Ivan Rakitić

[Bran the Greenseer]

Barca's Tiki-Taka was Tiki-Taka without muscles, just an insane technique.
Germany doesn't play the same Tiki-Taka, but even if they do, they naturally have height, strength and muscles because they are Germans.
And even when they play some version of Tiki-Taka, they still play a lot of counters because they are Germans, they are good in direct play and counterattacks.

So, Barca's Tiki-Taka:
Pros:
-- higher technical level
Cons:
-- we didn't have strength, height and muscles back then (in Tiki-Taka's era and after that era)
-- we didn't play counters

Germany's version of Tiki-Taka:
Pros:
-- they have muscles, strength and height naturally
-- they play counters more often naturally
Cons:
-- their Tiki-Taka is not THAT technical as our version

So, their Tiki Taka is again a mixture of Tiki-Taka, counters and physical strength to win loose balls and defensive duels.
Our version of Tiki-Taka is well, just a one dimensional Tiki-Taka that worked for a few years and probably won't work ever again.
It is just way too one dimensional and could have worked only with Messi, Xavi, Iniesta on their prime and until teams figured out how to defend against it.

Germany's version had all the flaws that Spain's version had, had Messi changed the angle he hit the football with they likely would have lost the final same with how Spain likely would have lost if Robben wasn't a serial choke artist. More muscle but it didn't make up for the lack of quality in the side. Which is why this barca seems so strong. It has the extreme technical ability of Iniesta and Messi while still having the muscle in players like Suarez and Rakitic.

 

[xXKonan]

http://www.theguardian.com/football...an-rakitic-sevilla-super-cup?CMP=share_btn_tw

 

[BBZ8800]

Germany's version had all the flaws that Spain's version had, had Messi changed the angle he hit the football with they likely would have lost the final same with how Spain likely would have lost if Robben wasn't a serial choke artist. More muscle but it didn't make up for the lack of quality in the side. Which is why this barca seems so strong. It has the extreme technical ability of Iniesta and Messi while still having the muscle in players like Suarez and Rakitic.

You are mixing things.
I never said that THE CURRENT Barca is physically weak.

Current Barca is the kind of Barca which I like, the one like Rijkaard's which is a mixture of technique and physical strength.
I didn't quite like Pep's Barca, because I think it could work only back then and never again.

Rijkaard's and Lucho's Barca (imo) can win Champions league trophies both in 2005, 2015 and 2025.
Pep's Barca can win only in 2009-2011 and never again, once when when the opponents have figured us out.

Again, while on prime, Pep's Barca is better than any Barca, but that style is very one dimensional and has a short lifespan.
Rijkaard's and Lucho's Barca (and Germany) are weaker on their prime than Pep's Barca, but it can win more or less in any era. That is my point.

This is why I prefer Germany's, Lucho's and Rijkaard's combo of technique+physical strength compared to Pep's style, when we had ONLY (an insanely good) technique and nothing else.

Further, this is why I prefer Rakitic+Iniesta combo for our team than any Xavi+Iniesta (even on their prime).
Xavi and Iniesta can offer only one style of play. Yes, it was perfect when on it's prime, but still, they lack a variety.
That is my point.

 

[Science Kid]

http://www.theguardian.com/football...an-rakitic-sevilla-super-cup?CMP=share_btn_tw

Thanks for posting this,great article.

 

[Darko]

Barca's Tiki-Taka was Tiki-Taka without muscles, just an insane technique.
Germany doesn't play the same Tiki-Taka, but even if they do, they naturally have height, strength and muscles because they are Germans.
And even when they play some version of Tiki-Taka, they still play a lot of counters because they are Germans, they are good in direct play and counterattacks.

So, Barca's Tiki-Taka:
Pros:
-- higher technical level
Cons:
-- we didn't have strength, height and muscles back then (in Tiki-Taka's era and after that era)
-- we didn't play counters

Germany's version of Tiki-Taka:
Pros:
-- they have muscles, strength and height naturally
-- they play counters more often naturally
Cons:
-- their Tiki-Taka is not THAT technical as our version

So, their Tiki Taka is again a mixture of Tiki-Taka, counters and physical strength to win loose balls and defensive duels.
Our version of Tiki-Taka is well, just a one dimensional Tiki-Taka that worked for a few years and probably won't work ever again.
It is just way too one dimensional and could have worked only with Messi, Xavi, Iniesta on their prime and until teams figured out how to defend against it.

