The Next Generation Of Premier League Target Men Are Scary

The Premier League has always been a league that operates in stages. From the 4-4-2 target men back in the day, to the Firmino false nine of Jurgen Klopp, and now the chance generation generals. Basically, the target man's back, but it's changed in a new way. So, why? And why did Pep Guardiola abandon his false nine tactics in favour of a last line goalscorer in Erling Haaland? Well, I'm Jacob Osgood, 4-4-2's resident tactician, and this is... is how the Premier League's target men have changed completely. Football used to be really simple didn't it? 4-4-2 pun intended, strikers operating in the box, midfielders covering the distance in midfield and defenders box defending. As a result, poaching type strikers were a real priority in the Premier League because that was their only Real gold as a centre-forward in the Premier League. Get on the end of chances, score goals, whilst the rest of your teammates works to give you the chances to score those goals. From 2001 all the way to 2010, only one non-striker won the Golden Boot in the Premier League. But things change quite quickly in football. We all know this. Things are always moving around. And over in Spain, taking inspiration from those who became before him, Pep Guardiola was popularising a new sort of way. of using a centre forward. Lionel Messi found himself leading the line for Barcelona but in a new way. Instead of getting on the last line and pinning defenders he was dropping to the halfway line to receive the ball. Now this had the same effect of a target man in the way it created space for his teammates but it did so in a new way. Pep built his football philosophy on positional play, but players like Messi, G's. As much as Lionel Messi and Gabriel Jesus had similar sort of impacts in some ways when they played as that deep striker, I'm not going to insult Messi by putting Jesus in the same sentence. So we'll go back to just Messi. So Messi found himself as the differential for Pep. He was someone who would operate in all three thirds of the pitch, gelling together these fixed positional players. Jose Mourinho took his own spin on this by having his centre forward start in the last Before dropping out as the inverted wingers. Went in beyond to exploit the space beyond the opposition centre-backs as they track the run of the three Roman centre-forwards. Now, as you'd expect with the Premier League, if you've been round long enough, we were a bit late to all of this. But when you've got two of the best tactical coaches in football, two of the brightest coaches in football, they inevitably have an impact on the wider European tactical landscape. And although maybe the whole of England were behind this, they were for a time. But they very quickly caught up. Now Firmino, decent F and O! Jurgen Klopp took Roberto Firmino and used his on-ball ability to facilitate wide goal scorers, but also used his ridiculous pressing in his famous Gegenpress style. Which is important. The Gegenpress style of setting up out of possession means that those sort of springboard, bounce-board strikers who would hold one position and just bounce the ball off them, Became even less important. Classically a bottom of side would typically have sat in a deep low ball protecting space and very rarely stepping out from their front line to press the opposition. However as we know over the last 10, 15, 20 years the Premier League has progressed significantly which means the revenue has progressed significantly and therefore these lower Lower mid table to bottom half clubs. have a lot more money to spend which means their way of setting up entirely changes. In the 2023-24 season the ball was won in the attacking third by either team an average of 10 times per 90. Pressing football has had its time as this sort of differential for these lower mid-table clubs who found a way to make games difficult for the opposition by just making it chaotic. Newcastle are one of the best examples they would go aggressively man-to-man to force the opposition into rushed passes which they could then compete for and often win due to their physical advantage. As we all know the Premier League has become a lot more aggressive a lot more in your face And that is largely because of the influence of these lower down clubs who were making the games against the big six, against the big boys into these 50-50 battles by pressing hard, by making it chaotic, by battling so, so well. However, last season, the ball was won in the attacking third seven times per 90 by either side, a huge drop off from what we were talking about with the 2023 slash 24 season, which suggests that the landscape in English football is maybe once again changing. And these lower down clubs are now prioritizing value. Enjoyable pressure over constant pressure, timing their jumps differently and being more switched on as the whole league's quality slowly improves. Which means that the squad building, the profiles they want, are also changing. Before we carry on a quick word from today's video sponsor Norton VPN. Whether you're working from a coffee shop traveling or just browsing at home you're constantly sending information across the internet. Norton VPN helps add an extra layer of privacy by encrypting your internet connection and helping you keep your online activity more private. It's simple to