AND play ugly as long as they win. They can attack well and defend in numbers. It's also down to Pintus and his pre-season training. Players just don't run out of energy easily.
@@hakki368 there are lots of new things which Pep introduced with Cruyff's principles that's another reason why most of the teams wants Pep's former assistants
Pep is the great synthethizer of past managers and tactics. Van Gaal's obsession with space control and order, Cruyff's freedom for individual brilliance and fast attacking play and Sacchi's push for high press are his main strategic influences. Inverted full backs was a Tele Santana's tactic (Junior). WM is older than anything else in football. False 9 was Gustav Szebes trademark tactic (Hidegkuti Nandor) and then Spalletti reinvented it with Totti at Roma. He also integrated the "salida lavolpiana" (La Volpe's build up) and some principles from Bielsa. Central defenders as attacking threat is a reinvention of old school liberos (Beckenbauer, Scirea), which was tested first as a systemic feature by Gasperini at Atalanta (Toloi and Djimsiti) and then Inzaghi, but with a variaton: The central defender stays down with the holding midfielders and the stoppers go up. It takes an insane amount of dedication and talent to integrate all those tactics in a single team to be used according to the game and opponent. That's why he is one among top 10 ever for me. The guy is incredibly brilliant
@@dondamon4669 it was way back before that. Specifically, Hungary National team of the 50s. Also, Spalletti pioneered using false 9 as only forward. Every time false 9 was used before that, it was in a front 2 line
He's the most underrated manager of all time, despite his incredible success. People love to hate the best. They praise Mourinho despite him being sacked at almost every club he manages, and say Pep only succeeds because of money when managers like Mourinho and Ancelotti have spent WAY more in their careers than Pep
he didn't create False 9, Cruyff was the first false 9, From Rinus michels, then Manchester united used it with cantona. He didn't reinvent anything, he simply seems to be manager that was in the position to know about all this earlier than the other managers.
In some ways he's tweaked old tactics. All teams use to have wingers to give width, they all use to press high, etc etc - whats hes done is marry up different systems into 1 coherent way to win.
There's a fundamental problem across many sports: due to evolving in a world that no longer exists, human beings will tend to value a unit preserved over a unit gained. In football that means that humans will value goal prevention over goal scoring. This is merely a psychological artifact as in reality 1=1. There has been countless studies showing this. Across all of the top leagues, there's a much wider variance in goals scored amongst teams than goals allowed. Managers need to suppress their natural inclination and focus more of their efforts going forward and less of them in defense, in particular in football because undrawn matches produce more total points for the two teams than drawn matches. Not only would this be more fun to watch, but it would likely improve results too.
There is a great need for dribblers in the lower half and upper half of the field. Too many teams that try to keep the ball are terrible at making third man runs and carrying between the lines. They pass it around, but everyone is static and glued to their position. It is exactly the positional responsibility the rest of the team takes that allows for that one or two creative dribblers to break the defensive shape. There is no such thing as absolute defense. There's always space somewhere on the pitch. No team can get so compact as to cover all of it. Just as progressing the ball is about passing at the right time, not about how fast or the distance the ball travels, defending is about expanding and contracting when and where you need to. Cruyff said it and modern teams apply it, that you want to allow the opposition's worst players the most of the ball. It's why the need for CBs that can not only pass the ball from a static position, but move with it into space is inevitable. Teams are not ready for it and do not respond well currently. Can't a midfielder make runs looking to get the ball and turn with it, if the CBs can't carry it to find an angle? Most either can't or don't dare to. There aren't enough Pirlo's around for that. What Pep is applying has been coming for a long time and would have happened without him, unless you also remove Cruyff and all his predecessors. When you attack you want to do it on your terms at your advantage. Pep didn't invent military strategy either, he just applies it. Numerical superiority leads to qualitative superiority. If they don't match you man to man, you win. If they match you and you contract too many players in one spot of the field, you give your other players huge amounts of space to receive the ball on your terms. Even the 1 vs 1s created by that are not 50/50s. A player with all the room in the world to dribble is at a massive advantage over the defender no matter how fast and agile. The one with the ball always leads. A player trying to dribble in a narrow space is at a great disadvantage. They are not at all on even terms. Actual player skill comes after that. If teams choose to only pass short when the longball and/or side switch is on, that is on them. Football is evolving and modern teams have to play a form of football that is complete. It's not about playing short or long, fast or slow. De Zerbi's has already been doing it with his "artificial transitions".
This is so fascinating. I am an ice hockey fan that is getting into football and the data analytics has had the exact same effect on the game. The slapshot has gone extinct in hockey.
I hate it when I hear fans say that Pep is making football boring. First, he does not tell other managers to copy him, and secondly, he has a boss and fans that demand titles, and he has to do what he has to in order to deliver. 👍
If other managers copy him and do well, like Arteta, then I see no problem. Success is more important than appeasing whining neutrals who don’t even support you who complain that football is boring.
i think it's a shame that season City won the treble was the one where Pep was using the most rigid and imo the worst formation which popularised it. the 20/21 and 21/22 were much better suited to the players and had much better rotations/dynamics. 23/24 also. the 3241 leaves the wingers so isolated since the box midfield means they can't really be overlapped. the only reason it worked was the brilliant minds of Gundo and KDB making great underlaps. those 3 seasons City were just as deserving a to win a treble as 22/23 in terms of how they played. and it would've alot more fun if a 442 with two false 9s was the trend.
Actually the earlier system for pep adhered to Cruyffian tactics. He had the knowledge of Van Gaal, knew the management of Robson/Mourinho and the great characters in football history, and pretty much played with Xavi and earlier Iniesta. + adding to which, every team he's had, has come from incredibly stable clubs and he's inherited a very balanced team everywhere. Allbeit aged to some level. He was born and raised in Cruyffian positional play, had enough time to understand and work around the system. the treble winning side of City were the worst of his teams, to watch. Brilliant team for winning, an eyesour to watch.
He had to be rigid especially in the UCL because City were conceding a lot and it damaged their aggregate scores. Pep realised that and set up that way especially in the away games and then more free flowing and attacking when they played at home.
actually i think 17/18 and 18/19 were easily our most fun and scariest teams, sadly the ucl is creepy and worse teams always seem to win (like chelsea, their legendary teams failed, but two of the worst chelsea squads won somehow)
I think the history of football tactics is largely that there is a dominant style, then someone brings a new one to bear with great success, and it becomes the new norm. We saw this when 2-3-5 became W-M in the 1930s, then 4-2-4 emerged with the Hungarians and Brazilians in the 1950s. For many years almost all German teams played a sweeper system, while English sides in the 70s and 80s would play 4-4-2 with one wide midfielder who tucked in and one orthodox winger. Then the long ball style became increasingly prominent in England for a few years. In the 2000s, 4-2-3-1 emerged and became the vogue, so we have seen this before many times.
Quite a good video that actually considers how we’ve gotten to this point! You touched on it a bit toward the end but the improvement of sides from about 10th to 15th in the premier league is understated. It wasn’t like that when pep got to England in 2016. We can also see it with promoted sides who come up and look miles off 14,15,16th.
Thank you for making this, i've been annoyed with the "modern football is boring" discourse. people who complain about how city play must not watch them, because the likes of Foden, Doku, KDB and Bernardo shine with their creativity, dribbling and passing skills every match.
Motta and Alonso are cooking the next phase of this but Atlanta's man to man marking really showed that experience can still topple a team with revolutionary tactics & playstyle when it comes to most important matches
I sent this clip to my friends with a comment "no, this is not my YT channel, this guy only talks about everything I talk about all the time." Thank you.
While flair players are fun to watch, the number of flair players who are efficient are few and far between. Most players are elevated by the system. Go watch Arsenal games from the early 2000s. Nothing happens until the ball got to Henry.
Pep Guardiola evolved Johan Cruyff's tactical style into what we have today. Pep found the winning formula, which few teams have managed to breakthrough, so a lot of teams try to copy the system. It is only a matter of time before someone like the next Neymar/Ronaldinho/Messi will smash through this high-possession/positional disciplined philosophy with 1v1 dribbling. Maybe, less specialist players and more generalized all-around players making a splash would be cool. I hope a team will bring back fluid Total Football with gegenpressing and intense attacking.
