Im confused, how did it take so long for long ball to become so irrelevant? When I watch games from 2003 every team just lobs the ball up over and over.
You will probably see lots of technical answers to your question, but the truth is “it’s not fashionable”.
Ball retention and high action presses to turn the ball over, with what would used to be derided as “they are trying to walk it in” style of pressure play is the current in thing. The numbers back this up, and if everyone buys into it and you have a great manager to implement this (like Pep), it works brilliantly.
Thing is, the data still back up some of the older methods too and we are starting to see some “out of fashion” old style tactics creep back into the game.
Aston Villa for example have started to employ the tactic of playing the ball into ‘areas’ (notably inside forward area), with Watkins and Diaby pressing the area. This is seeing full backs and CDMs conducting a lot of turning and rushing into these areas, to then encounter Watkins it Diaby harassing them. It’s not a pretty tactic, but it wears defenders down and often leads to players voluntarily giving up possession by knocking the ball out for a throw in. This tactic had largely disappeared, but Villa have started it again and it has been creating real pressure for teams and has been effective for sure this season.
At some point in the not too distant future, someone is going to have the bright idea of a big man/little man forward line and it will cause havoc, coz defenders will be ‘trained out’ of how to deal with this scenario. Coz defenders train for the style in from of them and at the minute, this is a lot of speed work and agility for the defenders, tracking strikers as they drop deep etc, so when it changes in a few years, people will naturally be caught short.
Football works in cycles and the long ball and big man little striker set up will have its day again, I’m pretty sure.
Keeping possession is a big reason teams stop playing long ball as much. Defending is harder then it used to be with how fast the game is played and VAR usually penalising defenders over helping them. If you have the ball you can’t concede etc.
Also some teams still use a good long ball, look at Liverpools Champions League and Prem winning teams, yes they were good in passing plays but they also utilised a deadly diagonal to Mane or Salah all the time.
I looked through the comments and haven’t seen this mentioned yet but truly I think it’s the most important reason.
The condition of the football pitches have improved tremendously and in my opinion has been the biggest reason why longball football is no longer as viable as it once was.
Even today, when big clubs (domestic or international) play smaller teams, there are occasions that they struggle and give the reason for the struggle as the poor quality of the pitch.
It was a real skill leveller that made other qualities (size, strength and jumping ability) much more important than technical skill.
A poor pitch would make passing from the back risky as it was easier to misplace a pass and lose possession and therefore many defenders would find it easier to just bypass the midfield with a long ball to the big man up top, or to one of the channels for one of your faster players to chase.
Defensive low bloc kills it.
Long ball isn’t inneffective. One example is you still see Man City with Ederson launching it up to Haaland be very effective, and you still see the art of the long diagonal played by deep lying midfielders and CBs, as a Spurs fan, I remember Alderweireld being expert at picking out a Winger or Dele running between the lines. There’s only two types of pass, a good one and a bad one. Top teams don’t build their team around long ball because there is a certain amount of randomness and innacuracy with long passes which leads to a lack of control. There has been a significant effort in England for decades now to nurture technique and considering most Managers in the Prem are continental and will bring a continental philosophy and approach to how they play, rather than the old school long ball merchants of yesteryear.
They aren’t really irrelevant. They still work, but they are riskier. Putting the ball in the air like that is essentially making a pass 50/50 instead of a closer pass.
They are not irrelevant, nor they were very popular before, but I agree, they were used much more in the past.
My opinion is that this might have to do with the characteristics and roles of the strikers compared now and before.
Strikers now are more involved in the game play, passing, moving with the ball, so they are generally smaller than before, and a little bit faster now.
Previously strikers were more used as an anchor for the offensive plan, playing a long ball for the striker, which he will try to hold on it until the team and the wingers move to their positions.
Now it is a little different, as strikers are part of the passing more, like Benzema or Suarez.
I like it more now to be honest.
So would it be fair to say that Haaland is a very old school striker? Considering how he doesn’t get involved in the play too much and is often used as an anchor like you described.