It was never figured out. We just started playing like shit under Tito and Tata. It was far, far away from tiki taka, the exciting passing football. What we played was a stale, boring, passing football with no penetration. No MOVEMENT, the most important thing in tiki taka. I'd say what we are playing currently is more like Guardiola's Barca than Tito and Tata's versions, but with more deadly and direct counters, more creative freedom in attack and a more stable and organized defense.

 

[God Serena]

It was never figured out. We just started playing like shit under Tito and Tata. It was far, far away from tiki taka, the exciting passing football. What we played was a stale, boring, passing football with no penetration. No MOVEMENT, the most important thing in tiki taka. I'd say what we are playing currently is more like Guardiola's Barca than Tito and Tata's versions, but with more deadly and direct counters, more creative freedom in attack and a more stable and organized defense.

Yeah, with Tito we often went long spells of just passing the ball around in midfield and calling that "Tiki-taka". It was a far cry from the lightning passing and movement that came with Pep. Tito's system saw us pass around with little point until Messi could save the day. It's little wonder the team had 0 sting when he got injured.

 

[dakt]

Take us there Raki!

 

[Bran the Greenseer]

You are mixing things.
I never said that THE CURRENT Barca is physically weak.

Current Barca is the kind of Barca which I like, the one like Rijkaard's which is a mixture of technique and physical strength.
I didn't quite like Pep's Barca, because I think it could work only back then and never again.

Rijkaard's and Lucho's Barca (imo) can win Champions league trophies both in 2005, 2015 and 2025.
Pep's Barca can win only in 2009-2011 and never again, once when when the opponents have figured us out.

Again, while on prime, Pep's Barca is better than any Barca, but that style is very one dimensional and has a short lifespan.
Rijkaard's and Lucho's Barca (and Germany) are weaker on their prime than Pep's Barca, but it can win more or less in any era. That is my point.

This is why I prefer Germany's, Lucho's and Rijkaard's combo of technique+physical strength compared to Pep's style, when we had ONLY (an insanely good) technique and nothing else.

Further, this is why I prefer Rakitic+Iniesta combo for our team than any Xavi+Iniesta (even on their prime).
Xavi and Iniesta can offer only one style of play. Yes, it was perfect when on it's prime, but still, they lack a variety.
That is my point.

I'm not mixing it up, im disagreeing with the notion that Pep's barca was "figured out", the players declined not the style. You can't play Pep's football without players on the caliber of Messi/Iniesta/Xavi/Busquets/Alves/Puyol/Pique in the side, what happened was that some of our key players declined (All but Messi and Iniesta really) thus making the style not work anymore. Now I'm not going to argue whether or not Pep's barca or Lucho's Barca is superior in style. But if you took Pep's 2009-2012 side and substituted it with Lucho's side we'd likely have still won all those trophies especially the champions league since we didn't really encounter a side that parked the bus till Juve (Kind've not really parking the bus just defensive) and We broke through in 5 mins with tiki taka style play which Pep's barca was the goat of , not counter attacks.

 

[messi2140]

Love this guy.

 

[André]

Boss. Complete midfielder and our best

 

[KyletheMuslim]

Roketic was great today, I was very impressed with how he managed to navigate through tight spaces. I even saw him pull of the Xavi turn

 

[anguy]

It was never figured out. We just started playing like shit under Tito and Tata. It was far, far away from tiki taka, the exciting passing football. What we played was a stale, boring, passing football with no penetration. No MOVEMENT, the most important thing in tiki taka. I'd say what we are playing currently is more like Guardiola's Barca than Tito and Tata's versions, but with more deadly and direct counters, more creative freedom in attack and a more stable and organized defense.

Nonsense, we simply have better attack, that's all. Also, people praising our midfield don't seem to realize how much our current midfield depends on Messi's creativity. We were dependent on him before, but Xaviniesta were able to create a lot of chances on their own. Now without him on pitch our midfield is very sterile. I just hope he is not injured this season, otherwise you'll quickly see how much better was our midfield in the past.

 

[FC B]

Good game.

 

[Darko]

I said nothing about our midfield in my comment, I said we weren't playing tiki taka for a few seasons now and that it hasn't been figured out.
But as you obviously want to have this discussion, yes, our attack is our strongest part of the team and Lucho changed out playstyle to suit our strenghts, making the midfield focused on keeping the ball and getting it to the attackers, and letting MSN create our chances.
But that doesn't mean our midfield is any worse than the last few seasons.

 

[Barcaman]

Showed signs of fatigue in 2nd half but it's understandable when he runs like that and fact he played 90 mins. at Gamper.

Was special game for him no doubt.