Jack Grealish is my favourite player to watch. The way he keeps defenders on the back foot when dribbling and draws fouls as well as great control of the ball and maintains possession under pressure is soo underrated.
This man really trying to say peps system is the boring one when it’s the team that sit in the back who make football boring. Pep proposes an attacking football and teams can’t beat him so they just seat back
pep's system is boring, the players are taught to not be risky ever since they join his academy, he buys good players with his oil money and transforms them into robots that are simply boring to watch
when you mentioned the importance of dribblers , l think that's why Pep bought Doku. His role is mainly for against teams that try to match Pep, hence his dribbling prowess is key. And the opposite's(Grealish- a replica of Sterling at City) role is to hug the touchline so as to create width and position within half spaces against teams that sit back. So l guess both options complement each other. Good video btw
Pep Guardiola's influence on football is more nuanced than a simple 'changing the game' narrative. He's raised the bar for competitiveness and entertainment, but it's now up to other coaches to decide how they'll respond to this new standard. They can choose to adopt similar approaches, adapt his ideas to suit their teams, or forge their own paths. Ultimately, it's not just about copy and paste; it's about understanding the principles and adapting to the ever-evolving landscape of football.
I got no hate toward Pep. Regardless of the jobs he's had, players he gets etc. Only thing I'll say is people need to realize, like the difference between a teacher (Wenger) , lecturer (Mourinho, Ancelotti) and philosopher (Ranieri, et el) , Pep is literally the complete combination. Has his ideas, then knows the players that will make it happen with very little tweaks to their individual quality, and can actually take the time to make each player understand their role in the formula as well as see the solution in the formula.
having wingers who likes to dribble and a striker will give you more chances but you will lose the ball more often and this is the kryptonite of pep's system , it is a system built on keeping the ball as much as possible and wait for the opponent to make a mistake , in this system in my opinion the two most important players in city squad are gralish and walker , walker being good on wining long races and stoping counters and grealish with keeping the ball until the team regain its shape if it wasn't for those two we would see a lot of counters and no one to stop them , that's why that last game against real madrid was slow paced , because pep didn't want to risk loosing the ball in unwanted spaces and real madrid were just happy to defend
I will argue before watching the whole video that Pep has realized because most teams rather Park the bus and counter, he has responded by preserving energy and keeping things simple. If other teams dared to take a risk, then Pep would respond in kind. I'm not a Pep fanboi, but watching so many teams just not bother to challenge his City side on the pitch, and how his players still have energy towards the end of the season, why would/should HE change anything?
"You Either Die a Hero or Live Long Enough to See Yourself Become the Villain" Dude never forced anyone to copy his tactics and philosophy yet everybody hating on him for what 'He's' done to Football? That's just how it is when you're that darn good at what you do... nxggxz gon' hate.
pep’s football was amazing to watch at barcelona because of the players. the last few years it’s just been dull because he’s been so successful i think he feels that he needs to be overly cautious to not embarrass the team since he’s probably the most scrutinized manager in the game
internet, social media, youtube, tiktok, twitch, netflix, etc are destroying traditional entertainment industry (which includes sports). sports now are generally boring because there are a lot of alternative entertainment outlet, and they are much more engaging and hence entertaining. you can scroll endless tiktok and youtube shorts and constantly entertained instead of waiting and hoping for any interesting moments in football, and this is getting worse with knockout tournament where teams just scared to lose instead of wanting to win. for older gen z and above probably think this is nonsense but now lesser kids want to be sportsperson, more wanting to be social influencer whanot, more wanting to watch 60 seconds skibidi toilet sketch than even watching 30 minutes cartoon
Ange postecoglu doesnt like parking bus. Both time city played them, those matches were entertaining. Klopp doesnt park the bus, the matches against liverpool are always entertaining. Its not peps fault some managers go against pep very defensively.
Just one fact missing, the Pep-style is only prominent in England, other leagues have teams playing like that, sure, but big teams usually have their own styles
After almost 40 years of watching and studying football, I earned the right to say the game was never as boring and dull as it is today. Most matches of the last Euro were not worth one´s time. In the final, the only ball Nico Williams didn´t pass back to the midfield was when he scored the first goal. But people see him as a player comparable to Rivaldo, Ribery, or Blokhin. It´s ridiculous.
Same. People blame Pep because it’s his team influencing how others play but I remember Milan winning the league whilst scoring 36 goals. I remember hearing about Cruyff’s Barcelona, packed with big names and then I finally got to watch them I thought they were boring. Ajax winning the Champions league was another one. All those famous youngsters but that team was boring to watch. What we’re seeing now is the culmination of those players becoming managers and being afraid to take risks. The media has played a large part in this by putting a tremendous amount of pressure on everyone to succeed which, of course, isn’t possible.
@@SubManifest It’s such a shame. Watching the Euros, it seemed that the only time something happened ‘out of the blue’ was due to someone’s mistake rather than someone’s moment of genius. This just makes it worse for players as they don’t want to be that guy that loses it for his team rather than people trying to win it for his team.
@@SubManifest Sadly, yes. For all we know, there could be another Ronaldinho out there, someone who is skilled enough to do training ground antics during an actual match, but they’ll never be allowed to use that flair and creative genius to flip a match on its head. Any time you see anyone from the lower leagues (where there is much more individuality) who shows any signs of this, they are picked up by a big club and then, basically, hogtied into the big club’s system. I remember when the “pass back” rule was introduced to stop mediocre teams from stopping a game in its tracks. I can’t for the life of me think of what rule they could bring in to help the game. The clubs, managers and players aren’t going to change it off their own back.
The problem isn't pep it's the opposite manager who chose to sit back while his players try to break through not just small teams but big teams in big also chose to sit back which is frustrating to watch This not just happens with Pep but with most possession based teams in La Liga most of the opponents barca faces chose to sit back and counter at a low rate I have watched those games and fell asleep most of the times
But don't you see the genius of the opposite manager? They've completely drained the possession-heavy team of any ideas or solutions. This strategy is the best, it's like saying "you can have the ball as much as you want, as long as we keep outrunning your attackers and outsmarting your defenders.". This forces the possession-heavy team to get out of their comfort zone and play better. And almost all the time, they can't And when you don't have a plan B while on the ball, it also tires out the possession-heavy players physically and mentally, and THEN the other team finishes you off.
@@Coach-rq6jx that's exactly why the game get's boring I watch football for the 90 mins not 120 or even penalty most of the big teams in Euros used this strategy and it made the knock outs boring as hell you can use low block but you have to press and attack when the opposition is vulnerable France in this Euros are the prime example Real Madrid in the second leg against City is another example except Madrid scored first in that game later sat back but my point is they don't go for another attack which makes the game Robotic and boring which makes people less intrested in the game
@@Coach-rq6jx most teams do have back up plans but when the opposition is sitting back in the penalty spot with 11 players without giving any numerical advantage in the box or any space to shoot from outside the box we feel robotic as they attacking team forces to go for crosses
Well, Pep is a great coach. I think having free license to buy as many players to the point of having and A team on the field and an A team on the bench isn't Pep "changing the system" it's "abusing the system" and like you said having a better squad is what's going to get you the win.
I have two issues with Pep Ball. 1) While the play may not be boring, the inevitability of the results is.; and 2) the Pep mystique results in his teams managing to attract top tier talent, sort of like the Real Madrid effect but centered on the coach rather than the team. What would happen if Pep took a job with a team that doesn't have the budget to pay for that talent? Would he produce a winner then? I doubt we'll ever find out.
i think what's worse is how it his style has created copycats and haters of defensive , counter attacking, or anything like "way of the warrior" style of football ( because it can't be read on a heat map )
The boring thing is that Pep’s football always wins. That’s it for me really. I can’t be fully invested in what’s supposed to be a competitive league when the same team has won it 6 of the last 7 times. And I can’t be invested in a Manchester City match when they have the ball for 80% of the game and never lose a game unless every single thing that could go wrong for them does and the opposition barely manage to scrape a result.
It's boring because it's not your club winning and usually that stems from jealousy because if he were managing your club trust me it wouldn't be boring.
why don't you respond to my boy @IanMotivatedTooMuch, you don't hate pepball, you hate that your team can't beat it. Eventually a manager will figure it out until then, stop whining.
