What changes has Guardiola made in the use of high forwards?

Unlike other coaches, Guardiola coached in Barcelona, ​​Bayern and other teams in his early years, and he was very obsessed with the idea of ​​ground transmission and control. Whether from the backcourt or the frontcourt, the requirements for the players will be control.

I read Iniesta's autobiography these two days. The book talks about Guardiola, and novices talk about a small thing in Guardiola's training.

It was a training session. Puyol faced the opponent's high-level press. Seeing that the ball could not be passed, he hurriedly pushed forward and cleared the ball. Etoo arrived and grabbed the ball.

Before Etoo rushed up, Guardiola rushed into the field and grabbed Puyol's arm and said, no no, you can't do this, I'll teach you how to deal with this ball.

Guardiola, who was playing in person, made Xavi and Iniesta come over while hand-pacing, saying that you have to stand in the position of teammates’ response. After the other hand, he told Puyol that you should go sideways, pass this way, and hand the ball to the midfielder. Don’t think about directly giving the teammates a big shot, and waste opportunities.

During the training process, Guardiola was so delicate that every pass and extraordinary thoughts had to be carefully polished. If the player's thinking cannot keep up, or there are problems at the technical level, he will stop immediately.

This extremely control approach gave birth to Barcelona's pass control, and since then it also brought about the team's prosperity.

In other words, Barcelona's offensive philosophy is "penetration and advancement". From the backcourt to the frontcourt, the method of tearing the opponent's space with a short pass is emphasized, and the combination of control and luck is emphasized, thereby tearing the opponent's defense.

Under such a system, high center forwards cannot stay in Barcelona, ​​and even stronger Ibrahimovic will fall into tactical discomfort.

For high centers, they need to play a role on the court, and they must have two ways of playing: one is to score goals, and the other is to support.

The goal is a more traditional crossing, high ball, and then the center strikes the goal, and needs teammates to feed the ball to fully utilize the impact of the high center;

Support this, Cruivet and Kane, who frequently retreat, come to the middle to get the ball, and hand it over to the teammates next to him after getting the ball, and use him as the core of the fulcrum to expand;

Or there are stars with the characteristics of Drogba. The team takes the ball with their backs, hold the ball, and then hand it over to their teammates, and transition around the fulcrum, creating opportunities for the teammates who are inserted later.

This is the support idea for the center.

However, under Guardiola's system, the center cannot enjoy these treatments. There are few crosses and high altitude balls, and strong centers who like to head and grab points will not get too many opportunities; secondly, if you support these tasks, the midfielder will do it, and the center will retreat and respond, and it will crash with the midfielder.

Ibrahimovic's failure under the Guardiola system was due to the troubles of the above two problems. Grab points is not the mode that Ibrahimovic likes to play. In addition, the fulcrum is used as a fulcrum and Ibrahimovic cannot get the ball. The core is controlled by Xavi and Iniesta. Then, if it is forced into the team system, the center will feel uncomfortable.

I don’t know what to do when I play, and I will wander outside the team’s system.

In his early years, Guardiola coached, he didn't like "pure centers". Villa and Etoo have a large range of activities, and the types of players he wants most, and he has strong mobility.

When did Guardiola start to change, gradually starting to use high centers in the team, and gradually no longer obsessed with ground control? It was a transformation in Manchester City's Haaland.

The more obvious ones are the mid-to-late last season and this season.

With Rodri's serious injury reimbursement and the team's lineup aging, De Bruyne left the old and new alternating, and the team's lineup has changed a lot. Guardiola gradually realized that he could no longer play "ground control" and needed to speed up.

In order to maximize the use of Haaland's abilities, he has developed the idea of ​​high-altitude balls in the past two years. The cross from the bottom is made, with a 45-degree diagonal pass, and the scenes of Haaland looking for big feet in the backcourt are becoming more and more frequent.

In the past game, you didn't see Manchester City's high-altitude balls a few times. Now every 5-10 minutes, you will see a lot. Haaland often heads and supports them, and it is no longer the system where Guardiola relies on for fame.

As long as Haaland has no defense, he will take the ball and smash it on his head if he has the chance, and the usage rate is even more frequent than before.

When I watched Manchester City's game, I discovered a new idea. It just feels like Guardiola is currently trying to make Haaland the core of the team, and it is a bit like the development of the fulcrum center.

Originally he wanted the midfielder to take this responsibility, but now that De Bruyne has left and Manchester City's playing style is becoming more and more direct, he no longer insists on ground control.

Wing players can cut inward, and if they can cross, they can cross. Haaland's role is more obvious than before.

When watching Haaland play football now, you will feel that he is very comfortable playing under Manchester City's system. Regardless of whether he scored or not, his fulcrum and support role was reflected and he was no longer as sluggish as before.

I think this is a good change, tactical changes, and new ideas for the use of players. Guardiola has also begun to enrich his arsenal, with a new system and employment ideas, so that high center forwards can have a place to use it.

Sometimes, failure is really a good medicine for a person to change, and when you are poor, you think about change. In the face of failure, everyone has to learn to change their combat philosophy. It is definitely not feasible to stick to the inherent routine.

The environment has changed and the players have also changed. Adapting to local conditions is the best result.

Sometimes I also think, if Guardiola is really familiar with the skills of using high centers, and combines air operations and ground penetration control and playback, and can switch back and forth between the two modes, what will the team become?

This would be quite interesting.