Tito Vilanova, who was once the chief assistant to Josep Guardiola (Pep), and also took charge of FC Barcelona's top team after Pep's departure, listed the following two points as the principles of the Barça style:
One is to "keep possession of the ball and continue attacking in the opponent's territory", and the other is to "immediately regain the ball when it is lost".
No matter how the system is──rather, the system is secondary──what is most important is to practice these two principles, he said before his untimely death at the young age of 45 in April 2014, eight years ago.
The idea is really simple. Roughly speaking, theoretically any club in the world can become Barça just by doing that. However, practicing this on a daily basis is as difficult as drawing a perfect circle without any distortion in one stroke, and it is harder than it looks.
Pep Barça from the late 2000s was able to build an era of dominance with their overwhelming possession football, thanks to a solid philosophy as its foundation.
"If you have to win ugly, then lose beautifully."
"Football must always be offensive and spectacular. As long as you control the ball, you will not be attacked by the opponent."
"There is no need to run. Just make the ball run."
The Barca style, advocated and instilled by Pep's mentor, Johan Cruyff, has been passed down continuously to the present day.
In 1988, Cruyff, who had spent his playing days at Barça, returned to the club as a coach. In order to instill his philosophy in the team, the first thing he tackled was the "comprehensive education" from the youth academy to the first team. From young boys to star players, Cruyff had all his players play with the same philosophy of valuing possession of the ball and in the same style.
In this way, Pep, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, and Lionel Messi naturally acquired the Barça style, just as young children learn a new language by listening.
The unique advantage that only Barça can imitate. Of course, there have been coaches like Louis van Gaal who entrusted a lot to Dutch players in the past, but it was Pep who maximized that advantage and achieved great success in football history, taking charge of the top team for four seasons from the 08-09 season.
"The reason why recently promoted Canteranos (players from the youth development system) can easily fit into the top team is because they have been exposed to the exact same style of football in the youth academy."
Pep once said that the players understand how to fight in the first place, so there was no need to build tactics from scratch to match the characteristics of the players. In extreme terms, even if left alone, a high level of automatism was depicted on the pitch.
So, personally, I think Pep has become a stronger tactician since leaving Barcelona and taking charge of Bayern Munich, a team without such an advantage, and now Manchester City.
Of course, even during his time as Barcelona's coach, he was so dedicated to studying that he would spend all day in the video room analyzing the opponents. He also came up with many "inventions" such as using Messi as a "falso nueve" (false 9) and converting Javier Mascherano, who was a defensive midfielder, into a center-back. However, Vilanova, who was an assistant coach at the time, testified to this.
"Pep had completely anticipated the tactics of the opposing team, Barcelona. In order to prevent us from freely passing the ball, the enemy set a high defensive line and came to steal the ball from the front. However, that doesn't mean Pep prepared any special training menu or gave specific instructions. He just instructed us to exploit the space behind the last line of defense, and the players with high quality executed it perfectly."
In the modern football world, where the liberalization and internationalization of the transfer market have advanced, it can be said that Pep Barça, which stood at the top of the world with homegrown talents at its core, was an extremely exceptional existence.
This season, the Spanish coach Albert PUIG ORTONEDA, who took over as the manager of FC Tokyo, aims to play possession football based on positional play, which is ideal for Pep Barca.
However, as a fervent follower of Cruyff and Pep, and having previously served as a coach and academy director in Barça's youth system, he naturally understands how difficult it is. Even during his two-year tenure at Albirex Niigata in J2, where he continued to play possession-based football and provide spectacle, he was unable to achieve promotion to J1.
The current FC Tokyo does not have a Barcelona-like attacking philosophy rooted in it, nor do the players who have been educated in a style that emphasizes ball possession consistently from the academy form the core of the team.
"We need time."
What coach Albert repeatedly says is not creating an escape route, but rather an honest and genuine feeling. Just like cells dividing, it takes time to achieve a high level of teamwork that creates triangles one after another on the pitch and relentlessly approaches the opponent's goal, or a high-pressing football where the moment of losing the ball can be considered the start of the attack, leaving no room to breathe.
To achieve the soccer that FC Tokyo and Coach Albert aspire to, it is important for the club, as well as the fans and supporters, to not rush into that realm all at once. Therefore, the first thing Coach Albert should focus on is building the foundation of thinking, which is the role played by Cruyff. In other words, it is about creating "Tokyoism" rather than Barca-ism.
"I want to build a foundation in the first year and have a good start in the second year as much as possible. However, I cannot guarantee the title."
From coach Albert's comments, and from the fact that 18-year-old rookie Kuryu Matsuki was suddenly used as a starter in the opening match against Kawasaki Frontale, we can see the team's medium to long-term strengthening policy. However, if we want to shorten the time for building a solid foundation, we should also effectively incorporate talented players from outside who fit the playing concept while nurturing excellent talent in the academy. Even at Pep Barca, skilled players like Dani Alves, Pedro Rodriguez, and David Villa, who were outsiders, became valuable assets to fill the gaps that couldn't be filled by academy players alone.
As for reinforcement, Pep at that time also drew quite a few bad cards. Examples include Ukrainian center-back Dmytro Chygrynskiy (currently at AEK Athens), who was acquired for his footwork but did not fit into the team. There was also a conflict with Zlatan Ibrahimovic (currently at AC Milan) over how he was used. At that time, Pep's coaching experience was still relatively shallow, and he was not as skilled in team management as he is now.
That is why the importance of philosophy and the excellence of Canterano stand out even more.
Of course, it has been about 10 years since the era of Pep Barça, and modern football now demands stronger physical and athletic abilities. Both Barça and Pep, who left Barça, have been updating their tactics every year in an attempt to adjust to these changes. The trendy positional play that focuses on the advantage in the standing position, such as the "false full-back," can be said to have been pioneered by Pep. However, recently, Barça may give more of an impression of trial and error rather than updates. Nevertheless, the underlying philosophy remains unshaken, and having a foundation to return to when in doubt is significant.
There was once a left-back named Francesco Coco in the 01-02 season of Barça. He was the first Italian player in the club's history and was raised in AC Milan's youth system. He was also called "Paolo Maldini's successor," but he was always the target of boos at Camp Nou. Barcelona's style is to fearlessly connect and break from the backline. However, the supporters (Cules) could not forgive him for easily kicking the ball out for a touch, prioritizing safety.
How long will it take for such a culture to take root in FC Tokyo, for Alberto Tokyo to find his way back to his origins?
It goes without saying that the reform by Coach Albert has just begun, and it is not something that can be achieved overnight to instill the mentality of "love the ball like a lover" in the players. However, it is important to patiently wait. Surely, beyond the next 10 years, even after half a century, a style that will never waver, the style that defines FC Tokyo, will be established.
Text by Yoshida Haruyoshi
