Tiki-taka
Tiki-taka (Spanish: [ˈtikiˈtaka]) or Tiqui-taca is a style of play in football characterised by short passing and movement, working the ball through various channels, and maintaining possession. The style is primarily associated with the Spain national team since 2006 by the managers Luis Aragonés and Vicente del Bosque.[2][3][4][5] Tiki-taka methods were eventually embraced by the La Liga club Barcelona from 2009, especially during the era of manager Pep Guardiola; however, Guardiola distanced himself and the club from the style: "I loathe all that passing for the sake of it", stating, "Barça didn't do tiki-taka!", adding, "You have to pass the ball with a clear intention, with the aim of making it into the opposition's goal."[6] Its development and influence goes back to Johan Cruyff's tenure as manager in the early 1990s all the way to the present. The first goal using this system is considered to be the Sergio Ramos goal in the qualifying match for UEFA Euro 2008, played in Aarhus (Denmark) on October 13, 2007.[7] The play involved 9 players making 28 passes with 65 touches over 75 seconds. Spain went on to win the competition.
Predecessors[edit]
Earlier tactics that, like tiki-taka, rose to success in their times due to an unprecedented perfection in passing and movement without the ball include the Schalker Kreisel ("Schalke spinning top"), which won Schalke 04 six German championships between 1934 and 1942, and the Total Football used by Ajax and the Dutch national team during the 1970s.[8][9][10]
Manager Angelo Niculescu adopted a style that is also considered a precursor of tiki-taka (the Romanian term was "temporizare", which translates to "delaying"). The team would try to keep possession of the ball for as long as possible, using repeated and short passes until a breach in the opposition defense was found. Using this tactic, he transformed the Romanian national team and managed to qualify them to the Mexico 1970 World Cup after a 32 year absence.[11]