We All Know Goalkeeper Passing Habits Have Evolved, But to What Extent? ...0

It’s a well-established fact that the role of the goalkeeper has changed considerably over the past 20 years, but here we’ve illustrated that transformation with the numbers.

Football’s evolution this century has seen the goalkeeper position transform, philosophically speaking. What was once seen as the last line of defence became the first line of attack, with goalkeepers seeing more of the ball than ever before and taking on a fundamental role in how many teams look to build offensive moves.

“Playing out from the back” has become a globally recognised term and build-up method, and its success or otherwise can be heavily influenced – if not completely shaped – by the goalkeeper’s ability on the ball.

None of this is likely to be groundbreaking or new to you, and the explanations for the evolution probably aren’t either, with Pep Guardiola’s success helping to bring greater possession focus to the Premier League in 2016 and then, three years later, football’s law makers did away with the rule that goal-kicks had to end outside the penalty area. But the numerical proof might be new to you.

The rise in prominence of playing out from the back over the past two decades or so can be highlighted at the top level by looking at the increase in successful passes in the defensive half of the pitch. The charts below display the change for each of the top five European leagues on a per-game basis since the 2006-07 season.

The change is most pronounced in the Premier League, however. In 2006-07, there were 221.9 successful passes in the defensive third on average per game in England’s top flight. Fast forward to 2024-25, there are 385.6 on average per game.

That’s an increase of 73.8%; none of the other top five European leagues has seen an increase of more than 55.2% over the same period.

But regardless of how homogenous that makes the competition seem, there’s always nuance in the data, and we can delve a lot deeper into how the habits of goalkeepers have changed over the years.

For instance, below we have the pass map for Nicky Weaver, a Manchester City goalkeeper in 2006-07, which is the earliest we have visual data for passes in the Premier League.

Why him? Well, his 44.24% pass accuracy was the closest to the league average (44.25%) that season among goalkeepers who played at least 1,000 minutes, so we’re putting his output forward as fairly typical for the time.

And now we have Robert Sánchez, whose 69.44% pass accuracy is the closest to the average (69.08%) this season among goalkeepers to have played at least 1,000 minutes.

The differences are, of course, stark. You knew they would be, but actually seeing the difference in black and white (well, there’s plenty of grey and red in there, too) really illustrates how the game has changed in this respect.

Obviously, removing restrictions that forced goal-kicks to end outside the penalty area had a pivotal role in changing habits, but things had started to shift already.

Opta records on goalkeeper pass completion go back as far as the 2003-04 season. From then until 2010-11, average pass completion percentages for keepers were confined to the forties, only going as high as 45.95%.

But from 2011-12 onwards, the percentages rose nearly every season until they peaked at 69.5% last term; it’s 68.9% this season, which is the second highest on record, but that could still increase.

The greatest season-on-season increase in terms of percentage points came in 2019-20, though, jumping from 56.2% to 61.4% as teams began to test the waters with respect to keeping goal-kicks within the confines of their areas.

In the Premier League this season, there are two teams who are particularly devoted exponents of doing just that.

Sánchez’s club, Chelsea, have played 84% of goal-kicks within their penalty area, which is the greatest proportion of all 20 Premier League clubs this term. That puts them slightly ahead of Tottenham, who play 82% of their goal-kicks inside their area.

Nevertheless, those figures reflect the two teams’ respective focus on building from the back, and although Spurs actually play a slightly smaller proportion inside the area than Chelsea, Ange Postecoglou’s men have only played 6% directly out of their defensive third. The Blues, on the other hand, play 14% into the middle and attacking thirds, suggesting Spurs are even more dogmatic.

Those are by far the most extreme examples of playing out of the back with short passes from the goalkeeper at goal-kicks.

Every other team plays at least 22% of their goal-kicks beyond the defensive third, and 13 play out of their defensive third more than 40% of the time.

But don’t let that fool you into thinking playing out from the back was a fad that’s on its way out.

In fact, of the 17 teams who’ve competed in the Premier League this season and last, 11 of them are playing a greater proportion of goal-kicks within their own area than they did in 2023-24.

Of course, managerial changes have an impact here. For instance, Chelsea’s increase of 34.7 percentage points from last term is obviously influenced heavily by Enzo Maresca’s appointment in the summer.