How can it be brainwashed? It's like saying it's the brainwashed who think Messi is the GOAT. Guardiola is the greatest coach in football. He made Barcelona the greatest team in the world for a decade. He and Messi.
guardiola is nowhere near the greatest coach in history, won nothing with bayern, unless daddy moneyoila has all that oil money, he's not doing anything, look what he did with bayern, absolutely nothing. have you heard of Rinus Mitchels? (probably not because you have no ball knowledge) but he was guardiola but better in every single way, he developed total football, the same idea as guardiola but: -much better -much more entertaining -much more successful and all of that without the need for hundreds of millions of euros
@@gewnurb I don't know who you are addresssing this diatribe to, but yes I have heard of Rinus Michels. (btw not Mitchels) He didn't develop total football. The Magical Magyars led by Puskas played a total football that made them unbeatable for four yrs, except for that iffy final of the WC of 1954. They're still considered the greatest national team in history. (BBC not me). This was taken up and polished by Michels who passed it on to Cruyff who developed it further. Gaurdiola followed this style of football, making Barcelona the greatest team in the world for a decade.
For anyone who says peps teams are boring, Firstly No one is watching their rival teams, unless it's a big match, Secondly you watching for us to lose you not emotionally invested in the game, to prove this, when crystal palace equalize or beat us you feel great, best game you've seen, but when teams park the bus and we dominant you there crying it's boring duh we are cooking you hate to see us win! No one watches Rival games unless they got nothing to do, football is about entertainment you don't put on a movie unless it peaks your interest! FYI, Every season we are part of game of the season you know why, cause up against actual teams who want to play pep ball shines "Chelsea 4:4 City"
Too much whining and saltiness. Football is boring against City if your team sits back and parks the bus because they are too scared. If your team goes toe to toe against City (like Liverpool did under Klopp throughout) then its the epitome of club football both in tactics and entertainment. You are basically blaming Pep for the tactics of the opposition who are too afraid to get 'entertainly' battered. And the opposition fans admit themselves. Like when Arsenal parked the bus against City for a draw in the last title race, Arsenal fans were happy calling it "defensive masterclass". And when asked why didn't they play to win they would reply "to get battered?" So stop blaming Pep for the tactics of the opposition. Instead demand your club to get better and grow some balls 🤌
Interesting discussion, I never thought about it that way, and leaves the question: what will it be of football managers world once pep retires? Also a minor correction, most of the video you wrote "Pocesion" while in Spanish the word is written "Posesión"
It's all pretty and nice but there's a big flaw with what City tried to do all these years, it's that it cannot be reproduced. Not only because Guardiola seems to be playing in a game of his own as a coach, but City cheating is playing on a league of its own. When you add these factors in, tactics are undermined by individual brilliance actually, but not in the usual way. It's great precision when it comes to profiling for the roles Pep needs for his new iteration. He dictates how zones will be occupied through patterns and then will trust that the player he signed to win the 1v1 will do it bc he was recruited with that specific task in mind. Not that there's anything wrong with that I guess it's what every team aspires to do, but this is not a team that won mainly bc of one-of-a-kind glorious tactics. It's an iteration game filled with lots of talent that eventually made it all work. I'd say Juego de Posición (yeah it's POSICIÓN not pocision) is just a layout that needs too specific and outstanding talent gathered to be consistent. If you ask me, talent ID and the infinite resources hack are the main thing here, without them Guardiola would probably be so limited it would have left no matter how good his new iteration was gonna be. So this actually reinforces the idea that technique with a purpose (plan) comes before tactics, which come last. Pep is not beating the ¨he wouldn't be able to do it with Ipswich Town¨ allegations.
Your words, "Ancelloti's's freeflowing style that has seen continous success in "RECENT YEARS"" The man has been managing since 1992. NOT RECENT YEARS. He's been a winner for 2 decades.
The best teams in history have a mix of both, look at 2009 Barcelona and current madrid, they understand thier positioning but have players that aren’t afraid to beat players and be creative, there should be a balance and the team that shows this is current Spain team
It's crazy how we say football is boring because of pep and no one ever said that wen mourinho was winning with porto, chelsea, inter 1-0 every match lol
If I had a time machine and took you back 30 years to go to games when we came back you'd stop watching what passes for football today. No mavericks no tackling..jeez.
@AreJayCee I didn't say 30 years ago, I was talking about around 2004, when Greece won the euros, Mourinho won the ucl then two prems, rafa benitez won the ucl in 05 and Italy won the wc in 06. All these teams and manager were super defensive minded and the amount of goals we see in football today is way higher
@vascobrighton480 No mate a get that. The point I was making is that compared to 30 years ago football today is just a sanitised version of the game I grew up with and you could have experienced that you'd see the travesty that passes for football today. Even the atmosphere at games these days is tame to what it used to be. It's football with its balls cut off tailored yo a family friendly tv audience. Go check out maybe Manchester Utd v Liverpool circa 85 then compare it to now. It's not same mate.
it's not all about goals, I'd rather watch any mourinho match that ended 1-0 with players like deco, sneijder, lampard, milito, drogba, etc, they were fun to watch even when they didn't score, while even if a man city game finished 4-0 you know all the goals were just 20 minutes of passing the ball around before finding a tap-in for haaland, just because there is a high scoreline, doesn't mean the quality of the football is good, any mourinho 0-0 or 1-0 game would be more entertaining than any pep game
5:57 Pep is already bringing in players like Doku and Savio. He is a true visionary and no replica manager of him will repeat his success being one step behind his mind every season.
Love your videos! Even though I've been watching football off and on for 20-ish years, I didn't grow up watching it. I still don't know a whole lot about tactics and still don't understand why certain plays happen sometimes until someone telestrates it afterwards. Your videos have been very helpful in that respect. Quick question, though. Are you familiar with Wilfried Nancy, current manager of MLS side Columbus Crew? I've been hearing a lot about how he's by far the best manager in MLS (not saying a lot, but many pundits say he might be European club caliber). I've seen one video on his tactics, but it would be interesting to see another analysis (hint hint). ;)
The thing is that many managers wants to copy Pep's blueprint for success but lacking the vital pieces that works or not adding a new variation or figuring out the flaws of his system. Football has been getting worse with stats and xG being the metric on how players play or perform. It's not Pep's fault that other managers like Arteta are carbon copies of him. Going back to xG, it masks bang average players like Bruno Fernandes and Rashford from their weaknesses. They always bring up elite numbers but their all round game is pitiful. Bruno Fernandes is the Russell Westbrook of football. Elite numbers with a dreadful all round game and hence they're divisive to say the least. I don't blame Guardiola for what football is becoming today, the blame goes to the media, PR agents, social media, modern fans and managers that wants to copy Guardiola. I'm glad Ancelotti is the few dying breed of managers that has their unique style.
The art of long pass is also dying. But it might resurrect soon. Spain suffered long balls terribly in last Euro. England created the most danger in the first half with two long balls, whilst the hyper complex Spain tactics were stopped by man marking Rodri and playing with two low and tight blocks of 4. Also Croatia made them suffer terribly but failed to capitalise and finish properly
Thumbnail looks like Guardiola is a war criminal 😂
115
I mean… is he not?
Meanwhile the war criminal is Arteta
"Thumbnail looks like Guardiola is war criminal that I have been brainwashed to think they look like"
There corrected it for you.
He is
"We don't suppress creativity, we just allow it only on our terms"-Thomas Tuchel
Bro sounded like a true politician😂
@AlanHinson better? Maybe, even though Ancelotti would care to disagree, but people are annoyed about the entertainment diminishing that these rigid systems bring, not the lack of effectiveness.
@@razvannegoi9826Ancelotti's style of football isn't actually that good. It depends on his player's having a high level of ability, confidence and motivation in order to create "magical moments" in a game, but Real Madrid usually don't look that good as a team.
@@razvannegoi9826And entertainment in football is born from mistakes. For example, Liverpool coming back from 3-0 down to beat Barcelona 4-3 was highly entertaining. But also, 7 goals were conceded over two games. And if it had only been one team scoring all those 7 goals, then it wouldn't have been as entertaining, would it?
In fact, one of the reasons that Man City's games are "boring", is because they don't give their opponents a lot of chances to score. But when those opponents get chances to score e.g against Real Madrid or Man U in the FA Cup final, suddenly those games aren't boring anymore, even if Man City play their usual rigid style.
