Pep Guardiola is famous for his style of football. The La Masia graduate may not have invented the tiki-taka style of play, but there’s no doubt he helped take it to the mainstream, which many teams have now adopted. This style of play won the Spaniard many trophies at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, including a treble at the former.
Sadly, his introduction of the tiki-taka style of play in Germany has led to a decline in the country, according to the manager’s former player at Bayern Munich. Former Munich star Bastian Schweinsteiger has attributed the recent poor form of the German national team to the Spaniard’s introduction of a particular style of play.
Pep Guardiola’s influence blamed for Germany’s poor form
The German national team’s decline has been one of the most surprising things in soccer, and it’s sad to see. Having won their most recent World Cup title in 2014, Germany has gone under the radar, getting kicked out of the next two editions of the FIFA World Cup in the group stage.
The country has since parted ways with two permanent managers, Joachim Low and Hansi Flick. The recent woes of the national team have been blamed on Guardiola’s introduction of a particular style of play when he was brought into Bayern Munich to lead the club.
“When Pep Guardiola joined Bayern Munich when he came to the country, everyone believed we had to play this kind of football, like short passes and everything. We were kind of losing our values.
“I think most of the other countries were looking at Germany as a fighter; we can run until the end and everything. The strengths got lost through the last seven, eight years. We forgot about that and were more focused on playing the ball nicely to each other. That’s one of the reasons,” the former Manchester United midfielder explained.
While Schweinsteiger’s statement may have been largely sentimental, the Germans were truly known for their strength and resilience on the pitch, two values they lost when they became too focused on adopting the tiki-taka style of play.
Even with a third permanent coach in place, the national team’s performance has been lackluster thus far under Nagelsmann, who has lost two of his four games in charge. He was appointed following the sacking of Hansi Flick, who was axed after recording a 4-1 loss to Japan a few months ago.
How many years did Pep Guardiola spend at Bayern?
Pep Guardiola took the helm at Bayern Munich after taking a sabbatical following his departure from Barcelona in 2012. The Spaniard spent three years at Bayern Munich from 2013 to 2016 and dominated the German Bundesliga in all his years in the country.
Pep Guardiola won three Bundesliga titles, which means that he won the league title in each of the three years he spent at the club, making him the first foreign manager to do so. He also claimed two DFB Cups with Bayern. However, his lack of success in Europe meant that he was unable to win a treble with the club, which led to his eventual departure from the club.
He has since achieved legend status at Manchester City, where he’s dominating the Premier League for fun. The Catalan tactician claimed a treble with City last season, making him the first manager in history to win a treble with two different clubs.
The City manager recently drew praise from Lionel Messi for what he’s achieved in the sport.
Can he lead City to another treble-winning campaign this season?
