Pass and move. Liverpool, historically has prided itself in being a club that believed in this philosophy. "Tiki-taka" football, apparently glorified by Barcelona isn't really much different from "pass and move" football.
The beauty (elegance if you will) in the game lies in its implementation. A lot about how the game is played is down to the player's footballing vision --> the team's vision and ultimately if you're talking about a professional club, the manager's vision. To break this down, let me try and jot down what pass and move means. When a player passes, it is supposed to mean something in a string of passes that will/should follow. And for it to mean something, your movement after the pass and also off the ball movement when not on the ball, is extremely crucial. The concept of triangles created in tiki-taka football has its beginnings in the pass and move philosophy. Creating triangles throughout the pitch requires effort and that's where the entire team's singular vision comes into play. This concept is currently non-existent in EPL and to take Liverpool specifically, Dalglish's pass and move philosophy had one big flaw. There was no vision. Dalglish strung a team of good players (some exceptional but many ordinary) and instilled a pass and move philosophy in them but that philosophy lacked vision. Jordan Henderson being a prime example from last season. His runs reminded me of a headless chicken left out in the open and his passes, meaningless. At least for the most parts.
I see this a lot when I play in leagues as well. The intelligent/talented players know what they are doing, why they are doing and more importantly, they don't have to think about it. It's in-built. The matching wavelength is just there. They just know how to communicate and merge their styles (no matter how different it could be). At the cost of sounding arrogant, it's when you find players like these, you love the games. Football is not just about kicking and running. It's way more special than that.
Silky first touch, precise ground passing, movement creating spaces, creating triangles, weighted passes, side-foot finishing, bombing past players without losing ball control, changing flanks, creating triangles again, this is what makes the game so darn special. Brendan Rodgers understands this style of play. Remains to be seen whether he can transfer that style to the players. Success will depend a lot on how that style is emanated and one vision shared.
It's when all of these come together that the game looks so aesthetic and ironically, ridiculously simple. But then again, that's what all great players in all sports manage to make it look like. No?