@AlanHinson and now we have players that dont even half 20% of the technique players of the generation before have, better "TeaAm BALl"
The problem is not Pep , but the other managers + the format of the tournament :
- On a league match , coaches will most of the time try to be more aggresive , risk more , and give their players more freedom. This is because "if you lose" , you still have more matches left and also you now know "what it works" and "what it does not work".
- On KO Tournaments however is a whole different story. You wanna play as safe as possible and wait until the opposition makes a mistake and capitalize from it. Pretty much what France and England were doing for the whole EURO 2024. One bad match and you are out of the tournament, is as simple as that. Any mistake from the match can result in you losing.
- I think Guardiola on his Champions League 2023 phrase this perfectly : "If you dont win , everything what you did before is useless. We beat Bayern Muninch and Real Madrid , and if we don win the finals against Inter , its gonna be consider a failure. So we have to win because football is cruel and nobody will remember what you did if you lose the final match. Your whole season can be summarize and determine by just one match". And thus , Pep in the finals against Inter , we see City playing a very sluggish first half but pick up the pace on second half and won it with some "luck" and Lakaka being an insane defender for City.
If he gets the credit for his ideas, he also gets the credit for ruining the game. It can't be one or another. It's one and another. ChatGPT created a great chatbot and ruined the process to learning something, it's one and another. Not one or another.
@@EverydayOrdealsCry
@@EverydayOrdealsit's peps fault when other managers copy him
@@ryankwatemba4071 Its Peps fault for setting majority of the biggest clubs academy's to play his way
It ruined Germany for years because the Bayern academy had to play his way
Schweinsteiger said Germany lost its way for a while thats when the Country fell off(kinda matches the timing Peps influence over German youth teams was high). The dominant team changed their style and the players adjusted to fit
The problem is players and other managers arent good enough to replicate it
@@imo098765 You can't blame everything on Pep. The German Academy System was actually introduced around the year 2000, when the DFB realized, that "we" are losing touch to the best nations in the World. They introduced a mandatory academy system for every Bundesliga club. You won't get a license, if you don't hit certain youth standards. This system then led to a certain kind of offensive player being forged: Small, technically brilliant, focused on the pass game, no header. Germany had tons of these players (and still has. Musiala and Wirtz are a scary constellation). But all of a sudden, Germany had no more traditional strikers like Klinsmann, Hubresch or Gerd Müller. To misquote Gareth Southgate "We never found a natural replacement for Miroslav Klose"... and yes, that Füllkrug is the only national player, that had to take a detour through the 2nd league, is telling. But he is the closest Germany got to replace Klose in the last 10 years.
None of this has anything to do with Pep, who only worked for 1 club for 3 years.
Likewise, Pep bringing in 1V1 wingers such as Doku and Savio
Copying Arteta 😂
@@uknsaundersLiteral brain rot. Sterling and Sane played for city y'know?
@@uknsaundersRemember Sane and Sterling? that's when Arteta was working for Pep. Arteta wouldn't have a managerial career if it wasn't for Pep😂😂
@@Brandon-nq7ys and mahrez
If you guys think Pep invented "1v1 wingers" I think you should just wait until you're older to start talking about football
pep is a victim of his own success.
when his style of play is up against others is when football is truly interesting, but when two almost same systems play out, it gets boring.
people forget that pep's city side used to be really entertaining and still are against top clubs. i think the sane x aguero x sterling era was probably the most entertaining.
It was exciting in 2017-2019
@@thestar6798And then most managers decided to copy Pep...
Can't be entertaining if everyone is parking the bus.
well copying wouldn't be good against city for any team( other than the top notch afew teams). So that doesn't make the match interesting
@@captain_noodles take the Arsenal and City games last season for instance
maguire and neymar pictures. cracking
Nobody can get past the goat Maguire
Thank you for bringing up the final point. People have been saying "argh Pep ruins players creativity", but all you have to do is watch Doku or when it comes to defensive players, Rodri. They are given the ball and they look to create something out of nothing. Phil Foden and Bernardo too.
No they don’t, they recycle the ball until they have created the opening they have been drilled to find. Foden and even Kdb’s goals against madrid the past two years we’re lucky af.
And any ex player will tell you that. Foden did nothing before or after those goals, and Kdb ripped that shot hoping it would go in. That doesn’t mean they were bad shots, but let’s stop sucking them off anyone that’s ever played at a competitive level knows sometimes you shoot and pray and that’s what those were.
When Pep was a player and Cruyff was a coach, Cruyff never gave solutions to his players because he wanted the players to find solutions themselves. This was then passed on to Pep, and many others. Cruyff and Pep are strict positionally, and this is obviously all part of the system. In this system there are patterns of play which are benefited by the specific structure of the formation they play in, not just complete improvisation. Complete improvisation and no structure doesn't exist because the coach would barely have anything to do once the game starts. The players job is to play in this system, and are signed because they have the qualities to fit in the system. Specifically in a passing oriented team, that has players who cover a wide area of the pitch, you need players who find the right pass into the right gap to open space. You need wingers, sometimes fullbacks too, who are creative enough to finds solutions to get past the defender 1v1 because when he gets past the opponent more space opens up. There are many more examples of creativity, but this should about cover some of the basics.
Then why don't these players perform outside the system, say for their country ? Except Rodri who is anyway a defensive midfielder.
There are many different reasons. Mainly because a good coach, or a great coach, doesn't come around as often as we might expect. Maybe the coach is good, but he doesn't connect with the player. Some players might have the right qualities to play in a system, but they might not feel comfortable in the team or in that specific system. Some players are great for national team, but not club and vice versa because of these and many more reasons.
@@Honorbound43this might be the worst take I’ve ever seen good Lord 😂😂
Pep and Tuchel share a tactical brilliance.
Their clash in the Champions League final was a fascinating tactical masterclass
It was a GARBAGE game to watch
@@Clout_chasing_boy City's 2-3-5 possession system against Chelsea's 5-2-3 block and counterattack was brilliant
Your standards must be extremely high🤣.
"the pepefication of football" this word is amazing 😂
It's not, lacks any creativity and is so overused, but I guess if you're 12 years old you find it funny...
@@xMythpugGoddamn you just told us you're the one who's 12 without actually telling us
@@malhaar2271 Please, think of something better than "No, you!11!"... We are not in kindergarten anymore
@@xMythpugLol, but you're the one using kindergarten age insults.
How you transferring responsibility of your childish insults? You just suggested he's "12 years old" and then "11 years old" then told him to stop using your own words? 😂😂😂🤣🤣😅?
@@ochomunna270 I haven't insulted anyone, please work on your reading comprehension...
Most of the managers gaining prominence today were either Pep's former players or assistants. The guy is brilliant no doubt, but this is a case of us having too much of a good thing.
He isn't forcing anyone to play his system. I'll rather call it a lack of innovation and imagination from the other managers and systems, because instead of finding ways of beating Pep everyone is trying to copy him. Pep is a master at what he does and every year evolves into something new; inverts fullbacks, pushes Stones to midfield, play with 4 CBs etc each year he comes up with something but all the others just copy. Look at all the teams that regularly beat Pep; Real and before Liverpool. Those were teams with distinct styles different from Pep
@@bigmitchtv3922yup. Pep is so good that people haven’t figured out a way to be dominant against his philosophy except to either embrace it, park the bus or go very gungho by pressing and chasing. All three are reactionary to Pep rather than proactive where Pep has to adapt to them.
Outside of Arteta, Fabregas and Kompany who else we talking about?
@@JamailvanWestering Xavi Hernandez, Alonso, Enzo Maresca, Ten Hag. It's like Pep is the new Johann Cruyff.
@@daniaaal I'd say Don Carlo is the most capable manager to give him a run for his money
Pep has been very influential on football if not the most influential manager ever, there’s even football terms named after his tactics from false 9 to Pepefication, defender playing CDM, much respect to him for that.
Issue for football viewers/lovers starts when there’s too many Pep clones being created like Arteta for example: when Arsenal faces City, because the tactics are so similar the game becomes boring because now the two managers cancelling each other out, but when two different tactics clash (Liverpool vs City) it is usually a thriller and entertaining because the philosophy is different & each manager is imposing their own game plan which opens up the other team’s vulnerability spots and that is what pleases the eye of a football lover/viewer. It’s not an issue of too much tacticality rather a lack of versatile tacticality amongst football managers.
