Living in an era where a team in 38 matches scores a century of goals, a World Cup is witnessed which has the joint highest number of goals and seeing the 5 time Champions of the World conceding 7 goals in a World Cup semifinal, this question has to arise as which style guarantees success or in simple words which style is more intriguing when it comes to the fans tiki taka or the famous Counter Attack.
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Tiki taka has been invented by the Dutch legend Johan Cruyff when he came to manage the Barcelona side in 1998 after having a successful stint as a footballer. What can simple be described as passing the ball to and fro, tiki taka was taken to the height of greatness by the Dutch. Having won 4 successive title from 1990-1994, this was the pinnacle point of tiki taka and provided a framework for upcoming managers to grab the opportunity.
The evolution of tiki taka was carried out in Spain by a Dutch named John Cruyff. The rest is a part of glittering history.
What has been the most fascinating part in tiki taka is the absence of physical game that has dominated the pre and post-colonial era for so long. It has been a miracle of tiki taka that physically small players like Iniesta, Messi and Xavi have been regarded on the International scale as Legends. While nobody can undermine the ability of the above mentioned players, they needed a style of play suiting them and the tiki taka has come with just that.
Arsene Wenger, Pep Guardiola and Brendan Rodgers are the latest beneficiaries of this total football system.
Coming back to the discussion now we move on towards the counter attacking football. While in tiki taka there is no target man and no fixed position of any player i.e. it is a fluid system, counter attacking football is more based on the defects of tiki taka. While tiki taka is more based on growing the players up and reaping the benefits, counter attacking football is based on assembling the players on the basis of qualities they have shown. In counter attacking football you have to be perfectly positioned to take a ball and made a strong run down the box.
One mere advantage the counter attacking football generates is the absence of boring nature. At times when things aren’t going your way in tiki taka it deems as a frustrating option on the other hand in the case of counter attack, even if you are losing the game but the game is perched at a much higher level than and keeping in mind Real Madrid as the pin-point of counter attacking mechanism along with the likes of Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund, you can damage the opponents both physically and mentally adopting this level.
In tiki taka you have to control the game to score a goal. In Counter attack you have to score the goal to control
While it has always been a question that which style grants success, its answer isn’t that simple. While Barcelona being the flag bearers of the passing game have a great immediate past, Real Madrid and Manchester City are the most popular exceptions from the rule. So it quite doesn’t matter which style you play, but it does matter how you play it.
Tiki taka is young:
Looking at the three teams that play tiki taka as a sole earner of butter and bread, Swansea City, Bayern Munich and Liverpool all have young managers at the helm. While it is slightly not more than a co-incidence, still it is a good sign that the young-men in the managerial roles are favoring this style of play to come forward. Southampton have been the recent side that adopted this technique and even their manager is young and dynamic.
Goals are equally divided:
Last season 4 teams managed to get past the century mark in terms of goals scored, while Real Madrid and Barcelona are the constant factor in this race for years, Liverpool made a surprise entry into the list. Unsurprisingly Premier League Champions Manchester City also made the cut.
Out of the five teams mentioned above, three of them favors a tiki taka style and the other two were lethal in their attack. So when it comes to goals galore, both the styles of play were evenly divided last season giving viewers a headache to choose their favorite style of play.
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Tiki Taka
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Counter Attack
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Team
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Goals scored
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Team
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Goals scored
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Liverpool
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101
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Manchester City
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102
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Bayern Munich
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94
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Real Madrid
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104
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Barcelona
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100
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PSG
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84
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Conclusion:
While no style can guarantee success, both Tiki Taka and Counter attacking football are adding to the beauty of the football. While Counter attacking game describes amazing run down the flanks, tiki taka is often characterized by jaw dropping balls. So just like you cannot choose between Messi and Ronaldo if you are a neutral, same goes in case of this.
While no style can guarantee success, both Tiki Taka and Counter attacking football are adding to the beauty of the football. While Counter attacking game describes amazing run down the flanks, tiki taka is often characterized by jaw dropping balls. So just like you cannot choose between Messi and Ronaldo if you are a neutral, same goes in case of this.
Amir Bashir follow him on Twitter.
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