Guardiola didn't invent the "juego de posición" - or positional football - but he developed it further than anyone before him, laying the foundations for a new cultural framework. And whether we like it or not, he has already taken over, reports BBC Sport.
Indeed, three of Guardiola's pupils, Luis Enrique, Mikel Arteta and Hansi Flick, found themselves in the Champions League semi-finals this week. Guardiola's approach will once again be in the spotlight in the final of Europe's biggest club competition.
However, there is growing resistance to this model. Critics claim that it turns players into robots, removes spontaneity and forces defenders to behave like midfielders.
Some fans and commentators believe this style is outdated, too structured and lacking the chaos and excitement of "real football".
But perhaps such resistance misses the bigger picture or responds not to the model itself, but to poor attempts at its application.
Let's look at the facts. Five of the eight Champions League quarter-finalists this season played some version of positional football. Clubs across Europe, even traditional giants like Liverpool and, most recently, Manchester United under Ruben Amorim, are increasingly gravitating towards this approach.
He delivers brilliant performances, especially in European competitions, where top coaches and players further enhance his potential. More than a style of play, it's a model that brings victories.
Most importantly, it has become a cultural force. Clubs are hiring coaches who believe in the approach, academies are training players to fit it, and football education around the world is increasingly adapting to these principles.
Of course, not everyone is able to apply it successfully. But that has always been the case in football. Not all teams in the 1970s could play like Nottingham Forest or Liverpool, but many tried, because those teams defined the spirit of their time. Every era has a dominant model, and it is natural that most teams strive towards it.
We are emerging from a football culture that could be summarized as: structure in defense, freedom in attack. In other words, we train defensively and leave the attack to the imagination of the attackers.
That is changing, but cultural changes take time. The new football paradigm is slowly taking hold but has not yet fully taken hold.
The attacking phase of the game can be divided into three stages: the build-up, the construction and the finish. The French even distinguish an additional phase, the preparation of the final pass, which lies between the build-up and the finish. But for the sake of clarity, we will stick to the basic division into three parts here.
When Guardiola began his coaching career in 2001, his primary focus was on the build-up phase of the attack. The famous story of Victor Valdes, when he thought the coach was crazy for asking him to pass the ball to defenders who didn't want it, is now part of football mythology. It was a watershed moment in the evolution of the game.
After the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and especially after the 2019 rule change that allowed the ball from a goal kick to be received inside the penalty area, coaching the build-up phase of the attack became not only common practice, but also a foundation of modern football.
The construction phase of midfield control was slower to spread, but Guardiola had already begun to develop it at Barcelona, and further perfected it at Bayern and Manchester City.
The finale, however, the last act of the attacking action remains largely unorganized. Football has not yet found a way to fully systematize it. The culture of the game, both among players and coaches, is not yet ready for it. But one day, a new revolutionary figure will emerge who will improve this final phase as well. It is the natural course of football history.
For now, we have top experts refining the existing model in addition to the three semi-finalists, as well as Unai Emery and Enzo Maresca. Roberto de Zerbi has also started to push the boundaries, but his progress has slowed down at the moment.
"Pep is a reference for all of us who want to play football in a certain way... You always learn something watching his teams. Always," said Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique.
"Working with him changed the way I look at football. He gave me the tools to become a coach," said Arsenal's Mikel Arteta.
"Pep has inspired me a lot. He has an incredible ability to organize the game, control space and constantly find new solutions. Watching him lead training at Bayern was a real revelation. He is one of the greatest football thinkers ever," added Barcelona's Hans-Dieter Flick.
Much of the criticism of positional football comes from frustration: "If we can't do it well, we'd better not even try."
But that's not how progress works. Just because so far only the top teams have managed to execute this model exceptionally well doesn't mean it's bad. It means we're looking at football in a transitional phase. The question shouldn't be "does this work", but "how can we do it better".
It's easy to idealize the past and claim that football used to be more spontaneous, more "human." But the truth is that today's football is better. It's more complex, more collective, more cleverly designed. It's harder to coach, harder to play, and, when executed properly, perhaps even more beautiful to watch.
That's why coaches like Unai Emery are so fascinating. He challenged his own beliefs, recognized the evolution of the game and adapted. He embraced the principles of positional play not for ideological reasons, but because they offer greater control, clarity and consistency, even without top-tier players.
That kind of flexibility takes courage. Not all coaches can do it. And not all players. But I appreciate clubs that choose to live in the present, rather than clinging to what once worked.
Why shouldn't centre-backs like Virgil van Dijk, Pau Torres or Pau Kubarsi touch the ball more than the midfield? Why couldn't they be playmakers? Why couldn't they be role models for a new generation of defenders?
Even PSG, a club that has historically depended on individual brilliance, has adopted the principles of positional play in attack, so as to be ready to immediately apply pressure after losing the ball.
The hardest thing in football, as in life, is to look ahead and imagine what's coming. It's much easier to look back and say, "It was better then."
I don't claim to know what football will look like in ten years. But I listen to those who do. And I believe that positional football is the present and the future.
We are in the midst of a cultural shift. Some coaches are trying to copy the model. Some are succeeding. Others are still learning. And yes, some are rejecting it entirely.
But in five years, almost everyone will be playing some version of positional football. Not because they're forced to, but because football doesn't wait for those who refuse to change.
A new generation of coaches already speaks his language fluently. And soon it will become universal.
We're not asking for every restaurant to have a Michelin star. But we are asking them to stop serving frozen food.
Let's not fight this model. Let's enjoy the process. Let's celebrate teams that try to do it right, combining structure with their own cultural identity, instead of dismissing them just because they're not Guardiola's City.
A new football culture has taken hold and is here to stay.
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