It is always entertaining when German philosophy meets Spanish football philosophy, these in my view two top tier football philosophies. Example being latest Spain Vs German Euro clash, or 2011-2013 Barcelona (Pep) vs Bayern (Heynckes).
Exactly too many people who want to play like pep is what's causing the boredom in football
@@Joelkenneth3102 Hm. Or could it be that the people claiming that Guardiola's style is boring are the fans of the teams that consistently lose against him? Because that sure is what I remember from his tenure in Barcelona, where Real Madrid fans always complained that Barcelona's football was boring.
How is 'boring' any objective a measure, and why should anyone care what others consider boring? I mean, I can't say definitively what football style is boring, but what I can say is this: in the last seven years, Guardiola's Manchester City has won the Premier League six times. And in the last couple of years, Guardiola's so called 'disciple' has been the runner up, finishing well above all the other super rich and powerful teams, such as Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, now Newcastle too, etc.
Yeah it's no wonder that so many people are so bored...
You can't blame Pep for the lack of innovation and ideas of other managers that's their fault. Did Pep ask anyone to copy from him? No. He perfected a style of football based on his ideologies and is the best at it. So all others decided to copy rather than find new innoative ways of playing against that. Morever it's not like he's rigid, every year he innovates something to stay ahead of the curve i.e Inverted FB, False nine, Playing with basically 4CBs, Pushing a CB to midfield, bringing a throwbacj striker into his system. He constantly tweaks something and all the others do is copy. That's why he's at the top, all they can do is play catch-up and that's why I say as much as Arsenal play good football it'll be hard for them to win the PL ahead of City because they are basically copy-cats. Look at the teams Pep has difficulties against; Real is a fuild team centered around the strenghts off it players, ancient Liverpool pressing machine with very direct and vertical play. You can't do what he's doing better than him, so find a different way. Unfortunately they rather copy
I couldn't agree more!! A lot of people think Pep is the problem when actually the managers are the ones who are trying to be him. Few coaches are the ones who are embracing their uniqueness while others are always in Pep's shadow. I think if maybe every manager would find their own style of play it wouldn't be that boring as people say it is
My point exactly, you can’t beat a master with his own tactics because he knows the strength and weakness of his tactics
Exaaactly, pep is literally the last one to blame for "pepefication", its others fault, and he, being the genius he is, doesnt settle and always innovates new stuff
You managed to grab and hold my 1 year daughters attention. Thank you! I dont have to watch cocomelon 🙏🏾
Love that!
@@FootballMadeSimplecan you please do an analysis of how Martin Anselmi’s Blue Cross plays? Perhaps the team that plays the best in all of the americas
What is her opinion on Grealish?
What is cocomelon?
@goodman4093 probably some Chelsea youngster or something
This video is well made. The intro is superb, the progression is captivating.
Just Can't stop watching.
Pep vs Mourinho Or Pep vs Klopp is good.
But Pep vs Walmart Pep with hair is just dire
😂😂😂💯
Mourinho lol. Pep vs anyone that tries to play like him means more open spaces and more pressing, leading to more attacks from both sides
@@CristianmrWuno "more attack from both sides" lmao just like the 0-0s we saw against arsenal with 8 CBs on the pitch. Very entertaining
@@CristianmrWuno yes atleast we arrnt watcing 2 clones fight eachothers.
Sorry if Arsenal’s football doesn’t sufficiently entertain neutrals but as an Arsenal fan, I’d rather be in a title race than in 8th and I think we’ve been playing great football to go alongside it.
As a Brazilian is really cool to see such a great youtube channel mentioning Fernando Diniz and how different his coaching style is from Guardiola's cuz it has been misunderstood for so long due to his focus on ball posession even though the approach is completely different. Thank you for other great analysis. I've been learning a lot with you!
Here at Madrid our grandpa raises his eyebrow and yeah that's about it frankly.
Great one 😂
Didn't work last year..lol
By parking the bus for 90 minutes?
@@nitinpandey3616 shhh. 2 CL titles in 3 years, beaten Pep twice! Beaten Tuchel and Klopp multiple times!
Worked this year against pep@@DavidRegaL-lw5xz
Pep Guardiola didn’t invent 4 at the back becoming 3 at the back or a defender in the midfield during the attacking phase of play or false nine and many more. He adopted/learnt a lot of these ideas from other managers. He is influential as a result of his great success, bravery and an attacking mindset.
-Tim Walter used a defender in midfield during the attacking phase @ Holstein Kiel before Pep adopted it.
- Chelsea 2004 played a variation of three at the back with Paulo Ferraira staying back during attacking phase
Amazing video. For me and I have said this for years. Pep is the greatest manager in history. He has completely revolutionized football in the modern era and was the coach of the greatest footballing team I have ever seen. That team performed like an orchestra when they took the pitch. It was like the team was in complete harmony with each other and could play with their eyes closed. Then the topper of course is the greatest of them all and every 3rd day would put on his solo virtuoso performance. Kudos to Pep for recognizing this and putting him in the position where he could put his full abilities on display for the world to see
Except Don Carlo. Study also game play in the 70s and 80s. Juego de posicion had its own permutation then. Nothing new. No need to call it Pep-ification of the game. Bec in fact, he employed tiki-taka back in 2008-2010. So nothing original.
Ancelotti and Real Madrid are the final bosses of football. They can play beautifully AND play ugly as long as they win. They can attack well and defend in numbers. It's also down to Pintus and his pre-season training. Players just don't run out of energy easily.
@@hakki368 there are lots of new things which Pep introduced with Cruyff's principles that's another reason why most of the teams wants Pep's former assistants
@@sreedethsudheer5265 I can't take whatever you say seriously if you don't use punctuation.
@@bazingacurta2567 what exactly you want me to do in that sentence
@@sreedethsudheer5265 At the very least introduce a comma between "principles" and "that's".
Pep is the great synthethizer of past managers and tactics.
Van Gaal's obsession with space control and order, Cruyff's freedom for individual brilliance and fast attacking play and Sacchi's push for high press are his main strategic influences.
Inverted full backs was a Tele Santana's tactic (Junior). WM is older than anything else in football. False 9 was Gustav Szebes trademark tactic (Hidegkuti Nandor) and then Spalletti reinvented it with Totti at Roma. He also integrated the "salida lavolpiana" (La Volpe's build up) and some principles from Bielsa.
Central defenders as attacking threat is a reinvention of old school liberos (Beckenbauer, Scirea), which was tested first as a systemic feature by Gasperini at Atalanta (Toloi and Djimsiti) and then Inzaghi, but with a variaton: The central defender stays down with the holding midfielders and the stoppers go up.
It takes an insane amount of dedication and talent to integrate all those tactics in a single team to be used according to the game and opponent. That's why he is one among top 10 ever for me. The guy is incredibly brilliant
Cantona was a false 9 so was Sheringham and Scholes at times,it's not a new thing!!
@@dondamon4669 it was way back before that. Specifically, Hungary National team of the 50s.
Also, Spalletti pioneered using false 9 as only forward.
Every time false 9 was used before that, it was in a front 2 line
He's the most underrated manager of all time, despite his incredible success. People love to hate the best. They praise Mourinho despite him being sacked at almost every club he manages, and say Pep only succeeds because of money when managers like Mourinho and Ancelotti have spent WAY more in their careers than Pep
he didn't create False 9, Cruyff was the first false 9, From Rinus michels, then Manchester united used it with cantona. He didn't reinvent anything, he simply seems to be manager that was in the position to know about all this earlier than the other managers.
@@EverydayOrdeals the first false 9 was Hidegkuti Nandor from Hungary (1946-1954)
In some ways he's tweaked old tactics. All teams use to have wingers to give width, they all use to press high, etc etc - whats hes done is marry up different systems into 1 coherent way to win.
There's a fundamental problem across many sports: due to evolving in a world that no longer exists, human beings will tend to value a unit preserved over a unit gained. In football that means that humans will value goal prevention over goal scoring. This is merely a psychological artifact as in reality 1=1. There has been countless studies showing this.
Across all of the top leagues, there's a much wider variance in goals scored amongst teams than goals allowed. Managers need to suppress their natural inclination and focus more of their efforts going forward and less of them in defense, in particular in football because undrawn matches produce more total points for the two teams than drawn matches. Not only would this be more fun to watch, but it would likely improve results too.
