Tiki-taka

Tiki-taka ( commonly spelled tiqui-taca in Spanish; Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtiki ˈtaka] ) is a style of play in association football, characterised by short passing and movement, working the ball through various channels, and maintaining possession. The style is primarily associated with La Liga club FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team under managers Luis Aragonés and Vicente del Bosque.

Origins

Spanish midfield position. Spain-Switzerland, FIFA World Cup 2010. Midfield is one of the keys of tiki-taka.

The late Spanish broadcaster Andrés Montes is generally credited with coining and popularizing the phrase tiki-taka during his television commentary on LaSexta for the 2006 FIFA World Cup,^[1][2] although the term was already in colloquial use in Spanish football^[3] and may originate with Javier Clemente.^[4] In his live commentary of the Spain vs Tunisia match, Montes used the phrase to describe Spain's precise, elegant passing style: "Estamos tocando tiki-taka tiki-taka."^[2] The phrase's origin may be onomatopoeic^[2] or derived from a juggling toy named tiki-taka in Spanish (clackers in English).^[5]

The tiki-taka style of play originates with Johan Cruyff's tenure as manager of Barcelona from 1988 to 1996. It continued under Barcelona's Dutch coaches Louis van Gaal and Frank Rijkaard and was adopted by other La Liga teams^[6][7] such as Villarreal CF under coaches Manuel Pellegrini and Juan Carlos Garrido.^{[citation needed]} Barcelona's tiki-taka tradition has been credited with producing a generation of technically talented, often physically small players such as Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Cesc Fàbregas and Lionel Messi;^[8][9] players with excellent touch, vision and passing, who excel at maintaining possession.^[10]

Raphael Honigstein describes the tiki-taka played by the Spanish national team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup as "a radical style that only evolved over the course of four years", arising from Spain's decision in 2006 that "they weren't physical and tough enough to outmuscle opponents, so instead wanted to concentrate on monopolising the ball."^[11]

Tactical overview

We have the same idea as each other. Keep the ball, create movement around and off the ball, get in the spaces to cause danger.

“

”

—Xabi Alonso (Spanish midfielder)^[12]

Tiki-taka has been variously described as "a style of play based on making your way to the back of the net through short passing and movement",^[9] a "short passing style in which the ball is worked carefully through various channels,"^[13] and a "nonsensical phrase that has come to mean short passing, patience and possession above all else".^[14] The style involves roaming movement and positional interchange amongst midfielders, moving the ball in intricate patterns,^[15] and sharp, one or two-touch passing.^[12] Tiki-taka is "both defensive and offensive in equal measure"– the team is always in possession, so doesn't need to switch between defending and attacking.^[11] Commentators have contrasted tiki-taka with "route one physicality"^[9] and with the higher-tempo passing of Arsène Wenger's 2008 Arsenal side, which employed Cesc Fàbregas as the only channel between defence and attack.^[13] Tiki-taka is associated with flair, creativity, and touch,^[16] but can also be taken to a "slow, directionless extreme" that sacrifices effectiveness for aesthetics.^[14]

Notable successes

Tiki-taka has been used successfully by the Spanish national team to win UEFA Euro 2008 and 2010 FIFA World Cup, and by FC Barcelona to win all titles they competed in 2009, making them the only team in the world ever to have achieved The Sextuple.

Sid Lowe identifies Luis Aragonés's tempering of tiki-taka with pragmatism as a key factor in Spain's success in Euro 2008. Aragonés used tiki-taka to "protect a defense that appeared suspect [...], maintain possession and dominate games" without taking the style to "evangelical extremes". None of Spain's first six goals in the tournament came from tiki-taka: five came from direct breaks and one from a set play.^[14] For Lowe, Spain's success in the 2010 World Cup was evidence of the meeting of two traditions in Spanish football: the "powerful, aggressive, direct" style that earned the silver medal-winning 1920 Antwerp Olympics team the nickname La Furia Roja ("The Red Fury"), and the tiki-taka style of the contemporary Spanish team, which focussed on a collective, short-passing, technical and possession-based game.^[17]

