Robbie Savage: Non-league sides suffering by trying to copy Guardiola

Sunday Times Football Correspondent Jonathan Northcroft recently wrote about the ‘Pepification’ of elite football, with the majority of Premier League sides now preferring a slow, methodical build-up inspired by Manchester City. Savage says this trend has extended down to non-league.  

“It’s surprised me, because I’ve seen teams even at our levels trying to do it,” he told the TGG Podcast. “But they haven’t got the players and the capability to do that. They’re doing it because maybe it looks good.

“At our level, when players aren’t as good, if you can pressurise them they’ll give you the ball more.”

The 50-year-old says he tells his team to get the ball forward quickly.

“I’m not one for playing out from the back and at times I’ve got frustrated when I watch and we’re playing the ball around the back,” he admits. “For me, then you’re playing without a purpose.

“For me, the purpose is to entertain, to score goals, to be aggressive and to get the crowd on the edge of their seats, whether that’s with the ball or without the ball. The slower we move the ball, the opposition can retreat, they can get set and when teams play against us I would do the same.

“My philosophy is that my goalkeeper, who’s been brilliant, is there to keep the ball out of the net. I say, ‘I don’t want you dribbling, doing Cruyff turns to look good and make us play out. Get the ball to the full-back, to the centre-half or to the midfield, play as quickly as you can.’

“I say to my defenders, ‘Play forward quickly, get into the final third as quickly as we can, because that’s where our most dangerous attacking players are.’ The further it is away from our goal, the less likely they’re going to score. Be compact, be high.

“My most creative and best players technically are in the final third, so I don’t like to build up side to side – play forward, play quick. Let’s go and put the pressure on them high in their third.

“I want to press, because we’re the fittest team in the league. Even good players, when pressurised, can give the ball away.”

In his article, Northcroft evidenced the slow, methodical, intricate style of play which has now taken hold in the Premier League. One recruitment staffer described this as ‘magnolia football,’ with most teams now playing the same way. 

The proportion of shots taken from outside the box in the Premier League this season is the lowest on record. Average shooting distance has steadily declined since 2013/14, from 17.9 metres to 15.9 metres, and there has been a marked decline in dribbling, especially in the final third

The decline in the number of long passes attempted per 90 minutes has declined so sharply that Everton, who have played the most long balls so far this season, would have ranked second lowest for long balls in 2017/18 (behind only Guardiola’s Manchester City).

The Premier League is also the slowest of the top European leagues in terms of build-up (measured by speed at which moves progress upfield) and second-most intricate (measured by passes per sequence), according to Opta. The league’s most slow and intricate team are City.