There is a great need for dribblers in the lower half and upper half of the field. Too many teams that try to keep the ball are terrible at making third man runs and carrying between the lines. They pass it around, but everyone is static and glued to their position. It is exactly the positional responsibility the rest of the team takes that allows for that one or two creative dribblers to break the defensive shape. There is no such thing as absolute defense. There's always space somewhere on the pitch. No team can get so compact as to cover all of it. Just as progressing the ball is about passing at the right time, not about how fast or the distance the ball travels, defending is about expanding and contracting when and where you need to.
Cruyff said it and modern teams apply it, that you want to allow the opposition's worst players the most of the ball. It's why the need for CBs that can not only pass the ball from a static position, but move with it into space is inevitable. Teams are not ready for it and do not respond well currently. Can't a midfielder make runs looking to get the ball and turn with it, if the CBs can't carry it to find an angle? Most either can't or don't dare to. There aren't enough Pirlo's around for that.
What Pep is applying has been coming for a long time and would have happened without him, unless you also remove Cruyff and all his predecessors. When you attack you want to do it on your terms at your advantage. Pep didn't invent military strategy either, he just applies it. Numerical superiority leads to qualitative superiority. If they don't match you man to man, you win. If they match you and you contract too many players in one spot of the field, you give your other players huge amounts of space to receive the ball on your terms. Even the 1 vs 1s created by that are not 50/50s. A player with all the room in the world to dribble is at a massive advantage over the defender no matter how fast and agile. The one with the ball always leads. A player trying to dribble in a narrow space is at a great disadvantage. They are not at all on even terms. Actual player skill comes after that.
If teams choose to only pass short when the longball and/or side switch is on, that is on them. Football is evolving and modern teams have to play a form of football that is complete. It's not about playing short or long, fast or slow. De Zerbi's has already been doing it with his "artificial transitions".
This is brilliant. I’ve been waiting for years for an analysis like this! 👏
This is so fascinating. I am an ice hockey fan that is getting into football and the data analytics has had the exact same effect on the game. The slapshot has gone extinct in hockey.
Brilliant, detailed video on football none of this shallow ball knowledge common in majority of football TH-cam channels.keep it up
I hate it when I hear fans say that Pep is making football boring. First, he does not tell other managers to copy him, and secondly, he has a boss and fans that demand titles, and he has to do what he has to in order to deliver. 👍
If other managers copy him and do well, like Arteta, then I see no problem. Success is more important than appeasing whining neutrals who don’t even support you who complain that football is boring.
@@tinypardus fact
i think it's a shame that season City won the treble was the one where Pep was using the most rigid and imo the worst formation which popularised it.
the 20/21 and 21/22 were much better suited to the players and had much better rotations/dynamics. 23/24 also.
the 3241 leaves the wingers so isolated since the box midfield means they can't really be overlapped. the only reason it worked was the brilliant minds of Gundo and KDB making great underlaps.
those 3 seasons City were just as deserving a to win a treble as 22/23 in terms of how they played. and it would've alot more fun if a 442 with two false 9s was the trend.
Actually the earlier system for pep adhered to Cruyffian tactics. He had the knowledge of Van Gaal, knew the management of Robson/Mourinho and the great characters in football history, and pretty much played with Xavi and earlier Iniesta. + adding to which, every team he's had, has come from incredibly stable clubs and he's inherited a very balanced team everywhere. Allbeit aged to some level. He was born and raised in Cruyffian positional play, had enough time to understand and work around the system.
the treble winning side of City were the worst of his teams, to watch. Brilliant team for winning, an eyesour to watch.
He had to be rigid especially in the UCL because City were conceding a lot and it damaged their aggregate scores. Pep realised that and set up that way especially in the away games and then more free flowing and attacking when they played at home.
actually i think 17/18 and 18/19 were easily our most fun and scariest teams, sadly the ucl is creepy and worse teams always seem to win (like chelsea, their legendary teams failed, but two of the worst chelsea squads won somehow)
@@EverydayOrdeals exactly why he said modern football is more result-oriented rather than entertainment oriented
Great vid! Just one correction: it's "posición"
I think the history of football tactics is largely that there is a dominant style, then someone brings a new one to bear with great success, and it becomes the new norm. We saw this when 2-3-5 became W-M in the 1930s, then 4-2-4 emerged with the Hungarians and Brazilians in the 1950s. For many years almost all German teams played a sweeper system, while English sides in the 70s and 80s would play 4-4-2 with one wide midfielder who tucked in and one orthodox winger. Then the long ball style became increasingly prominent in England for a few years. In the 2000s, 4-2-3-1 emerged and became the vogue, so we have seen this before many times.
4-2-3-1 was played by Brazil and it's teams since the 70s
Fantastic Video as always. Please consider doing a video on Relationism. I believe it may be the future of Football in years to come.
It already is there. With many managers exploring more variety and allowing more individual freedom
@@mtk3755 Definetly
Quite a good video that actually considers how we’ve gotten to this point! You touched on it a bit toward the end but the improvement of sides from about 10th to 15th in the premier league is understated. It wasn’t like that when pep got to England in 2016. We can also see it with promoted sides who come up and look miles off 14,15,16th.
Pep elevated the game to a new pick. From 2008 I never expericed that boring feeling in watcing his games. Nothing but applause 👏
Thank you for making this, i've been annoyed with the "modern football is boring" discourse. people who complain about how city play must not watch them, because the likes of Foden, Doku, KDB and Bernardo shine with their creativity, dribbling and passing skills every match.
Only KDB
I guess other people realize that "Juego de Pocision" , at 1:40 , is not properly written. No idea if on purpose...
Motta and Alonso are cooking the next phase of this but Atlanta's man to man marking really showed that experience can still topple a team with revolutionary tactics & playstyle when it comes to most important matches
Compelling arguments. Never thought about it that way. Well done 👏🏿
I sent this clip to my friends with a comment "no, this is not my YT channel, this guy only talks about everything I talk about all the time."
Thank you.
While flair players are fun to watch, the number of flair players who are efficient are few and far between. Most players are elevated by the system. Go watch Arsenal games from the early 2000s. Nothing happens until the ball got to Henry.
Pep Guardiola evolved Johan Cruyff's tactical style into what we have today. Pep found the winning formula, which few teams have managed to breakthrough, so a lot of teams try to copy the system. It is only a matter of time before someone like the next Neymar/Ronaldinho/Messi will smash through this high-possession/positional disciplined philosophy with 1v1 dribbling. Maybe, less specialist players and more generalized all-around players making a splash would be cool. I hope a team will bring back fluid Total Football with gegenpressing and intense attacking.
Jack Grealish is my favourite player to watch. The way he keeps defenders on the back foot when dribbling and draws fouls as well as great control of the ball and maintains possession under pressure is soo underrated.
You must hate football
Yawn
@@Nahanoo not sure if he’s being sarcastic or not…
Pffttt
unbelievably and criminally underrated. grealish is a constant chance creator and offers control in games. also tracks back.
Football is much better now than in the 70/80s
newgen
The like button called to be pressed, such posibility had never occurred to me
This man really trying to say peps system is the boring one when it’s the team that sit in the back who make football boring. Pep proposes an attacking football and teams can’t beat him so they just seat back
pep's system is boring, the players are taught to not be risky ever since they join his academy, he buys good players with his oil money and transforms them into robots that are simply boring to watch
when you mentioned the importance of dribblers , l think that's why Pep bought Doku. His role is mainly for against teams that try to match Pep, hence his dribbling prowess is key. And the opposite's(Grealish- a replica of Sterling at City) role is to hug the touchline so as to create width and position within half spaces against teams that sit back. So l guess both options complement each other. Good video btw
Pep Guardiola's influence on football is more nuanced than a simple 'changing the game' narrative. He's raised the bar for competitiveness and entertainment, but it's now up to other coaches to decide how they'll respond to this new standard. They can choose to adopt similar approaches, adapt his ideas to suit their teams, or forge their own paths. Ultimately, it's not just about copy and paste; it's about understanding the principles and adapting to the ever-evolving landscape of football.
Great video! Well done 👍
It is actually named Juego de POSICION. With tye s first and them c, as position
I got no hate toward Pep.
Regardless of the jobs he's had, players he gets etc.
