Archive April 29, 2025

The model of football that has become the norm in our time is not only the most well-known today but also one that is shaping the game’s past and future. Pep Guardiola is frequently associated with this model, who expanded on what he learned from Johan Cruyff and Louis van Gaal.

Guardiola laid the groundwork for a new cultural framework by developing the ‘juego de posicion’ (or positional football) beyond anyone before him, laying the foundation for a new one. And it has already taken control, whether or not we like it.

Indeed, three of Guardiola’s followers, Luis Enrique, Mikel Arteta, and Hansi Flick, are playing in the Champions League semi-finals this week. At the business end of Europe’s biggest club competition, the Guardiola way will once again be displayed.

This model is increasingly being opposed. According to critics, it causes defenders to act like midfielders, removes spontaneity, and makes players into robots.

Some fans and pundits believe it to be overcoached, overly structured, and lacking in the chaos and excitement of “real football.”

Perhaps that resistance is missing the larger picture or reacting to poor model implementations rather than the model itself.

Let’s examine the circumstances. Positional football was practiced by five of the eight Champions League quarter-finalists this year. Even renowned powerhouses like Liverpool and, eventually, Manchester United under Ruben Amorim, are attracting fans across Europe.

It produces outstanding games, especially in European competitions, where top players and coaches exploit its potential. It’s a successful model, more than just a style.

It is a cultural force, perhaps most importantly. Football education is being refocused around it, clubs are hiring managers who believe in it, and universities are training players to fit it.

Not everyone executes the plan correctly. However, football has always been like that. Many teams tried because those styles predominated in the 1970s, but many did because Nottingham Forest and Liverpool were not available to all. It’s natural for most teams to adopt a prevailing model in every era.

We’re eroding from a football culture that can be best described as “structured at the back and free up front.” In other words, we instruct the defense while allowing the forwards to create the attack.

The build-up, construction, and finishing can be divided into three stages during the attacking phase. The final pass preparation, which occurs between construction and finishing, is even mentioned in French. Let’s stick with three, though, for the purposes of this discussion.

Guardiola’s focus was on the build-up period when he began coaching in 2001. Football folklore now includes the famous conversation with Victor Valdes, during which Valdes believed his manager had gone crazy when he was asked to pass to center-backs who didn’t want the ball. a turning point in the game’s evolution.

Following the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and particularly following the rule change that made it possible for players to kick the ball from inside the penalty area, training the build-up phase became a fundamental pillar of contemporary football.

Although Guardiola had already begun developing it at Barcelona and further refined it at Bayern Munich and Manchester City, the middle-third management phase has taken longer to spread.

However, the final act of an attacking move, or “the finishing act,” is still largely unorganized. Football is still unsure of how to fully systemize it. Players and coaches alike aren’t quite prepared for the game’s culture. However, a new revolutionary will emerge one day to advance that final phase. That is football’s history.

Unai Emery and Enzo Maresca, two other semi-finalists, and brilliant practitioners who are currently perfecting the model, are all present. Roberto de Zerbi had begun to advance, but his progress has been slow.

You always learn from watching his teams play because Pep has been a reference for all of us who want to play football in a certain way. Always,” said Paris St-Germain manager Luis Enrique.

“It completely changed the way I view football,” he said. He gave me the tools to become a coach, Arteta of Arsenal said.

The frustration that drives so much of the criticism of positional football is that, “Let’s not do it at all, if we can’t do it well.”

However, progress cannot be made in that way. The model is imperfect because only the best teams can currently execute it flawlessly, not because of that. This indicates that we are transitioning from football. Instead of “this doesn’t work,” the conversation should be “how can we implement it better”?

It’s simple to romanticize the past, arguing that football was more spontaneous and human. Football is better today, in reality. more sophisticated, more sophisticated, and more intelligently designed. It requires more skill, more skill, and more artistically executed work.

Managers like Emery are such fascinating because of this. He read the game’s evolution, questioned his own opinions, and adjusted. Positional principles were accepted by him even without elite-level players because they provided greater control, clarity, and consistency, not just ideological beliefs.

That tactfulness is brave. Not all managers are capable of doing it. Not all players are able to. However, I admire clubs that make the decision to stay in the present rather than stick to what used to be.

Why shouldn’t midfielders, like Virgil van Dijk, Pau Torres, or Pau Cubarsi, touch the ball more frequently than defenders? Why aren’t they the play’s architects? Why aren’t they the ones who inspire a new generation of defenders?

Even PSG, a team that has historically relied on individual talent, has used positional thinking in its attack to ensure they are ready to press as soon as they lose the ball.

Looking forward and imagining what lies ahead is the hardest thing in football, as it is in life. It’s much simpler to say, “That was better,” now.

In ten years, I don’t make up my mind what football will look like. However, I pay attention to those who do. And I think the future lies in positional play.

We are experiencing a cultural shift right now. Some business owners are attempting to copy the model. Some have a chance. The majority of them are still learning. Some people are, indeed, completely resisting.

However, almost everyone will be playing some form of positional football in the next five years. Football doesn’t wait for those who refuse to evolve, but because they’ll be made to do so.

The next coach generation already speaks their language well. And soon it will be widely used.

We don’t demand that every restaurant earn a Michelin star. However, we’re requesting that they stop serving frozen food.

Let’s avoid a model fight. Let’s have fun while it’s happening. Instead of dismissing teams because they are not Guardiola’s City, let’s celebrate the teams who are attempting to get it right by combining structure and their own cultural identity.

