Long throw-ins. Goalkeeper punts. Crosses into the box.
All of these traditional tools are making a comeback under England coach Thomas Tuchel, who is ready to go back to basics to sharpen his team’s attacking edge ahead of next year’s World Cup.
England has opened its World Cup qualifying campaign with four straight wins, and Tuchel is already looking ahead to the tournament across the United States, Mexico and Canada. If the team qualifies, he wants to revive tactical elements once synonymous with English football but largely abandoned in recent years.
“I told you – the long throw-in is back,” Tuchel said ahead of England’s qualifier against Serbia on Tuesday. “We don’t have a lot of time, but once we arrive at the World Cup, all these things matter. We will talk about long throw-ins, long kicks from the goalkeeper, and not only playing short. I need to reflect now with my assistant coaches. All these patterns are back, and crosses are back as well.”
The strategy showed early results in England’s 2-0 win over Andorra on Saturday, with one goal coming from a cross: Declan Rice headed home a delivery from Reece James.
There has been a trend in recent years of goalkeepers starting attacks by playing short passes to defenders – an approach favored by pioneers like Pep Guardiola and then copied by many of his peers – rather than booting the ball long to a big striker, as was tradition in English football in the 1970s and ’80s as well as in places like Sweden.
However, the rise in teams pressing high up the field has given goalkeepers the option of beating the press by sending the ball long.
As for long throw-ins, a study by The Athletic at the end of last season showed they were back in fashion among some teams in the Premier League, increasing year over year since the 2020-21 season.
According to the study, five teams – Brentford, Ipswich, Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa – elected to throw more than 30% of throw-ins from attacking positions into the penalty area. Brentford, renowned for leaning heavily on analytics as part of its tactics, used long throw-ins 63% of the time from an attacking position.
Tuchel has only three more England camps – in October, November and March – before the World Cup.
“We cannot put everything into four days of training,” the German said, referring to the short time he has with the England players. “But these things will matter. And let’s see.”
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