use works across your everyday devices and you can connect to VPN servers across the world. Whether you're You're chilling at home or you're out and about traveling. So, if you want to add an extra layer of security and privacy to your browsing, head to the description, click the link below, and go and check out NordVPN's latest offer. Right, back to the video. If you are going to press really, really high and go man-to-man against the opposition, like a bomber potentially, you may want an Evanilson up front. But if you decide to vacate the opposition's build-up and instead protect your own defensive third by sitting deeper, like Sunderland, for example, you're probably going to want a Brian Brobbey. But why is that? Why does Brian Brobbey make sense for a side who are looking to sit in and protect space in their own half? Why not? Well, a team like Sunderland, whose defensive solidity map highlights minimal pressure high up the pitch and instead superb defensive coverage in the defensive third, will often find themselves pinned in with 10 men behind the ball. Which means when they win the ball back, they have 10 men behind the ball, believe it or not. So when that ball goes forward, they have one man up top who has to make it stick. Because if they don't, the opposition can counter-press and then Sunderland are really vulnerable in their own defensive thirds. When Chelsea are attacking, we see six Sunderland players already on the edge of their own box, with many more retreating. When they turn the ball over, Gertrude has minimal forward options. So Chelsea are in prime position to counter-press here. Until Gertrude drives forward and hoofs the ball up to Brian Brobbey, who is 1v2 with Chelsea's back line. He latches onto it and uses his body to carry it. However, Robbie, I feel, is probably the stereotype or the typical target man. He's quite tall, he's pretty big muscular-wise, and he typically plays maybe two to three touches and finishes off his first touch more often than not. However... As we said about the Premier League change and once again it feels this season there's been a new development and we've got these sort of half target men half turkey little ballers and they're in the Premier League now. Aston Villa are a side who pull six players back into their build-up, leaving them 1v1 against the opposition's backline with their front four on the halfway line, which is great, but similarly to how Sunderland needed someone to be an outball when they're defending deep, Villa need players that can make it stick high up to exploit the 1v1s on the halfway line, which is where Nicholas Jackson is ideal. He will happily drift into the wide areas to get separation from his marker with his back to goal, dragging players over before dropping the ball off and then spinning in behind. Which is a tad different, because I wouldn't think target man as soon as I think of Nicholas Jackson, but he's got so many of the skills. He can hold the ball up well, he can write contact on his back, he can find space away from the centre-halves, and his link-up play is second to none. So, I suppose, fit into a lot of the criteria commonly associated with that type of striker. However, the difference is mobility. When Villa turn the opposition round, Jackson has the speed to get in behind, but this still isn't a great position to score from. Hornacek hasn't committed out, there's a defender on his back, and obviously, Nicholas Jackson is still some distance from goal here, so let's say it's a 0.02 xG scenario, but that's where Jackson's mobility and disguise allows him to turn and all of a sudden, Jackson has this whole side of the goal to aim at, Hornacek in a less favorable position, and he's even managed to get into the box, increasing the xG of this chance to 0.14, a much better opportunity. And that, for me, is the big difference between maybe the classic lumps of the 4-4-2 of back in day and the modern sort of era of these big Targetman strikers who are hit so regularly from their backline playing into them but can ride contact play well but also have the technical ability to ride challenges, to beat players, to create their own opportunities from what feels like nothing. Erling Haaland is brilliant at the same thing. Here he's absorbing contact from the Manchester United centre-half as the ball is sent long but he's then able to bring the ball down. Then reach the ball before anyone else and even though there's three players in red around him, he drives Manchester City forward. Now this leads to more Manchester United players being dragged out and had City been with 11 men here, you could expect Phil Foden probably to attack the space beyond United's defence and from nothing, Haaland would have created a top-class opportunity. Now will these big men stick around in the Premier League forever? Probably not. But in the modern era where you've got everyone in these man-to-man pressing schemes really sucking the life out of the opposition when they aren't in possession, someone who can hold the ball up well, can make it stick in 1v1 scenarios and then can constantly create difficulty for the opposition and create their own chances is incredibly valuable. So at least for now, in the current meta, these big men have a huge, huge... role to play and they're incredibly useful just like the 442 YouTube channel so drop us a little subscribe will you