.<\/span><\/p>\n“If we let academics and statisticians run the game, where is the pureness of it? Where\u2019s the love? Where are the big moments that go down in history? Try telling Bobby Charlton, ‘Don\u2019t shoot from 25 yards because the xG is 0.1. You\u2019re the best striker of the ball the world\u2019s ever seen but don\u2019t shoot from there because there are a couple of coaches that say you\u2019ve got less chance.’<\/span><\/p>\n“I practised long shots a lot. But it\u2019s something you see less now because players probably don\u2019t do it enough. This is where you have to have a feel, you have to take things away from academics and coaches and stats and go, ‘You know what, I\u2019m going to have a shot here.’ Stats should never get in the way of the feel of it.”<\/span><\/p>\nIn the 2005-06 campaign, 48.2% of all shots in the Premier League were taken from outside the 18-yard box, which remains an all-time high. By 2011-12, that figure had dipped to 44%, and the average sits between 31.7% and 33.1% from data collected in the 2020s so far.<\/span><\/p>\nThat certainly proves that the “love” has diminished and players have been operating more mechanically than by “feel”. It’s not universal, though. There will always be those who go against the accepted norms, like Szoboszlai, and managers who not only share Redknapp’s sentiments, but also play an active role in helping to facilitate a return to the ‘good old days’.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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