"
Football is a simple game based on the giving and taking of passes, of controlling the ball and of making yourself available to receive a pass. It is terribly simple." - Bill Shankly
In one sentence Shankly laid down the blueprint for footballing success.
There is no mention of accurate shots, of a religious fanaticism to a formation, an adapting to the opposition, or even of a defence.
Yet the more you think about it the more it makes sense. If your whole team can pass the ball how important is a shape? If the opposition cannot get the ball how important is your defence? If you never lose the ball then why bother changing?
In 2007 I was at Anfield to see a Barcelona side that was rigid, hard and wholly lacklustre. A far cry from the side that visited in 2001 and passed us off the park. I was then fortunate to visit Barcelona one week before going to the Champions League final. The white hankies were out when I visited the Nou Camp, Riijkaard's side had been humiliated in a 1-1 draw by Real Betis, who would go on to finish 16th in the league.
What I saw was a side that contained Xavi, Iniesta, Deco, Messi, Ronaldinho, and Eto'o look once again more concerned with where they were on the pitch, with adapting to the opposition, and with defence first. A feast of attacking and passing delights was rotten to the core with a lack of self belief and an approach to the game that would make the great Shankly laugh in derision...I know I did, we were about to face Milan the next week and I'd be there.
As a lover of Spanish football I watched with interest at Barca's next move. Rijkaard's formula that had brought a much sought double to the club was tearing at the seams, it was being matched and bettered by Rafa Benitez, it was being found out by the opposition and within 3 seasons Barca had gone from 1st, to 2nd, to 3rd - they had gone from winning the European Cup to being beaten in 2 consecutive seasons by English teams bettering the style Rijkaard was trying to rediscover. In 2008 Barca took a gamble on a reserve team manager.
What Pep Guardiola brought with him is what is required at our club - revolution. Out went the troublemaking talismans of Ronaldinho, and Deco in came unknown Buquets from Barca B and the Manchester United "reject" Gerard Pique, who was deemed a lesser talent than the mighty Jonny Evans.
These players, along with Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi had been raised on the simple football that Shankly preached, and Cruyff embodied. A style that at the time only appeared to exist in spirit at Barcelona and not in action. The modern game had moved on, athletes dominated and simply trying to pass the ball into the net was derided and seen as an over-complication of a simple game of defend then attack. Total football was dead coaches like Benitez and Mourinho had the modern game mastered and coaches who attempted to persist such as Arsene Wenger were seen as Jurassic idealists destined to play pretty football without reward.
The story of Guardiola is one intertwined with Cruyff:
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In his first week at the club, Cruyff turned up unannounced at the 'Mini' stadium, a venue just down the road from Camp Nou used by the youth and B teams. Just before half-time he wandered into the dug-out and asked Charly Rexach, the youth team manager at the time, the name of the young skinny lad playing on the right side of midfield. 'Guardiola – good lad' came the reply. Cruyff ignored the comment and told Rexach to move him into the middle for the second half, to play as pivote, a difficult position to adapt to and one not used by many teams in Spain at the time. 'Pep' Guardiola adjusted immediately, as Cruyff had suspected he would, and when he moved up into the first-team in 1990 he became the true fulcrum of the Dream Team."
I sat down to watch Guardiola's first game in charge, and was ready for the revolution. The child of Cruyff, a man and a team that had been raised to play Shankly's way. Simple, elegant, and deadly. I expected the revolution to start with the storming of the Bastille, a 5-0 victory.
Barcelona were beaten.
Beaten by Numancia, a newly promoted team destined to finish 19th. I was shocked, this wasn't on the cards. The dream team mark 2 had tried to play a new brand of football but were humiliated. A blip?
With the same style of football on show Guardiola's Barca had a home game next, a tricky tie against Racing Santander, perpetual plucky underdogs surely in front of the faithful Pep's side would show what was to come.
Again the side stuttered and failed to produce the result expected. This time they were spared defeat by a 71st minute Messi penalty.
2 games into the new season and any manager would be forgiven for changing, for considering the old style dead and put his experiment down to failure in order to keep his job. At this point it's important to view another quote, this time from a player versed in Guardiola's philosophy:
Our secret is that we play the same way against each opponent. - Leo Messi
With that in mind Barca were away to Sporting Gijon, 1 point from 6. 1 goal from 180 minutes, a penalty at that.
What was to unfold was "tiqui-taca" the simple game of pass, control, pass, move.
Barca won 6-1.
They went on to win the next 8 league game in a 9 game streak that saw an aggregate score of Barcelona 35 - Opposition 10
Tiqui-Taca had arrived, Guardiola had weathered the storm, the Bastille was stormed.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago, Barcelona play a football that has been adopted by the national team. Guardiola has won everything, and did it in his first season. The footballing world looks on with envy.
Only one man can challenge this way of football, the man who had knocked Barcelona out of the Champions League only several months before - at their own ground. With a galaxy of riches at his feet Mourinho had organised Real Madrid into a feared unit - his style of football the antithesis to that of Cruyff, Guardiola, Michels, Sacchi and Shankly.
Whatever doubts remained were quashed. An annihilation in which Real Madrid were lucky to touch the ball.
The world had awoken "Best team ever!" were the shouts.
I thought I had seen it all, and then away from home in a local derby I saw this:
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/unVOYx-Zcw4?fs=1&amp;hl=en_GB" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/unVOYx-Zcw4?fs=1&amp;hl=en_GB</a>]]>Soon our club will have a decision to make.
Roy Hodgson's spell at the club will be over. By this time I am positive we will be faced with a difficult scenario, the Rafa Benitez scenario.
I love Rafa, I know he loves us but for me we have the opportunity to rebuild our club from the ground up - to reinstate Shankly's vision of simple passing football in a pressure free scenario. I for one would welcome a risky appointment an Owen Coyle, or from what I have heard Villas-Boas or a Klopp, or even a Dalglish would bring.
The state of the premier league is deteriorating and is awaiting the stamp that simple pass and move football can bring.
I will be made up if Rafa comes back but I'm an idealist and if we can bring in a Guardiola type autocrat determined to play the right way then I'll get what I've been waiting for about 20 Christmases for.