Analyzing Spain's semi-final victory over Germany at the 2010 World Cup, Honigstein described the Spanish team's tiki-taka style as "the most difficult version of football possible: an uncompromising passing game, coupled with intense, high pressing." For Honigstein, tiki-taka is "a significant upgrade" of Total Football because it relies on ball movement rather than players switching position. Tiki-taka allowed Spain to "control both the ball and the opponent".^[11]

References

1. ^ Hawkey, Ian (18 October 2009). "Spain's voice of football dies". The Sunday Times. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Lavric, Eva (2008). The linguistics of football. Gunter Narr Verlag. p. 354. ISBN 9783823363989. 
3. ^ Diez, Ramón (29 January 2006). "La imaginación de la Deportiva se topa hoy con el autobús de Fabri" (in Spanish). Diario de León. 
4. ^ "La polemica - Posible penalti de Cáceres a Magno - El Celta sonó... al ritmo de Vagner - El Alavés ..." (in Spanish). MARCA. 31 March 2002. 
5. ^ Lesay, Jean-Damien (30 June 2006). "'Tiki-taka'" (in French). Libération Cahier Spécial. 
6. ^ Martínez, Roberto (11 July 2010). "World Cup final: Johan Cruyff sowed seeds for revolution in Spain's fortunes". Telegraph.co.uk (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/spain/7883131/World-Cup-final-Johan-Cruyff-sowed-seeds-for-revolution-in-Spains-fortunes.html. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
7. ^ "Spain's World Cup run has Dutch flavour". CBC.ca. 9 July 2010. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/fifaworldcup/features/story/2010/07/09/spf-spain-run-feature.html. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
8. ^ Kay, Alex (27 March 2010). "Lionel Messi, Cesc Fabregas, Gerard Pique...all forged in Barcelona's hothouse of champions". Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1261064/Lionel-Messi-Cesc-Fabregas-Gerard-Pique--forged-Barcelonas-hothouse-champions.html. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
9. ^ ^{a b c} Marcotti, Gabriele (14 April 2008). "New coaching breed gives heart to Spain". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/european_football/article3739825.ece. Retrieved 18 October 2010. 
10. ^ "The quiet man finds his voice". FourFourTwo. 1 July 2008. 
11. ^ ^{a b c} Honigstein, Raphael (8 July 2010). "Why Spain were anything but boring". CBC.ca. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/fifaworldcup/blog/2010/07/why-spain-were-anything-but-boring.html. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
12. ^ ^{a b} Ladyman, Ian (8 July 2010). "Beat Spain? It's hard enough to get the ball back, say defeated Germany". London: Mail Online. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/worldcup2010/article-1293239/WORLD-CUP-2010-Beat-Spain-Its-hard-ball-say-Germany.html. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
13. ^ ^{a b} Hynter, David (10 June 2008). "Fábregas takes positive view, from the bench". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jun/10/euro2008.euro2008groupd. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
14. ^ ^{a b c} Lowe, Sid (2 July 2008). "The definitive story of how Aragonés led Spain to Euro 2008 glory". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2008/jul/02/thedefinitivestoryofhowar. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
15. ^ Pearce, Jonathan (29 June 2008). "If Spain can reign it will be so good for the old game". Sunday Mirror. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/archive/jonathan-pearce/2008/06/29/if-spain-can-reign-it-will-be-so-good-for-the-old-game-115875-20625290/. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
16. ^ Clegg, Jonathan; Espinoza, Javier (31 March 2010). "Fantasy football comes alive". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304739104575154031572698008.html. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
17. ^ Lowe, Sid (9 July 2010). "Spain's "Tiki-taka" style dominates". SI.com. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/world-cup-2010/writers/sid_lowe/07/09/spain.final/index.html. Retrieved 13 July 2010.