Vic Buckingham: The ex-Tottenham player’s legacy lives on

From push-and-run to tiki-taka

In more recent times Pep, the darling of modern football, refined the style of his mentor, which has been labeled ‘tiki-taka.’

Guardiola is a footballing genius. That is not in question, but he is no deity blessed with divine footballing knowledge. The Catalan’s vision of the game stems back to the man who plucked him from the training fields of La Masia, just as Cruyff’s traces back to the manager who gave a gangly 17-year-old his first opportunity at Ajax.

Guardiola is never shy to admit where he learnt his trade, as a quote printed on the cover of Cruyff’s autobiography bluntly summarizes: ‘I knew nothing about football before knowing Cruyff.’

Next: What difference does a year make for Tottenham?

While the English media hangs on every word Pep says these days, they echo those of Buckingham, a man the country turned its back on half a century ago.

Tiki-taka may wear the cape of a matador, but a pair of weathered wooden clogs poke out at the foot. And if you look closely enough you’ll notice that trilby perched raffishly standing out garishly at the peak.