Climate Change
... in the Premier League.
So I like to think this Substack covers pretty important matters. The reality — in the grand scheme of things — is very different. Football is the most important of the least important things.
But as much as I’d like to cover genuine climate change in this post, I’m not quite qualified enough to do so. Instead, I’m almost going to write about what that phenomenon looks like within a footballing context.
The landscape has shifted over the past 18 months. To such an extent that your recruitment department might be impacted.
Remember when Antonio Conte conquered the Premier League? English football has always looked down on the idea of back-three systems. They aren’t considered to be cool over here.
But on the back of Conte’s dominance at Chelsea — with the Blues amassing 93 points in 2016/17 — every man and his dog suddenly started believing in three at the back.
Indeed, you could argue Pep Guardiola had a similar impact. English football has always been renowned for direct football. But once the Spaniard started winning at the Etihad, we witnessed the likes of Southampton, Norwich City and Burnley attempting to play through the thirds after achieving promotion from the Championship. They all went straight back down.
I’d suggest Mauricio Pochettino and Jürgen Klopp had massive impacts on high pressing and counter-pressing in this country. And Mikel Arteta might be one of the faces behind the current obsession with set-pieces.
When you think about it, there are lots of parallels between tactics and the fashion industry. A lot of the time, it’s about what’s trendy. It’s about being ahead of the curve. It’s about what works now. And anything that goes out of fashion is destined to make a return at some point.
Well, when Klopp shaped the direction of the Premier League by bringing his infamous gegenpressing to English shores — which is just German for counter-pressing — he also installed his favoured zonal approach to defending.
Rather than obsessing over markers, the former Reds boss encouraged his players to defend according to key spaces. It was about covering zones. It was about the collective. Moving as a unit. I mean, Klopp’s idol is Arrigo Sacchi, after all.
Those spacial methods were cool. But nowadays, the climate is very different. It’s much hotter. The Premier League is a man-to-man competition right now. It’s about winning your individual duels.
Liverpool witnessed that heat against Nottingham Forest last weekend. Arne Slot’s men secured three points after scoring a last-minute winner, but the first half in particular was a disaster, with the Dutchman telling his players as much during the interval.
Elliot Anderson, Morgan Gibbs-White and Ibrahim Sangaré picked up Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones and Alexis Mac Allister, with the latter arguably experiencing his worst season in England this term.
The below clip is great. Watch how Gibbs-White reacts to Mac Allister’s movement. Then, watch how Anderson follows Gravenberch. And finally, check out Sangaré’s management of Jones. Watch the clip twice.
