For the last 7 years or so football has been played a certain way. It was deemed the most optimal way to win a game of football. Stats and analytics started to be introduced and studied about the most effective methods to get marginal gains over the opponents. Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp had led the charge on playing out from the back, pressing teams high up the pitch retrieving the ball and suffocating the competition. One journalist called it death by football. When ever Pep changes style in his teams then the football world takes note. His Barcelona team introduced the tikka- takka. A tactic that he hates the name of. He refined it at Bayern as the quality of player was not as good which is not a slight on Bayern but they just were not Messi , Xavi and Iniesta. He then takes a year off and joins City and builds a team that wins a treble and 4 Premier Leagues in a row. He then has a year to forget when City were not at the races. It is hard to keep teams hungry at the top of their game with all their successes. But in 2025 Pep did something that was not very, well, “Pep” like. He started being more direct. Alot more direct. Kicking it long to the big number 9. Long throw ins into the box. More set piece reliant. Managers who were considered dinosaurs for playing these tactics such as Tony Pullis , Big Sam Allardyce and Sean Dyche were suddenly not dinosaurs all along. Their mantra was get the ball up to the big man to score. No point arseing around with the ball at the back. They did have a point. It just was not sexy football. Fast forward to Arsenal versus Man City this year where City sat back and played the long ball to Arsenal’s surprise. This wasn’t part of the Pep playbook and it was not in Arteta’s training plans for the week preceding the match that his former boss was going to revert to this type of football. But why the sudden change. In Spain Barcelona are still playing a high line under Hansi Flick. So are Bayern in Germany to an extent. But the English teams are all playing more direct. So why?
Evolved Pressing and Defensive Organisation
Modern man-to-man pressing — perfected by teams like Liverpool and Manchester City — has made short build-up from the back riskier. Defenses are now attuned to pinning players, reducing space for progressive passes and forcing turnovers in dangerous areas. As positional play (e.g., Guardiola’s “positionism”) hits a logjam, managers opt for direct balls over the press to bypass it. This exploits man to man mismatches: midfielders position for second balls, wingers pin full-backs, and target forwards (e.g., Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta or Everton’s Beto) push center-backs deep to create outlets. Even Guardiola has noted fewer turnovers with short passes but acknowledges the need for variety. Result? Fewer passes per sequence and more long goal kicks (up sharply after nine years of decline).
Player Fitness.
Some analysts are thinking this new style at the start of the season is for player welfare over the long season ahead. Play a long ball is less intensive on the players leaving them fresher and free from injury at the “money” end of the season when trophies are to be won. The likes of PSG who were nearly knocked out of the Champions League group stages came good at the right time. Real Madrid , too are notoriously slow starters as the players don’t really get interested until the knockout stages and then kick into gear. Big Ange’s Spurs had 11 players injured by November 2024 which caused the team to lose 22 games in the 2024/25 season which ultimately led him to the sack. So if a certain style of play is better at the start of a season to maintain fit players then maybe this is a good reason to change style so drastically.
Physicality and Squad Dynamics
The Premier Leagues intensity has a faster tempo, more subs (increasing fatigue), and global talent — favours physical profiles. “Big number 9s” (aerially dominant strikers like Haaland or Alexander Isak) thrive in this, winning duels on long deliveries. New signings and managerial changes (e.g., Brentford’s Keith Andrews, a former set-piece coach) amplify it, as teams bed in direct tactics early. It’s also a Europe-wide trend, but the EPL’s physical edge makes it pronounced. As one analyst notes, it’s forcing possession teams to “up their physical, technical, and tactical levels” to impose beauty on the game.
Some Stats
Goals from Set Pieces 2025/26 season: 25% of goals are scored from set pieces. This is up from 20.6% the year before and 19.8% the year before this. The stats buffons have been crunching the numbers on the importance of set pieces. This number quite shocked me. Big Ange last season before demise noted that he did not believe his team should be reliant on set pieces. He wanted his team to score from open play. Thomas Frank his replacement mentioned this stat and said to journalists that of course he focuses on set pieces.
Long Throws Into The Box: 3.44 per game (27% of attacking-third throws). There are towels all over the side lines now for the players to wipe the ball dry so they get better grip to throw the ball longer. Last season this was only 1.52 per game (13%).
Long Balls Attempted: 1,395 per 90 mins. This was 1,274 last season.
Headed Goals : 19% of total goals are scored with the head this season. Up from 15% last season.
Ball In Play: The stat that I do not like. 54.7% which is down from 57%. This is not good.
These figures highlight a “more agricultural” style, as described by analysts — less cultured passing, more “air raids” and physicality. Teams like Arsenal, Brentford, Crystal Palace, and Aston Villa are leading the charge, with 13–15 set-piece goals each last season.
I am somewhat happy for the Mick McCarthy’s , the Tony Pullis, the Big Sams, the David Moyes. Were these dinosaurs? Hell no , they just did the best with what resources they had and played for set pieces. This turns out to be the best tactic if you put the data into the mixer. It churns out this style of play. These managers did not need the stats guys to tell them how best to set up a team. Now the big number 9 is in fashion again but the problem is that the game has not developed any of late because of the previous style change. No kid wants to be the big number 9 anymore. They all want to be the 10. So the fight for the big men up front is going to be very expensive. Liverpool got Isak for $162 million. Haaland is on mad money ever week. His full deal was not disclosed. So make hay while the sun shines guys because in 7 years time we may be back to the little man running in behind. It is a funny old game
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STOPWhen hearing about the change of tactics, it is usually linked in Pep's game tactics. There are those who are in favor of his playing style and those who are against it. It is less common to see Klopp's tactics talked about in this area.
The reason for that is that Pep changes his tactics and Klopp really just plays the gegenpress with his teams.
He does from time to time. But, the style of game play remains the same..