Direct Football Returns to the Premier League: Long Balls, Long Throws and Fewer Passes

Long passes have climbed to 11.5% of all passes as Premier League sides abandon possession for efficiency

Premier League teams are passing less and going long more in 2026/27, with long balls rising to around 11.5% of all passes and completed passes per match dropping almost 5%. The shift is a calculated answer to high pressing, record fast breaks and a new breed of long-range goalkeeping.

Competition: Premier League, 2026/27 season opening weeks
Headline trend: Long passes rose to approximately 11.5% of all passes in 2025/26, up from 10.5%
Passing decline: Average completed passes per match fell almost 5% year-on-year
Fast breaks: Fast breaks, shots from fast breaks and goals from them all hit record levels in the available data back to 2006/07
Possession warning: In the first 50 matches of 2026/27, teams with 60%+ possession won only eight of 22 games
Set pieces: Long throws into the box were almost three times as frequent in the first half of 2025/26 as in 2021/22

Why Premier League teams are passing less

The past decade treated patient build-up as the mark of tactical sophistication, with long balls dismissed as outdated. That distinction is dissolving. Direct football is back, but not as hopeful clearances towards a bruising centre-forward.

Instead, sides are using planned long passes, rapid transitions and aggressive running to skip past pressure and reach dangerous areas before the opposition can organise. Keeping the ball for its own sake is losing appeal.

The numbers

11.5%: Long passes as a share of all passes in 2025/26
10.5%: The equivalent long-pass share in the previous campaign
Almost 5%: Fall in average completed passes per match during the opening phase of 2026/27
Eight of 22: Wins for teams with at least 60% possession in the first 50 matches of 2026/27
Almost three times: Rise in long throws delivered into the penalty area, first half of 2025/26 versus 2021/22
Record levels: Fast breaks, shots from fast breaks and goals from fast breaks in the early weeks of 2026/27 — the highest in data stretching back to 2006/07

How high pressing encouraged longer passing

The revival is partly a response to high pressing. Premier League sides increasingly push several players forward to stop opponents building short from defence. Trying to pass through that pressure can create chances, but a misplaced ball near the penalty area hands the opposition a clear sight of goal.

A longer pass offers an exit. Defenders and goalkeepers can target a tall striker, an advancing wing-back or a winger moving into space behind the opposing full-back. Even an unclean first contact leaves the team competing for the second ball higher up the pitch.

That forces the pressing side into a decision: keep pushing players forward and risk space in behind, or retreat slightly and grant the opposition more freedom to build. Direct passing has become a way of manipulating a press rather than merely avoiding it.

The goalkeeper as long-range playmaker

Goalkeepers remain central to short build-up, but their role is broadening. The best can invite pressure with short passes before suddenly switching the point of attack with a long, accurate delivery — a planned pass, not an aimless clearance.

Keepers can target specific players or spaces based on the opposition's defensive structure. A pass towards the touchline might isolate a winger against a full-back, while a central delivery can let a striker bring advancing midfielders into play. The threat of the long ball also creates room for shorter ones: if the opposition drops deeper to protect the space behind, the goalkeeper and centre-backs get more time on the ball.

Teams are no longer choosing between passing short and playing long. They use both to make their build-up unpredictable.

Powerful strikers are valuable again

Direct football has increased demand for forwards who can compete physically while contributing technically. A modern target player does more than win headers: he protects the ball, connects with midfielders and occupies defenders long enough for teammates to move forward, and may be asked to run the channels or lead the press after possession is lost.

Aerial strength still matters when a side needs to escape pressure, but the second phase of the attack is often more important than the initial duel. Midfielders position themselves around the striker to collect loose balls and attack before the opposition recovers its shape. The objective is not necessarily to complete the first ball — it is to control what happens next.

Transitions are producing better chances

Patient possession can move a team closer to goal, but it also gives the opposition time to organise a compact defensive block. Direct attacks aim to reach the final third before that block has formed, and the early weeks of 2026/27 produced historically high fast-break activity.

These chances are especially valuable because they often involve fewer defenders. A forward receiving the ball in transition may have open space rather than two organised lines in front of him. That helps explain why possession has become a less reliable indicator of success.

Long throws are part of the trend

Directness is not limited to open play. Long throws have become a more prominent attacking weapon, treated as carefully rehearsed set pieces. A throw into the penalty area can create many of the same problems as a corner: defenders must track runners, compete for first contact and react quickly to rebounds, while the attacking side positions players to block routes, attack different zones or collect second balls near the edge of the box.

During the first half of the 2025/26 season, long throws into the penalty area were almost three times as frequent as in the equivalent period of 2021/22, and goals from those situations became considerably more frequent. When a team has a player capable of launching the ball into the box, an ordinary throw-in becomes a genuine scoring opportunity.

Direct football is more sophisticated than it looks

The phrase still conjures images of hopeful passes and physical battles. Leading teams have moved beyond that. Passing targets are selected in advance, runs are designed to stretch the defence and create space for the next action, and players know where second balls are likely to fall and how to respond if possession is won or lost.

Data analysis lets coaches identify weaknesses too — a full-back who struggles aerially, the space beside an aggressive centre-back, a goalkeeper reluctant to leave his penalty area. The long pass is only the visible part of the move; the positioning and planning around it turn direct play into a repeatable strategy.

The risks are real. Poorly executed passes surrender possession and leave a team defending again almost immediately. The approach can become predictable: if opponents know every attack will target the same striker, they can surround that player and dominate the second ball. Accuracy separates a planned ball into a runner's path from an uncontrolled clearance under pressure.

Talking points

Possession football is losing its grip on the Premier League. Eight wins from 22 games for sides with 60%+ of the ball in 2026/27 is a trend, not a blip — coaches should stop treating control as an end in itself.
The modern target man is a connector, not a battering ram. Winning the header matters less than what midfielders do around the striker when the second ball drops.
Long throws are now a coaching decision, not a desperation tactic. Nearly tripling their use since 2021/22 shows clubs are mining an underground set-piece market others ignore.
Goalkeepers switching play long create room for short passes. Drop deeper to defend the long ball and the keeper simply plays out — the press cannot win every scenario.

What happens next

The coming weeks of 2026/27 will test whether the early-season numbers hold: watch whether completed passes per match keep falling below last year's average, whether fast-break records keep climbing, and how opposing managers adjust their pressing height. Sides that blend patient build-up with planned direct passes should cope best; those locked into one approach will be targeted.

Frequently asked questions

Are Premier League teams passing less in 2026/27?

Yes. During the opening phase of the season, the average number of completed passes per match fell by almost 5% compared with the previous year.

How much has direct football increased in the Premier League?

Long passes rose to approximately 11.5% of all passes in 2025/26, up from 10.5% in the previous campaign, and the shift has continued into 2026/27.

Are long throws actually producing goals now?

They are more frequent and more dangerous. Long throws into the penalty area were almost three times as high in the first half of 2025/26 as in 2021/22, and goals from those situations became considerably more frequent.