Only thing I'll say is people need to realize, like the difference between a teacher (Wenger) , lecturer (Mourinho, Ancelotti) and philosopher (Ranieri, et el) , Pep is literally the complete combination.
Has his ideas, then knows the players that will make it happen with very little tweaks to their individual quality, and can actually take the time to make each player understand their role in the formula as well as see the solution in the formula.
Heard what he described at around 6:13 mins, that's Palmer...
Chelsea we so ball in the coming season
having wingers who likes to dribble and a striker will give you more chances but you will lose the ball more often and this is the kryptonite of pep's system , it is a system built on keeping the ball as much as possible and wait for the opponent to make a mistake , in this system in my opinion the two most important players in city squad are gralish and walker , walker being good on wining long races and stoping counters and grealish with keeping the ball until the team regain its shape if it wasn't for those two we would see a lot of counters and no one to stop them , that's why that last game against real madrid was slow paced , because pep didn't want to risk loosing the ball in unwanted spaces and real madrid were just happy to defend
I will argue before watching the whole video that Pep has realized because most teams rather Park the bus and counter, he has responded by preserving energy and keeping things simple.
If other teams dared to take a risk, then Pep would respond in kind.
I'm not a Pep fanboi, but watching so many teams just not bother to challenge his City side on the pitch, and how his players still have energy towards the end of the season, why would/should HE change anything?
You're the greatest channel. Please make a lenthy video about Pep's City
Enjoyed the video mate, I've learned a lot
I will watch your videos even if I go to places without internet
"You Either Die a Hero or Live Long Enough to See Yourself Become the Villain" Dude never forced anyone to copy his tactics and philosophy yet everybody hating on him for what 'He's' done to Football? That's just how it is when you're that darn good at what you do... nxggxz gon' hate.
pep’s football was amazing to watch at barcelona because of the players. the last few years it’s just been dull because he’s been so successful i think he feels that he needs to be overly cautious to not embarrass the team since he’s probably the most scrutinized manager in the game
internet, social media, youtube, tiktok, twitch, netflix, etc are destroying traditional entertainment industry (which includes sports). sports now are generally boring because there are a lot of alternative entertainment outlet, and they are much more engaging and hence entertaining.
you can scroll endless tiktok and youtube shorts and constantly entertained instead of waiting and hoping for any interesting moments in football, and this is getting worse with knockout tournament where teams just scared to lose instead of wanting to win.
for older gen z and above probably think this is nonsense but now lesser kids want to be sportsperson, more wanting to be social influencer whanot, more wanting to watch 60 seconds skibidi toilet sketch than even watching 30 minutes cartoon
Ange postecoglu doesnt like parking bus. Both time city played them, those matches were entertaining.
Klopp doesnt park the bus, the matches against liverpool are always entertaining.
Its not peps fault some managers go against pep very defensively.
Just one fact missing, the Pep-style is only prominent in England, other leagues have teams playing like that, sure, but big teams usually have their own styles
After almost 40 years of watching and studying football, I earned the right to say the game was never as boring and dull as it is today. Most matches of the last Euro were not worth one´s time. In the final, the only ball Nico Williams didn´t pass back to the midfield was when he scored the first goal. But people see him as a player comparable to Rivaldo, Ribery, or Blokhin. It´s ridiculous.
Same. People blame Pep because it’s his team influencing how others play but I remember Milan winning the league whilst scoring 36 goals. I remember hearing about Cruyff’s Barcelona, packed with big names and then I finally got to watch them I thought they were boring. Ajax winning the Champions league was another one. All those famous youngsters but that team was boring to watch. What we’re seeing now is the culmination of those players becoming managers and being afraid to take risks. The media has played a large part in this by putting a tremendous amount of pressure on everyone to succeed which, of course, isn’t possible.
I feel like clubs, managers and players are more afraid to lose than they are set on winning.
@@SubManifest It’s such a shame. Watching the Euros, it seemed that the only time something happened ‘out of the blue’ was due to someone’s mistake rather than someone’s moment of genius. This just makes it worse for players as they don’t want to be that guy that loses it for his team rather than people trying to win it for his team.
@@corbenj the game is being coached out of them.
@@SubManifest Sadly, yes. For all we know, there could be another Ronaldinho out there, someone who is skilled enough to do training ground antics during an actual match, but they’ll never be allowed to use that flair and creative genius to flip a match on its head. Any time you see anyone from the lower leagues (where there is much more individuality) who shows any signs of this, they are picked up by a big club and then, basically, hogtied into the big club’s system. I remember when the “pass back” rule was introduced to stop mediocre teams from stopping a game in its tracks. I can’t for the life of me think of what rule they could bring in to help the game. The clubs, managers and players aren’t going to change it off their own back.
The problem isn't pep it's the opposite manager who chose to sit back while his players try to break through not just small teams but big teams in big also chose to sit back which is frustrating to watch
This not just happens with Pep but with most possession based teams in La Liga most of the opponents barca faces chose to sit back and counter at a low rate I have watched those games and fell asleep most of the times
But sometimes that’s the only way a team can compete
But don't you see the genius of the opposite manager? They've completely drained the possession-heavy team of any ideas or solutions. This strategy is the best, it's like saying "you can have the ball as much as you want, as long as we keep outrunning your attackers and outsmarting your defenders.". This forces the possession-heavy team to get out of their comfort zone and play better. And almost all the time, they can't And when you don't have a plan B while on the ball, it also tires out the possession-heavy players physically and mentally, and THEN the other team finishes you off.
@@Coach-rq6jx that's exactly why the game get's boring I watch football for the 90 mins not 120 or even penalty most of the big teams in Euros used this strategy and it made the knock outs boring as hell you can use low block but you have to press and attack when the opposition is vulnerable France in this Euros are the prime example Real Madrid in the second leg against City is another example except Madrid scored first in that game later sat back but my point is they don't go for another attack which makes the game Robotic and boring which makes people less intrested in the game
@@Coach-rq6jx most teams do have back up plans but when the opposition is sitting back in the penalty spot with 11 players without giving any numerical advantage in the box or any space to shoot from outside the box we feel robotic as they attacking team forces to go for crosses
@@protagonist9794 every team can compete with any team they don't have to sit back up with their 10 or 11 players in the box it's absurd
Perfect analysis!
This was an excellent breakdown.
Please analysis on Portugal team euro 2024 on why Ronaldo holding the team back!
Well, Pep is a great coach. I think having free license to buy as many players to the point of having and A team on the field and an A team on the bench isn't Pep "changing the system" it's "abusing the system" and like you said having a better squad is what's going to get you the win.
I have two issues with Pep Ball. 1) While the play may not be boring, the inevitability of the results is.; and 2) the Pep mystique results in his teams managing to attract top tier talent, sort of like the Real Madrid effect but centered on the coach rather than the team. What would happen if Pep took a job with a team that doesn't have the budget to pay for that talent? Would he produce a winner then? I doubt we'll ever find out.
i think what's worse is how it his style has created copycats and haters of defensive , counter attacking, or anything like "way of the warrior" style of football ( because it can't be read on a heat map )
I think both styles such as pep guardiola tatics and carlo ancelotti style have their own strengths and weakness but I love them both
If teams start to take after Peps tactics and style that's hardly Peps fault.
Why Sunday league sometimes more entertaining more than guardiola city
Because your team lose, BRUV!
Sunday league is more entertaining than any prem team tbf
@@agung8788 real madrid?
Because you like watching players with no tactics
"posicion" please, please, please
The boring thing is that Pep’s football always wins. That’s it for me really. I can’t be fully invested in what’s supposed to be a competitive league when the same team has won it 6 of the last 7 times. And I can’t be invested in a Manchester City match when they have the ball for 80% of the game and never lose a game unless every single thing that could go wrong for them does and the opposition barely manage to scrape a result.
Then maybe watch us only in the UCL i guess 😂
It's boring because it's not your club winning and usually that stems from jealousy because if he were managing your club trust me it wouldn't be boring.
