5 reasons why Pep Guardiola is truly special

#3: He reinvented the 'false 9' role and implemented the Tiki-Taka tactic

Guardiola and Messi showcased some of the best football at the Camp Nou

The first major decision taken by Pep was to offload players that were seemingly not in his plans; including Deco, Samuel Eto'o and a certain Ronaldinho Gaucho. It takes guts for any manager to transfer a former Ballon d'Or winner, a fan favourite, and a player who was still at his prime.

Instead, Pep handed over the famous number 10 jersey to a scrawny young Argentine who goes by the name Lionel Messi, which marked the beginning of a lifelong special relationship.

Pep boosted the squad with technically gifted players such as Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fabregas, Pedro, Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol. The squad was crafted to cater to Guardiola’s demands of possession-based football, high pressing, immaculate vision and one-touch passing – now popularly known as Tiki-Taka.

This system was also highly utilized by the Spanish National Team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup triumph, which comprised of as many as seven Barcelona players in the starting XI.

At Barca, Messi was played as a ‘false 9’ i.e, he was positioned between the opposition’s midfield and defence line while having the freedom to roam anywhere in the park to orchestrate the gameplay.

This created confusion as the opposition never knew where exactly to mark Messi and when to press him, as going after him always left one of Xavi or Iniesta unmarked to unlock defences.