Are we seeing the end of free-flowing football in the Premier League?

The 2025/26 season in the English Premier League has brought about a significant tactical shift in the playing style. From possession-based and fluid football that was attractive to watch, most Premier League teams have now shifted to the physical and more direct style of play. However, this isn’t a sudden change but a consequence of the previous few seasons which have seen an exponential growth in more and more goals being scored through set-pieces as compared to open play. The smaller Premier League teams that lack technical players seem to be moving towards this style that seems more pragmatic and effective to follow rather than being outplayed by a superior opposition. Though, it’s not just the smaller teams but top teams like Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United as well that have benefitted from this style of football. 

Does this mean that the Premier League has chosen substance over style and will this mark the end of free-flowing football in the most competitive league in the world? 

To answer this question, we will talk about the shift in tactics, the supporting stats and conclusion – 

Shift in tactics and the trending patterns 

As avid football fans, a lot of people prefer to watch free-flowing end-to-end and entertaining football where two teams play without fear and showcase their exceptional skills on the ball to outperform each other. If we look at the top two European leagues, LaLiga was always the one where football was played more technically (Barcelona’s tiki-taka style) while the Premier League always had a mix of physical and technical football. Teams under managers like Sam Allardyce and Tony Pulis always played direct football, relying on long throws, corners and long balls lumped over the top of opposition defence to create goal-scoring chances. However, since the arrival of Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp in the Premier League in the last decade, a different, more exciting brand of football was introduced to the league. While Guardiola preferred possession-based football, Klopp brought a high-pressing, high-intensity football to the league. With their teams achieving success in recent times, a lot of the Premier League teams took note and followed suit. 

Coming to the present though, the 2025/26 season has seen a massive shift, going back to the direct football style endorsed by the likes of former Stoke City coach Tony Pulis. Long throws, in-swinging corner-kicks and free-kicks and goalkeepers trying to launch over-the-top goal kicks to find a forward running behind the opposition defence. Disruptive football has gained serious momentum where opposition players are disrupted by fouls and tackles to prevent free-flowing moves. The defending Premier League champions, Liverpool in particular has suffered due to this sudden shift as they hired technical players to play possession-based football but the rest of the league having changed tactics has also led to their suffering and poor performances. Additionally, teams like Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City have also not looked at their best as they like to play an attacking brand of football. If we look at the league table, it would suggest that the league has become more competitive but, in all honesty, it has led to tighter games, fewer goals scored per game, drab draws, disruptions and boring football in general. 

Supporting Stats 

If we look at a few of the stats this season, it’s quite evident that direct play is resulting in more goals than open play. For instance, promoted side Leeds United has been the most successful team when it comes to scoring from set-pieces. Leeds United is leading the league in set-piece goals having scored 14 goals from set-pieces, followed by Arsenal (13), Manchester United (13) and Chelsea (12). The likes of Sunderland and Newcastle United have also scored a significant number of goals from set-pieces. Hence, it’s not just the newly promoted sides or mid-table teams who are benefitting from direct play, the teams in the top half are also employing such tactics to win games, indicating an inclination towards direct play and an over-reliance on set-pieces rather than open play. 

Another stat of note is the increase in the number of long throws into the penalty box this season. As compared to the 2023/24 and 2024/25 season, the ongoing season has seen a staggering rise in the numbers. In the 2023/24 season, there were a total of 558 long throws that averaged to 1.47 throws per game, for the 2024/25 season, this number rose marginally with 578 throws with an average of 1.52 per game with the 2025/26 season already amounting to 359 long throws with an incredible 3.99 long throws per game. Brentford, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Sunderland have been seen to use the long throws with a lot of success. Antoine Semenyo, Michael Kayode, Nordi Mukiele and Chris Richards are all great exponents on launching decent long throws into the penalty box. 

Another noteworthy trend this season is the goalkeepers preferring to go long in the opposition half. As compared to the previous few seasons, goalkeepers booting or lumping the ball forward for their forwards running behind the opposition defenders has also seen a significant rise this season. With more teams opting for ball-playing goalkeepers in the recent past, the last five seasons saw goalkeepers making short passes to their fullbacks or defenders. However, the 2025/26 season has seen a change in this particular stat as well. Though the stats were taken only after three games, the rise from 40% in 2024/25 to about 48% in 2025/26 indicates that long balls booted forward for the striker would be another common pattern of play this season.  

Conclusion 

Of course, results matter the most in football at the top level in the most competitive league in the world as a lot of money is at stake and achieving success is paramount. Consequently, finding effective ways to counter defensive tactics should be a priority for any coach. However, football as a sport should also be free-flowing and aesthetically pleasing. As a purist and having admired the skills of the likes of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar Jr. and now Lamine Yamal in recent seasons, fluid football or high intensity breathtaking football is still the one I would prefer to watch as opposed to uninspiring, insipid performances.  

To move away to a more direct style involving set-pieces, disruptions, fouls and low blocks seems to me like football in the Premier League isn’t evolving but regressing. This kind of style was understandable in the 2010-2015 period due to lack of resources for coaches but with the growth of football leagues, varied tactics and formations, advent of new technology, analytical tools and performance statistics available to most top coaches, football should be a mix of fluid possession-based football intermingled with effectiveness on set-pieces. Instead, it’s becoming predictable, slow and disruptive and taking away the joy of watching games. The open-play goals are drying up, teams set up not to lose rather than being brave, creative and adventurous in front of goal and technical players are being overshadowed by more physical players who don’t possess quality but can win duels and indulge in tactical fouls to prevent free-flowing moves. 

The Premier League table does indicate that the teams are bunched closer and there is going to be a close battle for the title and European places but if we analyse minutely, the football has been quite dreadful to watch barring a few exceptions. The recent fixtures from Gameweek 19 and 20 have seen the same patterns, reliance on long throws, corners and long balls forward to score with quite a lot of games ending in draws. 

I am not sure if this trend will continue for the long-term spanning the next few seasons like it did with teams trying to emulate Guardiola’s style but if it does, it could be detrimental to the quality of the league and could push away a lot of the next generation fans who would probably prefer to watch other leagues to the Premier League. 

Being the most followed league in the world, fans expect better from the top teams at least, if not the mid-table or the lower placed teams. Only time will tell what the future may bring but for now watching most Premier League games hasn’t been a pleasant experience and one I hope changes for the better.