The death of the long ball has been frequently pronounced as football has evolved in the past few years.
Playing out from the back has become the standard. Direct teams are the anomaly rather than the norm.
The logical tactical evolution after that was the rise of the high press, followed by attempts to deliberately lure the press to exploit spaces in behind those opposition players doing the pressing.
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During that time, teams have been playing shorter passes from the back. Goalkeepers are no longer habitually launching long balls as far up the pitch as they can. Instead, they play a key role in their team’s build-up phase, a trend best illustrated
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