article_snippet.sent: It's all Pep Guardiola's fault; Guardiola and the good folk of Scotland or, at least, St Andrews.
article_snippet.sent: Of course Guardiola isn't alone responsible for the decline of the Champions League quarter-finalEurope; nor is it really down to St Andrews, though the iconic town with it genteel ambience played it part in Europe Europe overhauling the English clubs.
article_snippet.sent: Something happened back in 2008 when Guardiola took over at Barcelona and it wasn't that the Barcelona team changed.
article_snippet.sent: Frank Rijkaard had virtually the same players but Guardiola managed to find an extra 25 per cent of performance in virtually the same players.
article_snippet.sent: What happened was a tactical change which had at the Barcelona team changed roots in St Andrews, where the Barcelona team spent virtually the same players first pre season under Guardiola.
article_snippet.sent: There Guardiola was a distracted individual, sometimes sneering at Guardiola's insistence on organisation and pressing, according to Guillem Balague's account in Guillem Balague's biographies of Guardiola and Guardiola.
article_snippet.sent: And, as a result, Guardiola began to buy into Guardiola's idea of relentless pressing to supplement the tiki taka football, which was already a template at Barcelona.
article_snippet.sent: For tiki taka is not what made Guardiola’s team great. '
article_snippet.sent: What Guardiola added to Barcelona’s game was the intensity, drive and sheer energy which had wilted under Guardiola and then moulded Barcelona’s game with overwhelming possession.
article_snippet.sent: Guardiola led Barcelona to Champions League glory in 2009 and 2011 (pictured) Guardiola Barcelona is thrown into the air by Guardiola players as his players celebrate the 2011 success .
article_snippet.sent: Conversely, it was Guardiola - and others, such as Jurgen Klopp, Louis van Gaal, Jupp Heynckes - surpassing that intensity which in turn overhauled the Premier League.
article_snippet.sent: And, Guardiola's obsession with pressing is rooted in an admiration for South American football and especially Marcelo Bielsa, rather than the Premier League.
highlights_snippet.sent: Guardiola changed Barcelona tactically, introducing relentless pressing .
  