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Every football fan that is following the super exciting matches from the Premier League is aware of the
changes in the coaching style. The traditional way of English management in football faded away over
the course of the last decade and several factors are responsible for these changes.
In this article, we will break down how Premier League managers have changed their coaching style and
created modern football tactics.
When Did the Modern Football Tactics Appear in the Premier League?
As you might be aware, the modern style of play that is widely used in the Premier League requires a lot
of pressing and moving of the ball through a series of passes. But, that wasn't always the case as
traditional English football consisted of tough plays, little passes, and long crosses.
All of this started to change when Jurgen Klopp joined Liverpool in 2015 and Pep Guardiola took over
the hot seat at Manchester City in 2016. Both managers started implementing the ideas of modern
football to its players, but that required time to complete.
Many players were signed by both managers and each of them had specific characteristics that suited
their tactical ideas. The results came very quickly for Guardiola as he managed to win the league in his
second season at the Citizens.
Klopp took a bit longer to win the league, which he did in season 2019/20 as the team was in need of
some serious reconstruction. But, he also managed to win the Champions League the year before.
Both teams have started winning a good portion of their games and achieving plenty of points that the
other teams couldn't follow. At the end of almost every season, the other teams were more than 20
points away from the top.
It is fair to say that these incredible managers have set the standards pretty high and every other team is
now trying their best to follow in their steps.
Nowadays, you can see the
exciting new betting websites and how close the Premier League teams are
as most of them have incorporated the modern style of play.
What Is the Modern Football Like?
The football that is being played in the Premier League in the past several years is by far the most
exciting style that the world has ever seen.
Before it, we had the Italian and Spanish football styles, but neither of them comes close to this one,
despite Real Madrid's dominance in Europe.
In modern football tactics, the teams are following the
Gegenpressing style, which directly translates to
uncountable. This is a tactic that requires the players to immediately try to win the ball after losing
possession, rather than retreating back into defence to regroup.
This is a tactic that requires a great amount of speed, stamina, and organization in order for it to be
successful. A lot of training is required to master this tactic as well as the right set of players.
Gegenpressing also requires a high level of discipline where the team must be able to close down open
spaces so that the opponent passes won't go through. Players must learn when to stop pressing so as to
avoid exhaustion and unwanted injuries.
Modern football has also changed the style of play of the players, as now they need to learn much more
than was previously required of them. The goalkeepers are known actively use their feet to pass the ball
around in the defence, as well as provide successful long balls by hand or foot.
The defenders are also required to improve their passing skills as well as their pace and acceleration.
You can often see them going pretty high on the pitch sometimes with the ball in their feet.
Players from the midfield are required to play in several positions and they will often switch with the
other players on the field. Some of them may cover for the defenders that have decided to go forward.
They can also go forward when the strikers drop down in the midfield.
All strikers must keep on pressing on the defenders and as we mentioned drop low on the field when it
is needed. Faster forward players are often used in modern football as they tend to open up and close
things down more quickly.