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In 1991, England travelled to Poland for their final qualification match for Euro 92. It was a crucial contest: the winners would qualify for the tournament, with a draw favouring England. Considering the importance of the game, it was a surprise that England manager Graham Taylor handed debuts to two players: Queens Park Rangers winger Andy Sinton and Crystal Palace midfielder Andy Gray. Advertisement The latter was given an unusual role for the game’s opening moments. With David Platt and Gary Lineker taking the kick-off, Gray was instructed to stand just behind them and launch a diagonal ball downfield towards the corner flag, and out for a Poland throw-in. This was, Taylor reasoned, the best way to start the game: ‘box in’ the opposition from the start, and put them under pressure. It was an unusual approach, but it was also classic Taylor, a manager more concerned with territory than possession. Platt and Lineker duly took the kick-off, knocking it back to Gray as planned. But because he stood rather too close to them, the backwards pass invited a Poland striker to nip in and attempt an interception. So as Gray wound himself up for a big diagonal ball, he was suddenly forced to rush. He slipped slightly, and sliced the ball barely 15 yards. Poland attacked, broke into the box, and England were the ones under pressure within 10 seconds. It was the complete opposite of what Taylor had wanted. Gray was substituted at half-time, and never played for his country again — possibly because, to twist Taylor’s unintentional catchphrase, he could not knock it. All was forgotten because England recorded a 1-1 draw and progressed to the Euros. But it shows that the kind of kick-off routine taking over this season’s Premier League was attempted — if not perfected — by an England side renowned for their primitive, long-ball game. Taylor, whose football was somewhat old-school, is an unlikely influence on the modern version. But then again, this era of Premier League football appears to be about going back to basics: long throws, big No 9s and a heavy emphasis on set pieces. The kick-off routine is a little more unusual. It has popped up now and again in the current era; Marseille used that approach throughout their 2017-18 campaign, including in that season’s Europa League final defeat to Atletico Madrid. And maybe it’s an unofficial Ligue 1 approach in European finals, because Paris Saint-Germain did the same at the start of their 5-0 thrashing of Inter in this year’s Champions League edition. That has seemingly kick-started the trend. If PSG, the foremost exponents of technical football at the moment, are content to use that approach, why shouldn’t everyone else? Advertisement Arsenal did it in their 1-0 defeat away to Liverpool last Sunday, but the most prolific offenders have been Newcastle United (who have twice done it at the start of matches) and Crystal Palace (twice at the beginning of a first half, and once at the opening of the second). Interestingly, they have slightly different approaches. Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali hits the ball directly towards the corner flag from kick-off, so his team can ‘box in’ opponents, with nine outfielders in the vicinity of the thrower… … while Palace’s Adam Wharton stands in his own half, receives a backwards pass from kick-off, and then hits the ball out of play. Unlike his predecessor in the Palace and England midfield, Gray, he manages to complete the task. Maybe this is all just a bit of fun, and something different. It’s certainly within the rules and hardly contravenes the spirit of the game. But it’s also a slightly worrying precedent, emphasising that the concept of pressing is now so valuable in modern football that teams think hoofing the ball straight out of play, rather than attempting to retain possession and build a passing move, is their best option. There is nothing inherently wrong with pressing, but it has started to dominate the game to a slightly bewildering degree, with some managers basing their whole philosophy around the idea of creating turnovers high up the pitch. It brings to mind Ralf Rangnick’s comments on Cristiano Ronaldo not being right for his style of play: “He’s not a player, even when he was a young player, who was crying, shouting: ‘Hooray, the other team has got the ball, where can we win balls? ” Well, of course not. Ronaldo prefers it when his own side have the ball, in keeping with most of the world’s best attacking players. Of course, even the best possession-based sides have moments when the opposition have the ball, and they want to regain it quickly. That’s natural. But things are taken to the next level when teams are so desperate for the opposition to have possession that booting it off the pitch is a worthwhile attacking move. Advertisement Most sides at Premier League level are capable of getting out of these situations, but lower down the ladder — and particularly in youth football — it could make for quite a depressing spectacle. What if this became such a reliable way to put pressure on opponents that it became a standard tactic in other situations? What if, when the opposition has 11 players behind the ball, a centre-back decided it was more worthwhile to ‘kick for touch’ rather than attempt to play through midfield? The problem with having a throw-in near the corner flag, of course, is that there’s a limited amount of space the thrower can reach. You can’t go backwards, because of the byline. You’re dissuaded from going sideways, because you don’t want to throw the ball towards your own goal. So there’s really only one direction to throw it, and the emphasis is usually upon distance rather than finding a team-mate. Essentially, you’re just creating a 50: 50 challenge. The data largely supports this idea. For throw-ins from anywhere in midfield — between the edges of the two penalty boxes — the ball is touched first by a team-mate of the thrower 85 per cent of the time. But this drops to 68 per cent when throws are taken within 18 yards of a team’s own goal line — and presumably many of those first touches are simply flick-ons, or a player hoofing it up towards halfway. One simple solution would be to allow teams to bring any throw-ins deep in their own half forward, level to a position with the edge of their own penalty box. This wouldn’t entirely solve the issue — and it’s worth pointing out that Wharton seems to be putting the ball out of play 25 yards from the corner flag, rather than right next to it — but at least teams forced to hurl the ball forward with their first action of the game would be conceding possession further away from their own goal. An overreaction? Maybe, but football’s laws have always evolved to ensure that technical, possession-based play is able to compete with teams based around physicality and territory. This is partly why it has become such an attractive, popular sport to watch. But if deliberately kicking the ball off the pitch becomes a regular attacking tactic, the game will have become dangerously close to rugby union, and some kind of reform will be required. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Michael Cox concentrates on tactical analysis. He is the author of two books - The Mixer, about the tactical evolution of the Premier League, and Zonal Marking, about footballing philosophies across Europe. Follow Michael on Twitter @Zonal_Marking