End of Pep paradigm and recruitment at top clubs
With the tactical era that shaped two decades now fading, sporting heads and managers are far less certain about which direction to build their squads in.
Seems to me it’s underestimated how chaotic & all over the place the recruitment efforts of most top PL clubs have been over the past few years. And, crucially, why this is.
My theory is that, as the broad Pep paradigm starting giving way to a new era - an era which is yet to be defined - the sporting heads and managers started being less certain about what to do and how to strenghten their squads.
By the Pep paradigm, I don’t mean just his initial theorem of IP & OOP control through possession & high pressing.
I also mean numerous trends, styles and solutions that became popular in response to his model: gegenpressing -> deep buildup & baiting -> M2M / hybrid marking -> direct attacks.
Basically, Pep’s ideas with Barca, Bayern & City were so successful, that they inspired a number of counter-meassures, copies & improvements.
The recent trend of more directness & less possession in the PL might be the end of the previous paradigm, or it might be an interim phase, or it might be the start of something new.
We’ll know soon enough.
But since things are less clear than they have been for almost two decades now, top clubs - the ones that seek to be at the cutting edge - seems less sure about how to respond & in which direction to develop their teams.
This is also why I think Arsenal has been ahead of the curve, with Arteta modifiying his initial model to become a well-drilled team capable of many different approaches and solutions.