Giroud fits the bill of an old school target man the most, but he was also a great passer and had amazing link up play
Despite being so tall and big, he’s also ridiculously fast for his size so he actually makes loads of runs in behind rather than playing with his back to goal and being a target man involved in the link up.
He is a target man in the sense that he is a tall body to cross the ball to though.
Nah he’s too quick, too technically good to be old school and doesn’t play with his back to goal all that much, because City don’t need him to. If anything Haaland is most lethal as a counter attacking player because of his pace and power or just as a pure instinctive finisher in the box.
True old school long ball football has two strikers, a big man and little man in a 4-4-2. Big man plays back to goal, the team launches diagonal balls to him and he holds it up so everyone else can get forward. Little man, who is quick, plays off him and finishes off the chances. Kevin Phillips and Niall Quinn are about as good an example of this as you’ll see.
I think what happened was that having two guys up top with little defensive responsibilities stopped working against teams with an extra man in the middle, so everyone evolved towards a 4-3-3. At the same time, everyone got technically loads better and much fitter and stronger, so suddenly you have a generation of strikers who can do both things - finish, play on the counter and also hold up and distribute the ball.
Your typical ‘forward’ of 2023 - quick, technical guy who isn’t an absolutely lethal finisher but can create and play anywhere across the front 3 - didn’t really exist as a prototype 20-30 and certainly 40 years ago, you were either a striker or a winger. Now everyone is a Marcus Rashford type.
I see a little bit of old school in Ivan Toney and before that, Jermaine Defoe. Wout Weghorst is definitely old school.
Defoe and crouch
I like the big man big man combo like Dyche’s Burnley side. Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes together
This is how Wrexham play. Mullin the little guy and Palmer the man mountain.
Funny to mention Weghorst since he’s Dutch and 4-4-2 has never really been been a thing here. 4-4-3 has been the default formation at every amateur team for decades.
4-4-3 has been the default formation at every amateur team for decades.
todd boehly should have purchased ajax
What is long ball?
Going long with the ball. Basically a tactic that relies on getting the ball forward with the least number of passes aka 1. Where the keeper /CB punts in 40-50 years down to the striker.
Pros are that the ball moves quickly into attack. Cons are that the striker must be able to hold the ball under heavy pressure and the pass must be accurate otherwise you end up overturning possession.
Kind of dead today where most teams prefer to play with a striker who presses and is more involved in the buildup play.
One of the best examples of long ball football is big Sam teams or stoke when they just joined the PL.
Football is much more possession based nowadays, players have developed and been coached more into keeping the ball. The obsession with playing out from the back too, sometimes makes me nervous but the long ball hasn’t disappeared completely.
This is what I think too - teams are much more possession focussed these days
Ball is easily lost with a long ball and if the opposition can keep possession it’s demoralising, tiring and risky
4-4-2 isn’t used as much either where the long ball tactic is more popular
Because there was a study done that indicated that long balls increased the likelihood of goals. Here is info about that study that became the basis of most English soccer. https://www.sportperformanceanalysis.com/article/history-of-performance-analysis-the-controversial-pioneer-charles-reep
Pep Guardiola
For a pretty long time the thinking was - we only score when we’re near the opposition’s box so getting the ball there as quickly as possible is the most efficient way to play. That’s still roughly the thinking but there’s a counterpoint, if you go long, through the entire opposition lineup, the chances of making an accurate pass are slim so what you’re actually doing is reducing your chances of getting the ball near the opposition box. A lot of older football was like rugby today where territory was considered just as, if not more, important than possession
The emphasis today is on winning the ball high up the pitch out of possession and making a sequence of short passes to move the ball from your own penalty area to the halfway line (breaking the press) when in possession. It’s pretty much as straightforward as this - short passes are easier and defenders are not only less capable on the ball but also have less space to work with when they’re on the ball.
It’s partly the decline of the 4-4-2, partly a shift in players and a shift in management style
If you are interested in this topic I recommend Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson
Seconded
Tell me you only watch English football without telling it.