I've been watching a bit of Premier League matches lately, mainly some of the top teams, and it pretty much confirmed a trend that I dislike about modern football at the highest level. I think things have gotten too robotic.
What do I mean by that? As analytics have taken over the game, now players are expected to play the most statistically efficient pass, to execute the highest percentage play. It seems like more and more teams are playing the high-press, run run dispossess run run, ultra-fast game championed by several of the Premier League's top sides.
It might be more efficient, lead to more goals or goalscoring chances, but I think that it hurts the game. Individual creativity is being stifled, players are now expected to be a cog of a more relentless machine, and stick too much to their strict roles. Deviate a little bit from these pre-established roles, and efficiency decreases, but at what cost?
While I was watching these top flight matches, most of the time it was press press press, up and down football, everyone running at top speed all the time. I found it repetitive, and a bit soulless. It didn't seem like human football to me. It felt engineered, pre-ordained, a tactical computer programmed outcome, built to maximize efficiency and maximum speed, like holding down the sprint button all the time in FIFA or PES.
I like variation in football. Yes, speed it up at times, but also have periods of slowing down and thinking. Threading the needle, pace variation, space for flair and individuality, changes of pace, creativity, human error, subtle yet flashing displays of individual brilliance paired up with teamwork. Football at the top level is becoming homogenized.
I for one, am not a fan of this ultra-fast, ultra-efficient, ultra pressing football. Yeah, it might lead to more expected goals or any other metric, but football to me, growing up, was a subtle art. A sport that had lulls, moments of action, and players like Zidane, Okocha, Ronaldinho, Riquelme, making something out of nothing. Yes, perhaps today's City is a world beater, but in terms of entertainment value, I am finding much more style, more personality, in other leagues.. Yes, the quality might not be the same, but the purity, the art of the game, I can still feel it in lesser known leagues.
It really makes me think of that commercial from the early 2000's, players vs robots, flair vs brute physicality. Kudos to you who enjoy this new trend, but I feel like something's missing in these top-level matches. Efficiency and sabermetrics are starting to replace the Art of Football, and it's a shame. I think something needs to happen to reverse this trend, to bring back the artistry, subtlety, and a sense of variety. Yes, I understand that things change. But change can happen while respecting the soul of our dear game, the game we grew up loving.
PS: I have nothing against the EPL, per se. In fact, I used to really like it, and I don't mean to single out the Premier League, but it's just an example of where I think top-flight football unfortunately might be heading (albeit not in all leagues, and not at the same pace).
YNWA
