Football
What is tiki-taka?
Here we take a look at the history, origin and most importantly, the meaning of the footballing term “tiki-taka”.
Image Credits: Alexandra Fechete/DeFodi Images via Getty Images
Football is played all around the globe, and every manager, player and fan sees the game in a different way. There is no one way to play football, each club and league have their own playing style. Some of the most popular play styles in football are Route 1, counter attack, total football, park the bus, gegenpress and tiki-taka.
While all of these styles of play are very popular, tiki-taka is possibly the most famous one of them all. Here we take a look at the history, origin and most importantly, the meaning of the footballing term “tiki-taka”.
What is tiki-taka?
Tiki-taka is often regarded as the greatest tactical revolution that helped Spain dominate the international football circuit in the early part of the decade and even helped them clinch the recent UEFA Euro 2024 title.
The tactical setup is also synonymous with FC Barcelona’s La Masia academy which has forged many world-class players. One of the greatest managers in football history, Pep Guardiola is considered as the father of the tiki-taka.
One of the most important parts of the tactic is possession of the football. The basic idea is to dominate possession, and use your technical superiority and positional sense to overcome your opponents. Alongside that, as the name suggests, one-touch passing is very essential to successfully execute the tactical setup.
Pep Guardiola on various occasions has disagreed that his FC Barcelona side didn’t use the tiki-taka setup. The Spanish manager has been quoted saying, “Barca didn’t do tiki-taka! It’s completely made up!”. But Pep Guardiola will always remain synonymous with“tiki-taka”.
“I loathe all that passing for the sake of it, all that tiki-taka. It's so much rubbish and has no purpose,”. “You have to pass the ball with a clear intention, with the aim of making it into the opposition's goal. It's not about passing for the sake of it.” Guardiola complained to journalist Marti Perarnau in 2014.
Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona side were very successful in using the setup, winning an impressive 14 trophies during his four-year reign as manager. In the 2008-09 season, his team claimed an unprecedented treble of LaLiga, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.
Guardiola set up his team to create overloads, forcing the opponent’s defense to be unbalanced and unevenly split and then quick passes to the opposite side to exploit the space created. His setup was executed by elite passing midfielders in Xavi, Andreas Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, a fluid frontline of Lionel Messi, Pedro and the likes of David Villa. At the same time, his set of defenders were also very legendary in Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Dani Alves and Eric Abidal, with Victor Valdes in the net.
Who invented tiki-taka?
As we have already established that, Pep Guardiola has rejected the idea of him being the creative brain behind tiki-taka. It can be argued that ‘Schalke’s spinning top’ tactic from the 1930s and the Total Football approach of the Ajax and the Netherlands of the 1970s were forms of tiki-taka only, just watered-down versions of it.
But Johan Cruyff’s influence in the 1990s can be penned down as the start of the true modern-day tiki-taka. Pep Guardiola is just one of the players who Johan Cruyff influenced. After Cruyff left his role as the FC Barcelona head coach, his influence and ideology were continued by other Dutch managers such as Louis van Gaal and Frank Rijkaard. Both managers showed a great desire to integrate youngsters into their first teams. This time also saw the the short-passing game into the club’s younger age groups.
With over a decade of experience in sports writing, Hardik Malhotra has built a distinguished career in the internet industry. His expertise spans across various domains including Art Direction, Web Content Writing, and Content Management, all underscored by a high degree of initiative. Hardik’s passion for sports is reflected in his professional journey and personal interests.