As the gulf grows between rich and poor clubs so, too, does a culture in which some teams enter games accepting the only way they can compete is by not competingTactics are always contingent, never discreet. No manager can ever casually decide how he will play and only then turn to his squad and decide how best to array his resources within the system he has selected, before finally paying attention to the situation and the opposition. Everything is inter-related. As Barney Ronay observed last week, the Premier League has never seemed so stratified and that, inevitably, has had an impact on how teams play.As with so much in football, the issue is one of degree. Since Herbert Chapman first recognised the value of counterattacking with Northampton Town in the first decade of the 20th century, there have been sides who sought to make their opposition do the bulk of the attacking. Related: Premier League 2017-18 review: our predictions versus cold, hard reality Continue readingreadfullarticle