@@IanMotivatedTooMuch exactly!!!
why don't you respond to my boy @IanMotivatedTooMuch, you don't hate pepball, you hate that your team can't beat it. Eventually a manager will figure it out until then, stop whining.
that's bitter and not because you are boring learn the difference
when you started talking about silhouettes i thought this video would be about pep's iconic round bald head
How can it be brainwashed? It's like saying it's the brainwashed who think Messi is the GOAT. Guardiola is the greatest coach in football. He made Barcelona the greatest team in the world for a decade. He and Messi.
guardiola is nowhere near the greatest coach in history, won nothing with bayern, unless daddy moneyoila has all that oil money, he's not doing anything, look what he did with bayern, absolutely nothing.
have you heard of Rinus Mitchels? (probably not because you have no ball knowledge) but he was guardiola but better in every single way, he developed total football, the same idea as guardiola but:
-much better
-much more entertaining
-much more successful
and all of that without the need for hundreds of millions of euros
@@gewnurb I don't know who you are addresssing this diatribe to, but yes I have heard of Rinus Michels. (btw not Mitchels) He didn't develop total football. The Magical Magyars led by Puskas played a total football that made them unbeatable for four yrs, except for that iffy final of the WC of 1954. They're still considered the greatest national team in history. (BBC not me). This was taken up and polished by Michels who passed it on to Cruyff who developed it further. Gaurdiola followed this style of football, making Barcelona the greatest team in the world for a decade.
For anyone who says peps teams are boring, Firstly No one is watching their rival teams, unless it's a big match, Secondly you watching for us to lose you not emotionally invested in the game, to prove this, when crystal palace equalize or beat us you feel great, best game you've seen, but when teams park the bus and we dominant you there crying it's boring duh we are cooking you hate to see us win! No one watches Rival games unless they got nothing to do, football is about entertainment you don't put on a movie unless it peaks your interest!
FYI, Every season we are part of game of the season you know why, cause up against actual teams who want to play pep ball shines "Chelsea 4:4 City"
Too much whining and saltiness.
Football is boring against City if your team sits back and parks the bus because they are too scared.
If your team goes toe to toe against City (like Liverpool did under Klopp throughout) then its the epitome of club football both in tactics and entertainment.
You are basically blaming Pep for the tactics of the opposition who are too afraid to get 'entertainly' battered.
And the opposition fans admit themselves. Like when Arsenal parked the bus against City for a draw in the last title race, Arsenal fans were happy calling it "defensive masterclass".
And when asked why didn't they play to win they would reply "to get battered?"
So stop blaming Pep for the tactics of the opposition. Instead demand your club to get better and grow some balls 🤌
Facts.. it's not city's fault that teams are parking the bus all the time against them
Interesting discussion, I never thought about it that way, and leaves the question: what will it be of football managers world once pep retires? Also a minor correction, most of the video you wrote "Pocesion" while in Spanish the word is written "Posesión"
Who is here waiting FMS to do Spain Vs England Euro final analysis ?
Arteta
Ten Hag
Kompany
All studying under him does not help the robotic allegations
It's all pretty and nice but there's a big flaw with what City tried to do all these years, it's that it cannot be reproduced.
Not only because Guardiola seems to be playing in a game of his own as a coach, but City cheating is playing on a league of its own.
When you add these factors in, tactics are undermined by individual brilliance actually, but not in the usual way. It's great precision when it comes to profiling for the roles Pep needs for his new iteration. He dictates how zones will be occupied through patterns and then will trust that the player he signed to win the 1v1 will do it bc he was recruited with that specific task in mind.
Not that there's anything wrong with that I guess it's what every team aspires to do, but this is not a team that won mainly bc of one-of-a-kind glorious tactics. It's an iteration game filled with lots of talent that eventually made it all work. I'd say Juego de Posición (yeah it's POSICIÓN not pocision) is just a layout that needs too specific and outstanding talent gathered to be consistent.
If you ask me, talent ID and the infinite resources hack are the main thing here, without them Guardiola would probably be so limited it would have left no matter how good his new iteration was gonna be. So this actually reinforces the idea that technique with a purpose (plan) comes before tactics, which come last.
Pep is not beating the ¨he wouldn't be able to do it with Ipswich Town¨ allegations.
Please we need a tactical breakdown on how Spain won the Euros.
Harry Kane
Your words,
"Ancelloti's's freeflowing style that has seen continous success in "RECENT YEARS""
The man has been managing since 1992. NOT RECENT YEARS. He's been a winner for 2 decades.
Pep has also affected the way people set up their teams in online football manager (FM) competitions.
The best teams in history have a mix of both, look at 2009 Barcelona and current madrid, they understand thier positioning but have players that aren’t afraid to beat players and be creative, there should be a balance and the team that shows this is current Spain team
All the greatest managers leave behind pillars of the future game: Rinus Michels, Sacchi, Yohan Cruyff and now you have to put Pep in there.
Pep has completed football.
Where's euro final
Berlin
Pep played long ball a few times last year. His purchases were ppl who could carry the ball.
It's crazy how we say football is boring because of pep and no one ever said that wen mourinho was winning with porto, chelsea, inter 1-0 every match lol
If I had a time machine and took you back 30 years to go to games when we came back you'd stop watching what passes for football today. No mavericks no tackling..jeez.
@AreJayCee I didn't say 30 years ago, I was talking about around 2004, when Greece won the euros, Mourinho won the ucl then two prems, rafa benitez won the ucl in 05 and Italy won the wc in 06. All these teams and manager were super defensive minded and the amount of goals we see in football today is way higher
@vascobrighton480 No mate a get that. The point I was making is that compared to 30 years ago football today is just a sanitised version of the game I grew up with and you could have experienced that you'd see the travesty that passes for football today. Even the atmosphere at games these days is tame to what it used to be. It's football with its balls cut off tailored yo a family friendly tv audience. Go check out maybe Manchester Utd v Liverpool circa 85 then compare it to now. It's not same mate.
it's not all about goals, I'd rather watch any mourinho match that ended 1-0 with players like deco, sneijder, lampard, milito, drogba, etc, they were fun to watch even when they didn't score, while even if a man city game finished 4-0 you know all the goals were just 20 minutes of passing the ball around before finding a tap-in for haaland, just because there is a high scoreline, doesn't mean the quality of the football is good, any mourinho 0-0 or 1-0 game would be more entertaining than any pep game
@@gewnurb Mourinho just used to go 1-0 up and put 11 men behind the ball everytime, how is that more entertaining? 🤣
I would always rather have my best player lose the ball trying to create something than a mediocre player lose it trying to be perfect
5:57 Pep is already bringing in players like Doku and Savio. He is a true visionary and no replica manager of him will repeat his success being one step behind his mind every season.
Well now he needs to do it in Italy with a not so rich team
Love your videos! Even though I've been watching football off and on for 20-ish years, I didn't grow up watching it. I still don't know a whole lot about tactics and still don't understand why certain plays happen sometimes until someone telestrates it afterwards. Your videos have been very helpful in that respect. Quick question, though. Are you familiar with Wilfried Nancy, current manager of MLS side Columbus Crew? I've been hearing a lot about how he's by far the best manager in MLS (not saying a lot, but many pundits say he might be European club caliber). I've seen one video on his tactics, but it would be interesting to see another analysis (hint hint). ;)
Their next game is against a premier league side Aston Villa, would be nice to see how they do
@@libby4608 Oh wow, thanks! I'll have to check if I can watch the match next Saturday.
teams copied mancity style : Arsenal , Totenham , Brighton , Burnley , etc .
The thing is that many managers wants to copy Pep's blueprint for success but lacking the vital pieces that works or not adding a new variation or figuring out the flaws of his system. Football has been getting worse with stats and xG being the metric on how players play or perform. It's not Pep's fault that other managers like Arteta are carbon copies of him. Going back to xG, it masks bang average players like Bruno Fernandes and Rashford from their weaknesses. They always bring up elite numbers but their all round game is pitiful. Bruno Fernandes is the Russell Westbrook of football. Elite numbers with a dreadful all round game and hence they're divisive to say the least. I don't blame Guardiola for what football is becoming today, the blame goes to the media, PR agents, social media, modern fans and managers that wants to copy Guardiola. I'm glad Ancelotti is the few dying breed of managers that has their unique style.
Please can you do a tactical analysis on PSG’s First game of the season
As long as statistics and data analysis is involved in a sport, it quickly loses the magic it had for the spectators.
The art of long pass is also dying.
But it might resurrect soon. Spain suffered long balls terribly in last Euro. England created the most danger in the first half with two long balls, whilst the hyper complex Spain tactics were stopped by man marking Rodri and playing with two low and tight blocks of 4. Also Croatia made them suffer terribly but failed to capitalise and finish properly