Why Arsenal and Man City are bringing back long-ball football

Manchester City have increasingly utilised long passes from goal-kicks too.

Unlike the Arsenal example above, their long goal-kicks have typically been played with attacking intent rather than to gain territory.

Take the following example from the recent Spurs game.

Spurs pushed high, marking individual players closely as City aimed to build up. From one goal-kick City brought some of their players towards the ball, enticing Spurs to follow them closer to their goal.

They also pushed Haaland high up the pitch, increasing the distance between him and the rest of the team. The player standing in the big space in between Haaland and the rest of the team was Omar Marmoush.

The idea here was to isolate Haaland and his marker. By going long, City didn’t have to worry about trying to build through congestion, especially without Ederson in goal.

They were able to reduce the risk of conceding, nullify Spurs’ strengths, and increase the likelihood of keeping the ball by having Haaland battle for it in an isolated duel.

City also increased their chances of picking up the second ball and scoring as Marmoush’s positioning allowed him to be proactive in running forward to pick up knockdowns from Haaland, or any ball that landed short.

This was a well-worked move and ended with a Marmoush shot that went just wide of the post.