There was a saying that got it exactly right: the essence of football tactics was to create space on the pitch and exploit it.
Guardiola had once said in an interview that he was not obsessed with possession. The reason he insisted on it was that, with the ball under his team's control, passing could force opposing defenders out of position.
Naturally, when defenders left their positions, space opened up. All that remained was figuring out how to exploit it.
Creation and exploitation happened simultaneously on the pitch.
From fullbacks pushing forward in numbers to passing and possession in midfield and defense, then the rise of wide attacking midfielders, sweeping switches of play and attacks through the half-spaces had gradually become mainstream. Over the past two seasons, two-striker systems had begun to flourish.
Why play with two strikers?
Take Real Madrid over the past season. With two world-class forwards in Yang Yang and Suarez, playing both at once was understandable. But why, when either was rested, did another striker usually come in to replace him?
First it had been Morata, then Mbappé. Why?
The reason was simple: Yang Yang and Zidane had gradually realized that a lone striker was no longer enough.
Signs of this had appeared long before; they simply had not been particularly obvious.
So what was the benefit of adding another striker?
The answer was that two strikers could pin back the opposition's defensive line more effectively. That was easy enough to understand. Two players applying pressure together were surely better than one.
But beyond that, the greatest advantage of two strikers was that they could drop deep and drift wide more effectively.
Over the past two years, Real Madrid's coaching staff had been working to ease Yang Yang's tactical burden. He had originally covered a huge