Premier League football tactics borrowing from rugby

We’re starting to see some interesting new tactics in the Premier League that may be a nod to the old style of play.

It wasn’t that long ago that managers like Sam Allardyce and Tony Pulis were the target of ridicule for their old-fashioned, no-nonsense, long-ball style of football, but now there appears to be a return to the style after a decade or so of tiki-taka dominance.

We have increasingly seen even the great Pep Guardiola defending deeper and having his players play long balls forward to their towering striker Erling Haaland, and there now appears to be a definite new trend that has come this season from a lot of other teams.

As BBC Sport points out, more and more teams are launching the ball straight out of play from kick-off, rather than trying to settle into a rhythm with a short pass.

Does football borrow tactics from rugby?

As pundits point out in the BBC video, this new tactic appears to take some inspiration from rugby, with the attempt to force play further down the pitch as soon as possible.

Some fans may wonder whether they would be better off using Liverugbytickets.co.uk rather than seeing this sort of thing at Premier League football matches, but the logic seems to be that it’s a good way to put pressure on opponents early.

Even if it doesn’t seem that dangerous, especially when compared to a fluid passing movement around the penalty area, simply passing the ball for a throw-in to your opponents can create some interesting opportunities.

Immediately, the throw-in taker must use a lot of force in order to push the ball forward, otherwise he will throw it to a defender who finds himself too deep, perhaps surrounded by opponents pressing quickly.

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We know that modern football focuses a lot on winning the ball high up the pitch, so getting the numbers up there to try and pick the ball up can actually lead to quality scoring opportunities and put opponents away.

PSG already started using this tactic in the Champions League last season, and went on to win the cup, so there has to be something there, and perhaps it heralds other interesting tactical trends too, as football certainly has something to learn from rugby and other sports when it comes to innovative new tactics, free kicks, and more.