Why Tic-Tac Toe or Tiki-Taka IS DONE and FINISHED!!!!!

Once it ruled, and then it was dethroned.

Yes, that line did not rhyme...but you get my point.

Once upon a time, the so-called "tiki-taka" was the most dominant philosophy in football with NO team knowing how you robbed Barcelona/Spain off the ball and actually punish their weak defense. There seemed to be no manager with any real answer as to how to stop them. Mourinho patched up the bleeding, with a few wins here and there...but it was a white-haired German that PATCHED up the wound, and stitched it up, ready to do some kicking of his own.

Before that first leg, I was assuming a close game. Perhaps Bayern would steal it with a 2-1, but I just did not have any real faith in any team figuring out how to beat Barcelona's annoying system.

Heynckes shocked the world. He did what every other manger had been missing. With the use of Martinez as a defensive midfielder, and expert and smart positional defending, Barcelona could not figure out how to get a damn ball through. For the first time, similar to 2010 against my boy, Barcelona looked totally clueless and aimless. But Heynckes was not done there. The way in which Bayern RIPPED that ass up was a thing of true beauty. It was the night that real football had returned. The old-skool way of moving forward with the ball, and using the fewest possible passes to get into the danger area.

REAL football won that night....and we all know what happened in that second leg.

Some apologists may say that the true master of that domination, Guardiola was not at the helm. So what would happen if Pep used that same philosophy with whom were the Champions League winners and the strongest squad in Europe? Surely...a RESOUNDING win.

Ancelotti borrowed off the ideals of Heynckes. Clever defending that forced Bayern to pass to their hearts content, and RUTHLESS and QUICK counter-attack that would always leave them on their heels, due to the surplus of players in the opposing half needed for the system to work.

In the end, that second leg was a bloodbath...IN BAYERN'S CRIBB nonetheless. It was a counter-attacking masterclass, that should have been a lot more. It was yet more evidence that showed that this system was done. Because it is one thing to lose by one or two goals, but to get UTTERLY thrashed as well as completely outplayed is a whole other thang.

We all know what Holland did to Spain in that World Cup, a DUTCH CIRCUMCISION with no anesthetic. But I actually pick out the Chile match that was clear as day showing the philosophy for the bullcrap that it is.

With Spain chasing the game, looking for a goal to get them back in it, there was no sense of pushing the ball forward quickly and making the riskier longer pass. They kept with the same philosophy of passing the ball and waiting for an opening. It did come to Biscuits.....which we all know what happened.

It was here that I knew then and there that there is no future for this ideal. I respect what it achieved for a period of time. Something new had come into football and naturally, footballers and managers needed time to try to understand just how to combat it. But once teams had sussed out just how to defend against it, knowing when to fall back and how to press, always conserving your energy and also how to ATTACK, quick, precise and intelligently, the same result would always come to fruition.

Let's see what the future holds. Perhaps Spain may do what Egypt have done and win the Euros for three times in a row, keeping faith with tiki-taka. But I feel football has gotten back to the old days. The days where you need a mix of the smaller and more nimble technical players, as well as the bigger more robust and tougher players.

I for one, want to see REAL football played, and don't want to have to fall asleep when watching it.


HH