Premier League representation is low when it comes to the 16 attacking players on this year’s Ballon d’Or shortlist. Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland are there but Cole Palmer, one of the nominees in 2025, is out after an injury-hit year and English football’s shift towards physicality and set pieces last season is summed up by none of the forwards from the best team in the country making the cut. The trio giving Arsenal a presence – Gabriel Maghalhães, Declan Rice and William Saliba – are all defensive minded.
Arsenal won the league but their forwards are not regarded as elite. Injuries played a part, denying Martin Ødegaard, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka fluency, but Mikel Arteta’s side were not loved by neutrals. There was respect rather than admiration for their defensive rigour.
There was an argument that a lack of ambition after going 1-0 up stopped Arsenal from beating Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final. It was a close-run thing, but a second consecutive European title for PSG was a victory for attacking football over the Premier League’s attrition. Luis Enrique’s side keep beating English opponents, and there was a similar vibe at the World Cup.
Games flowed more in North America, in part because of officials clamping down on the “meat wall” at set pieces. As for England, Thomas Tuchel’s plan to tap into the Premier League’s physicality failed. England retreated in their semi-final defeat by Argentina.
It is also significant that not until Anthony Gordon’s goal against Argentina did an England attacker who played in the Premier League last season score at the World Cup. You can miscontrol the ball and still recover by winning the next physical battle.” The English top flight’s appeal partly rests on those bruising qualities but the grind went too far last season. How many classic games can you remember?
Some of the top sides having disappointing campaigns did not help but across the board there was grumbling about an over-reliance on set pieces and goalkeepers being squashed during elaborate corner routines. Anthony Barry, Tuchel’s assistant, noted that the game had become congealed in the middle. There was an emphasis on long throws and timewasting.
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