The model of football that has become the norm in our time is not only the most well-known today but also one that is shaping the game’s past and future. Pep Guardiola is frequently associated with this model, who expanded on what he learned from Johan Cruyff and Louis van Gaal.

Guardiola laid the groundwork for a new cultural framework by developing the ‘juego de posicion’ (or positional football) beyond anyone before him, laying the foundation for a new one. And it has already taken control, whether or not we like it.

Indeed, three of Guardiola’s followers, Luis Enrique, Mikel Arteta, and Hansi Flick, are playing in the Champions League semi-finals this week. At the business end of Europe’s biggest club competition, the Guardiola way will once again be displayed.

This model is increasingly being opposed. According to critics, it causes defenders to act like midfielders, removes spontaneity, and makes players into robots.

Some fans and pundits believe it to be overcoached, overly structured, and lacking in the chaos and excitement of “real football.”

Perhaps that resistance is missing the larger picture or reacting to poor model implementations rather than the model itself.

Let’s examine the circumstances. Positional football was practiced by five of the eight Champions League quarter-finalists this year. Even renowned powerhouses like Liverpool and, eventually, Manchester United under Ruben Amorim, are attracting fans across Europe.

It produces outstanding games, especially in European competitions, where top players and coaches exploit its potential. It’s a successful model, more than just a style.

It is a cultural force, perhaps most importantly. Football education is being refocused around it, clubs are hiring managers who believe in it, and universities are training players to fit it.

Not everyone executes the plan correctly. However, football has always been like that. Many teams tried because those styles predominated in the 1970s, but many did because Nottingham Forest and Liverpool were not available to all. It’s natural for most teams to adopt a prevailing model in every era.

We’re eroding from a football culture that can be best described as “structured at the back and free up front.” In other words, we instruct the defense while allowing the forwards to create the attack.

The build-up, construction, and finishing can be divided into three stages during the attacking phase. The final pass preparation, which occurs between construction and finishing, is even mentioned in French. Let’s stick with three, though, for the purposes of this discussion.

Guardiola’s focus was on the build-up period when he began coaching in 2001. Football folklore now includes the famous conversation with Victor Valdes, during which Valdes believed his manager had gone crazy when he was asked to pass to center-backs who didn’t want the ball. a turning point in the game’s evolution.

Following the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and particularly following the rule change that made it possible for players to kick the ball from inside the penalty area, training the build-up phase became a fundamental pillar of contemporary football.

Although Guardiola had already begun developing it at Barcelona and further refined it at Bayern Munich and Manchester City, the middle-third management phase has taken longer to spread.

However, the final act of an attacking move, or “the finishing act,” is still largely unorganized. Football is still unsure of how to fully systemize it. Players and coaches alike aren’t quite prepared for the game’s culture. However, a new revolutionary will emerge one day to advance that final phase. That is football’s history.

Unai Emery and Enzo Maresca, two other semi-finalists, and brilliant practitioners who are currently perfecting the model, are all present. Roberto de Zerbi had begun to advance, but his progress has been slow.

You always learn from watching his teams play because Pep has been a reference for all of us who want to play football in a certain way. Always,” said Paris St-Germain manager Luis Enrique.

“It completely changed the way I view football,” he said. He gave me the tools to become a coach, Arteta of Arsenal said.

The frustration that drives so much of the criticism of positional football is that, “Let’s not do it at all, if we can’t do it well.”

However, progress cannot be made in that way. The model is imperfect because only the best teams can currently execute it flawlessly, not because of that. This indicates that we are transitioning from football. Instead of “this doesn’t work,” the conversation should be “how can we implement it better”?

It’s simple to romanticize the past, arguing that football was more spontaneous and human. Football is better today, in reality. more sophisticated, more sophisticated, and more intelligently designed. It requires more skill, more skill, and more artistically executed work.

Managers like Emery are such fascinating because of this. He read the game’s evolution, questioned his own opinions, and adjusted. Positional principles were accepted by him even without elite-level players because they provided greater control, clarity, and consistency, not just ideological beliefs.

That tactfulness is brave. Not all managers are capable of doing it. Not all players are able to. However, I admire clubs that make the decision to stay in the present rather than stick to what used to be.

Why shouldn’t midfielders, like Virgil van Dijk, Pau Torres, or Pau Cubarsi, touch the ball more frequently than defenders? Why aren’t they the play’s architects? Why aren’t they the ones who inspire a new generation of defenders?

Even PSG, a team that has historically relied on individual talent, has used positional thinking in its attack to ensure they are ready to press as soon as they lose the ball.

Looking forward and imagining what lies ahead is the hardest thing in football, as it is in life. It’s much simpler to say, “That was better,” now.

In ten years, I don’t make up my mind what football will look like. However, I pay attention to those who do. And I think the future lies in positional play.

We are experiencing a cultural shift right now. Some business owners are attempting to copy the model. Some have a chance. The majority of them are still learning. Some people are, indeed, completely resisting.

However, almost everyone will be playing some form of positional football in the next five years. Football doesn’t wait for those who refuse to evolve, but because they’ll be made to do so.

The next coach generation already speaks their language well. And soon it will be widely used.

We don’t demand that every restaurant earn a Michelin star. However, we’re requesting that they stop serving frozen food.

Let’s avoid a model fight. Let’s have fun while it’s happening. Instead of dismissing teams because they are not Guardiola’s City, let’s celebrate the teams who are attempting to get it right by combining structure and their own cultural identity.