Tika taka is way more than just maintaining possession and being patient.
Tika taka is a commitment to knowing where your team mates are… and vision of the full field rather than just the player next to you.
Tika taka is about learning to keep your head up.
Tika taka is about being committed to making two forward passes to every one back pass or lateral pass.
Tika taka is about playing one-touch and two-touch football.
Tika taka is about being willing to use a skip pass as well as a short pass.
In tika taka, players need to be ready for the give-and-go (one-two) at the drop of a hat. In other words tika taka is about moving as much as it is passing.
Tika taka means doing pretty much the opposite of what your opponent expects you to do with every movement of the ball.
Tika taka is not an attitude or a belief system. It is a skill. A team skill that is executed with precise individual skill. It takes lots and lots of practice of multiple techniques through both small field and big field drilling and scrimmaging.
Coaches should not implore their teams to play tika taka. They should teach them!
Click on the link below for a peek at Barcelona demonstrating all of their tika taka skills.
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