As the tactical evolution of the Premier League continues, with teams reverting to long throws, goal-kicks and more direct balls to create chances, fast breaks remain a key tactic for teams to counter-attack and score goals.
Particularly when you think of how much money the ‘big six’ have to splurge on their attacks every summer, many of the matches they play in will see them trying to break down a stubborn low block.
In response, teams that spend most of the match nullifying the ‘bigger’ sides always have the opportunity to use a fast break to catch teams cold and pounce when an attacking move breaks down, as they would’ve committed many men up the pitch and are left to scamper back.
In this article we’ll cover:
What is a fast break?
Last season saw the most amount of fast breaks ever in the Premier League, with an average of 2.04 per game as teams relied more on pace and directness, going away from the more possession-based style that the league has embraced since Pep Guardiola’s arrival.
The official definition of a ‘fast break’ on Opta is as follows: ‘an attempt created after a team quickly turn defence into attack, winning the ball in their own half (counter-attack)’.
In other words, a counter-attack or transition when the opposing defence is unsorted and out of shape, which leads to an attempt on goal.
The crucial thing to remember when it comes to a fast break or counter-attack is the speed at which the ball progresses from defence into attack.
Whether this be from players dribbling quickly or playing through balls to fast wingers or forwards in transition.
It’s all about the practice of exploiting the gaps left by a team who were initially attacking and ensuring you quickly take advantage at breakneck speed, resulting in a shot.
Without counter-attacking goals, the jeopardy for teams that hold most of the ball for most of the game would be removed.
Which Premier League team is best at them?
What the data tells us about teams using fast breaks this season is fascinating.
Manchester City sit at the top of the pile with the most fast breaks this season, indicating Guardiola is embracing a different style that utilises his team playing a faster and direct type of attacking football as opposed to the tiki-taka he perfected to influence the footballing world.
For many of the goals City have scored, the point has been to have many wide players at once in the centre to perform quick interchanges and get Erling Haaland to be the runner in behind when the ball is turned over.
It’s salient that one of the most successful and influential coaches ever is opting to use more fast attacks. Something that would be hard to believe years ago.
It feels as though the Spaniard recognises the tactical trend the league is going in and is attempting to follow suit. Last season, City were the 8th-ranked team for fast breaks with 1 per game, that has shot up to 1.667 per match this season.
At this same stage last season, Liverpool had scored six more goals.
Though they used fast breaks last season too, their metric of the number of fast breaks per game is down from 2.0 to 1.4 per match.
It indicates Slot’s difficulty at integrating a new attacking line, with many of Liverpool’s attacks resorting to long balls over the top with players pushed up in attack, and the defence clueless as to how to progress the ball up to them.
Liverpool last season could hit teams in different ways, whereas now it feels as though there’s an over-reliance on the wingers to conjure something up.
A move to unleash a front three of Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak on the break quickly, whilst opting for a more compact style of pressing may see them solve some of their problems.
Strikingly, the teams below City and Liverpool have remarkably similar statistics in terms of how many fast breaks they attempted last season. Under both Ange Postecoglou and Nuno Espirito Santo, Nottingham Forest attempted slightly more (1.33) than last season (1.24). But fast breaks were a staple of Santo’s Forest side, and Postecoglou’s teams have always attacked quickly, even if he was only in charge of Forest for a short spell.
Brentford may have changed managers, but they are largely playing the same way, relying on direct attacks after soaking up pressure, as they have the same amount of fast breaks per game as last season (1.33).
Elsewhere, teams that generally prefer to set up and play in a mid/low block tend to attempt fewer fast breaks.
Tottenham, Burnley, Everton and Wolves are all teams that have adapted a more pragmatic style of play this season, favouring setups that compact the centre of the pitch and limit opponents’ space.
You would think these teams would attempt more fast breaks as a method to score goals, but the small amount indicates there is less of an opportunity for them to attack in general.
Particularly in Tottenham Hotspur’s case, where they’ve relied on set-pieces to score goals.
It may be that they still rely on fast breaks, but because of the manner in which they defend, they have to be more clinical with the fast breaks that they have. Take, for instance, Everton’s approach against Manchester United.
The Toffees deserved to win but didn’t need too many counter-attacks to cause the Red Devils problems.
It’s interesting to see teams that at one point dominated the Premier League with a style of play where they controlled matches through possession, revert to counters or faster breaks to score goals.
Though the average number of fast breaks per game grew last season, overall, the number is down as teams rely on set-pieces and long throws to create chances.
Time will tell over the season as to whether teams begin to figure out set-piece and long throw routines more with more accessible data.
If this is the case, and teams learn more about each other as the season goes on, we may see a rise in fast breaks once again in a league that is increasingly reliant on speed and directness to score.
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