Guardiola is swift to dismiss
formations as “meaningless”
and, partly explaining the
fluidity and flexibility with which
he alters a team’s structure.
Born from meticulous analysis
building up to a game –
Guardiola watches the
opposition’s previous six
matches, plus targeted
highlights – he’ll get a ‘Eureka
moment’ that crystallises how
his team will win. “It’s the
moment that my job becomes
truly meaningful,” he has said.
Using Messi as a false nine for
only the second time, in the May
To achieve this, Guardiola has
a training pitch marked out very
specifically for practice matches
(see right): five vertical and four
crossfield sections, of which
two are subdivided in the wide
areas. The two inside channels
(shaded pale blue) are where he
wants his best players in
possession because they fall
between all lines of the
opponent’s defensive structure.
These aren’t mere guidelines or
ideal scenarios. There are rules: no
more than three players in any
horizontal zone; no more than two
players in any vertical zone. For
example, if Ribery cuts in from the
left wing, left-back David Alaba
should overlap (below). To cover
Alaba, a central midfielder should
drop to the left. If a rule is broken
in training, Guardiola interjects,
because it denies his most
important players space.
“This happens every f**king
game!” he screamed during
a training session in Doha in
2014. You wouldn’t like Pep when
he’s angry.Whether it’s Barcelona’s twice
Champions League-winning
4-3-3 or Bayern’s evolution
on a theme, one constant
remains in Guardiola’s arsenal:
the need to deliver the ball
to his best players, in as much
space as possible, in the
inside channels.
In Catalonia it was Xavi and
Iniesta. In Bavaria it is Arjen
Robben and Franck Ribery. The
first two are classic Spanish
interiores: central midfielders
who operate in the channel
between full-back and centre-
back, and load the Messi bullets.
In contrast, Robben and Ribery
are wingers, who cut inside to
occupy the interior space. In
Germany they call it halbraum,
or ‘half-spaces’.2009 Clasico, is his most
famous innovation. The night
before the match, he called
Messi into his Camp Nou
office at 10.30pm to show
the Flea the exact areas he
could exploit.
Guardiola’s use of a back three
stems from his desire to achieve
numerical superiority. At Barça,
Pique brought the ball out from
the back to blur the lines between
defence and midfield; at Bayern, it
is Jerome Boateng.
“I’m no innovator,” Guardiola
has said. “I’m an ideas thief.”
It’s true the influence of
Cruyff’s Barcelona and Louis
van Gaal’s Ajax are undeniable,
but few have the stones to
employ such radical concepts in
huge games.“I know what your
shirt says, but you’re
a false nine now”ImagesImagesPA; Getty ImagesPA; Getty ImagesHE’S A TACTICAL
I nnOVATOR
INTERIORES
ARE HIS KEY
PERFORMERS
FourFourTwo.com The Managers 137PEP
GUARDIOLA