Return of the Big Man Up Top?

Football is a cyclical game; the fashions come and go over time. The traditional British way of forward play is well known for having the presence of a big man up top, allowing teams to advance quickly into a forward who can hold the ball up and encourage link play, or win headers allowing their team to progress up the pitch. This style comes with it’s fair share of negative connotations and has often been patronizedby modern day football philosophers.

Over recent years in the Premier League, managers such as Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp have lent their ideologies more towards employing their central striker as a false nine. Bobby Firmino did this brilliantly for Liverpool. His ability to drop deep and connect play between himself and the midfield helped increase fluidity whilst simultaneously creating space for Mo Salah & Sadio Mané to attack. It makes sense, Liverpool’s most dangerous players were wide forwards who inverted off the wing and produced goals and assists at a devastating rate.

For Man City, prior to Erling Haaland’s arrival, they won titles with the absence of any clear number 9. Players like Foden, Gundogan and De Bruyne played in the false 9 position with almost a double false nine appearing at times due to their in-game intelligence of how to attack space created by the other player. When executed at the top level, this is a nightmare for centre halves, the lack of clarity on how far to follow a false nine towards midfield allows the forward to find and create space to feed runners. There is also the benefit of allowing top quality technicians to create numerical advantages against low blocks. As these patterns repeat, cracks in the defence begin to show.

As is often the case, the rest of the field tend to follow trends set by the highest performing mangers/teams in the league creating a new normality. However, this trend is fizzling out and the target man is returning.

If you look across the Premier League right now there are big men up top everywhere and in the most part this is allowing a platform for success. Beto, Chris Wood, Haaland, Liam Delap, Jiménez, Mateta. A slight difference to past big men up top is the increased technical ability of the aforementioned players, but this is the nature of the game across all positions generally, the required standard has never been higher.

Premier League Goals 24/25 Season:

Impressive returns all round for differing reasons.

Why use the Big Man Up Top?

The Premier League continues to demand the highest levels of physicality. Many teams are fielding backlines which include the use of centre-backs at fullback, which tends to mean an increase in height across the back. Therefore, the physicality and stature of a big man is a useful asset in both attacking and defending set-pieces as well as in open attacking play.

Target men can be used for their hold up play and abilities to win free-kicks up the field to allow essential rest bite. Kevin Davies did this brilliantly for years at Bolton Wanderers, it is beneficial to the team and a nuisance for opposition with both Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand expressing their displeasure in facing him. The big man allows lesser teams to give superiorand more technical teams a hard time. They’re a rhythm disrupter. Big Sam has always been an advocate for a target man, stressing that he doesn’t play ‘long ball’ football. He plays football in a way that focuses on getting the best players on the ball, in areas where they can be most dangerous, as quickly as possible. A sensible philosophy that prevents being drawn into trying to outplay a high pressing, high quality possession-based team. Play to your opposition’s weaknesses, not strengths.

Whilst not being glamourised, direct effective football is afruitful tactic and, in a results based industry, winning is the most essential aim. If, to have the best chance of winning is to utilise the many assets of a big man up top then it should be done. Lesser teams reverting to this tactic is proving to be a successful antidote to the obsession that every team must play out from the goalkeeper using short passing and tekky touches in tight areas to navigate their way through treacherous portions of the pitch. It involves less risk and when executed alongside sound shape and pressing structures, can be devastating at seizing opportunities presented by opposition errors.

Nature is slowly healing, the Barclaysmen are returning…