At Barcelona, there has always been a clear way of playing football and this was long called tiki-taka, for the way the ball was tapped around the midfield to open up space.
Robert Lewandowski has, however, spoken about the need to evolve and explained why it’s important for the modern Barcelona team to play a different way too.
“In my first month here I could see how much potential there was, but in football it’s hard to change things in just one week or month,” he told Barcelona‘s official club media.
“You have to be patient, as these things take time.
“Now I can see that everything is on the right track because a lot of the players are still young.
“They need time to learn things and get the right mind-set.
“I know that the Barcelona DNA says that we need to play nice football, but we also need to appreciate that football has changed.
“For example, the way Barcelona played 10 years ago might not work anymore.
“We have to adapt to football and demonstrate the best that we have.”
Lewandowski’s praise for Xavi
The Polish striker also spoke about what it has been like working with Xavi, a player he competed against for so many years.
“Xavi was a great player and was a midfielder, so he could see what was happening from a central position,” Lewandowski said.
“That’s why he’s able to see so many things, such as how to play with the ball and how to play without it.
“He always says we need to be able to change the dynamic of our game, that we shouldn’t wait until half-time to make changes.”
It has certainly been a good start at the Camp Nou for the striker, whose league-leading 15 goals have helped put the Blaugrana in a comfortable position at the top of the table.