Tiqui Taca

Tiqui Taca (Tiki Taka) is a mostly disparaging phrase to describe the Juego de Posición. The Spanish broadcaster Andrés Montes is generally credited with popularizing the phrase Tiki Taka during his television commentary for the 2006 World Cup, although the term was already in colloquial use in Spanish football and may originate with Javier Clemente, when he complained about long ball circulations. Montes used the phrase to describe the passing style of the Spanish national team: “Estamos tocando tiki-taka tiki-taka.” The phrase’s origin probably came from a juggling toy named Tiki Taka (clackers) in Spanish. Despite it was wrongly associated with the Spanish national team or the Barcelona team under Pep Guardiola, the term can describe teams that struggle with tactical shortcomings, as ball possession becomes a self-purpose. They use ball possession without the concept of Juego de Posición and therefore the style of football looks boring. A more defensive ball possession style can also called Tikinaccio.

Yet, it has to be mentioned that the negative connotation is highly controversial. Many reporters and fans have used the term Tiki Taka to characterise the Spain squad under Luis Aragonés that retained possession high up the field and looked to break down rivals with quick, intricate passing moves. Later, Pep Guardiola perfected that style at Barcelona, while a portion of observers continued to call it Tiki Taka. Guardiola himself, however, said, Tiki Taka “is stupid stuff and leads to nothing. You have to keep the ball for the purpose of getting near the opposing goal and doing damage.”