PREMIER LEAGUE football clubs have been spotted copying a rugby tactic in the latest stunning move to allow teams to get the upper hand over their opponents.
English football saw Pep-ball sweep across the country after the arrival of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
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Gone were the more traditional and direct methods of scoring goals, and in came the fluid passing and positional acuity needed to interpret space and the half spaces.
However, at the top level, football is, if nothing else, an arms race of multi-million pound signings and tactical tweaks to gain leverage over rivals.
And one trend which has crept back into the Premier League has been the return of massive physical monsters to accommodate a more direct style.
Even Guardiola himself has not been immune to this, adapting his football to at times use five centre-backs in his teams to ensure physical domination over a rival.
However, the latest tactical trend that teams have picked up does not come from football, but rather rugby.
European Champions Paris Saint-Germain used this tactic against Tottenham in the Uefa Super Cup last week.
During their kick-off for the game, PSG midfielder Vitinha left commentators baffled as he booted the ball towards the corner flag and out for a goal kick.
One commentator said: “Not one we’ve seen before. Not one you’ll see again, I wouldn’t have thought.”
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Yet just three days later, the same tactic was used by numerous clubs in the Premier League, with Newcastle and Crystal Palace both using it against Aston Villa and Chelsea respectively.
But rather than these long balls going out for a goal kick, they went out for throw-ins by the corner flag, and this is where the method behind the madness was revealed.
As soon as the throw-in taker was positioned, the teams immediately squeezed up the pitch to press the ball in an attempt to win it high in the opposition’s half.
PSG boss Enrique revealed he had borrowed the idea from Lyon as a way of putting pressure on opponents immediately.
Indeed, the commentators for the Super Cup had remarked: “I think Vitinha thought he was playing the wrong sport there because that was more of a rugby union restart.”
And as revealed by the Daily Mail, this long ball tactic was used a staggering 31 times out of 44 restarts, or 70 per cent of the time, over the opening weekend.
This included Arsenal, Manchester United and Man City all deploying it, while only four teams – Chelsea, Aston Villa, Wolves and Leeds – did not lump the ball forwards at a kick-off at all.
But even when the ball was passed back to goalkeepers or defenders on a restart, it was then thumped out high up and wide to a flying winger or bombing full-back.
Going back just two seasons, the number of long balls at the start of play – which in years gone by was always customary – was down at just 55 per cent.
Last season, Brentford were the masters of it as they managed to score goals in the opening 40 seconds three matches in a row.
Yet the principles behind it are frighteningly simple: gain territory and hope to catch your opponent sleeping early on as you swarm all over them in a high-intensity press – which Prem sides are better than ever at now – and if they hoof it clear, you win possession back anyway.
We can only guess at how long this trend will stay around, but one thing to be sure of is that the tactical masterminds in every Premier League dressing room are drawing up moves and counter-moves to gain an advantage like a very complicated game of chess.
With that in mind, Arsenal may have pulled a double blinder by hijacking the transfer of chess guru Eberechi Eze, who is now set to join the Gunners in a £68million move.
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