How Pep Guardiola and Barcelona revolutionized football

On the 17th of June, FC Barcelona announced the appointment of Josep "Pep" Guardiola as the manager for the first team of FC Barcelona. Guardiola had just a year of coaching experience by then, where under his guidance FC Barcelona B ended up winning the Tercera division .But to appoint a former club icon who had just one year of coaching experience and that too with a B team seemed like a huge risk that Barcelona were willing to take.

Furthermore, his decision to sell players like Deco, Zambrotta and their long term talisman Ronaldinho gave the indication that Barcelona were spilling their water and were on course to slip on it. Guardiola, having worked with the B team of Barcelona and having guided them to the title, decided to promote players like Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodriguez and worked his team around the core of La Masia - Xavi, Andres Iniesta and of course the diminutive genius - Lionel Messi.

Despite the scintillating football played in Pep's debut match against Numancia , the Catalans lost 1-0 and ended up drawing their next game 1-1. These incidents led to widespread outrage among the fans across the globe, but club legend Johan Cruyff came to the defense of his prized pupil and remarked, "This was one of the greatest performances by Barcelona in a long time". The team responded by winning 29 and drawing 3 of the next 33 games, storming towards an unprecedented treble.

Barcelona's talented old guard found no place in Guardiola's revolutionary team

The first season saw some otherworldly tactics which included the use of Leo Messi as a false 9; this tactic would go on to shape Leo to the player he is considered now as it was only under Pep that he developed a knack for goals .Other game-changing ideas included the use of Javier Mascherano as a center back, and playing traditional center forwards like Thierry Henry and David Villa as wingers.

He also made use of inverted wingers in Pedro, Sanchez and Tello, and midfielders like Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas were often played as false wingers. He frequently promoted players from the youth academy, including the likes of Thiago Alcantara and Sergio Busquets.

Over the course of the next 3 years, this team of talented individuals would continue playing the "Barcelona Way", dominating the ball, playing quick one-twos and triangular passes. In the process, they would demolish top class teams like arch rivals Real Madrid, winning 14 trophies in Guardiola's 4 years at the Catalunyan club, including 2 UEFA Champions League titles.

Guardiola's use of Lionel Messi as a false nine still haunts teams to this day.

This Barcelona team under Guardiola was considered by many as the "Greatest Club Team Of All Time". Their style of play was synonymous with the "Tiki Taka", which stresses on the art of working the ball through various channels while also retaining possession. However Pep himself never liked branding his style of football as 'tiki taka', remarking,"I loathe all the passing just for the sake of it".

Although he led the club to several trophies and in the process cemented the team as one of the greatest of all times, he ended up receiving far too much criticism for his style of play in his last season, especially in the match against Chelsea in the Champions League. He then resigned his post as the manager of Barcelona and took a sabbatical for a year.

The visionary would then go on to coach the fierce Bavarians in Munich for 3 years, and Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga in every single one of those years and reached the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League every time, only to be knocked out by Spanish clubs. He ended up using essentially the same tactics as he had used in Barcelona, playing possession based football and developing young players.

Guardiola has left an indelible mark on Manchester City's legacy as a football club

He would then ply his trade in England at Manchester City where the world was anxiously waiting to see how Guardiola would fare in England. In the 2016-17 season, City fans were left devastated as Pep experienced his first ever trophy-less season, ending up third in the league. The next season saw Manchester City playing attacking, mind-boggling football as they won the league with a record 100 points, mainly due to some amazing playmaking by star midfielders Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva, a tough and energetic defense led by Kompany and the star attacking trio of Aguero, Sane and Sterling.

Guardiola is often credited for bringing back the Barcelona style of play into the team, following in the footsteps of the iconic Johan Cruyff while also incorporating his own understanding of football into his team's style of play. These tactics, which made the teams coached by him the undisputed favorites in any match they played has often been copied by other teams in modern day football.

His concepts of playing with possesion, quick passing and movement, playing sweeper-keepers and false-9s are some of the concepts which are of great use among modern day coaches, such that even teams like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Chelsea, who are noted for their counter-attacking play, have adopted a more possession based system. His style of play is also what formed the core for Spain's recent success at major tournaments, helping them to win the World Cup and the Euros.

Guardiola's players contributed to Spain's international triumphs.

There have been a many great managers in the history of the game, each implementing their own vision and tactics into the sport. Very few would argue the inclusion of Pep in that list; the results, trophies and the attractive style of football speaks for itself. His ability to change the way the sport is played, his vision, his passion and his style is what makes him one of the best managers in the history of the game.