But there are teams who’ve seen their habits evolve without a change in the dugout. Brentford (+16 percentage points) are the team to see the next greatest proportional change with respect to goal-kicks played within their own area. Thomas Frank has been in charge for each of the club’s four campaigns in the Premier League, and this is the one in which they’ve averaged the greatest share of possession (48%). Being more considered with their goal-kicks will undoubtedly be playing a part.

When looking at the league as a whole in 2024-25, on average, teams keep 50.7% of goal-kicks within their own area, which is up from 44.6% last season. So, despite there seemingly being a greater focus on quick transitions, counter-attacking and direct football, short passing out from the back continues to become more prevalent.

But that’s not to say there aren’t exceptions.

Arsenal obviously have the same manager as they did last season, and they’ve kept their goal-kicks within their own area far less often, with a decrease of 15.8 percentage points.

The Gunners are one of the more curious teams in this respect in that they’re generally perceived to be neat and tidy in possession, and yet there aren’t many teams who play their goal-kicks long more often.

In 2024-25, 52% of their goal-kicks have been played beyond the defensive third, which sees them rank as high as seventh for that metric. In 2023-24, they ranked 14th, having played only 36.5% of their goal-kicks beyond the defensive third.

There’s been a noticeable change at Manchester United as well.

André Onana was signed ahead of the 2023-24 season with the intention of making United more effective at playing out from the back, and last term that translated to 62% of their goal-kicks being played within their own area.

This season, though, there’s a 50-50 split between those played within their area or otherwise, with as many as 48% hit beyond the defensive third. This clearly reflects a change in tack by new head coach Ruben Amorim, who presumably wants the team to take fewer risks in their own defensive third – understandable given their confidence-draining form under his stewardship.

With that in mind, Onana has actually only taken 26% of his goal-kicks within his own box. United’s figures there are pushed up, however, by the fact that 59 of their goal-kicks have been taken by outfield players, and 58 of those were passed within the perimeter of the area.

As you can see from his goal-kick end-point locations below, Onana has routinely looked out towards the left flank and almost never towards the right with goal-kicks this term, whereas in 2023-24 there was a much greater spread.

His output is by no means the most interesting, however.

It’s impossible to ignore the change in Matz Sels’ habits from last season to this.

In 2023-24, the Nottingham Forest goalkeeper played 42.6% – the seventh-greatest proportion in the league – of his goal-kicks to teammates in his own area; this season, though, that’s plummeted to 16.7%.

This of course reflects Forest becoming a far more direct and transition-focused team since Nuno Espírito Santo’s appointment in December 2023, but especially this term.

A reminder of a bygone era? Perhaps, but dismissing this as evidence of a lack of thought would do a massive disservice to the fact Forest have been incredibly successful this term, and much of that comes down to Nuno identifying a need to “go fast” with direct tactics as soon as he was hired.

Sels has certainly bought into that, with his goal-kicks reaching 52.9 metres on average in 2024-25, which is the longest of anyone to have taken at least 50.

Then you’ve got Jordan Pickford, who’s of course quite well known for kicking the ball really, really far. When all types of passes are considered, not just goal-kicks, the Everton stopper has pumped 45 balls into the opposition’s box, which is 19 more than any other goalkeeper.

And Aaron Ramsdale also requires a special mention. Despite playing for a Southampton side who’ve deployed a possession-based style of play, he ranks third for longest average goal-kicks (51.8m). Similarly, Ramsdale – incredibly – averages 9.0 long balls to Paul Onuachu for every 90 minutes that the Nigerian is on the pitch; the next most long balls from a goalkeeper to a specific forward (minimum 270 minutes played) per 90 is Pickford’s 5.0 to Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Either way, it must be said that these aren’t the norm.

Although the average length of open-play goalkeeper passes has actually increased from 2023-24, the difference is marginal and still in keeping with the general decrease over the period Opta has this data (since 2013-14).

Back then, the average was 40.5m; in 2024-25, it stands at 29.7m. Similarly, Goal-kick length continues to reduce, with this season’s average of 33.3 nearly three whole metres shorter in 2023-24 (36.1m), and just shy of 23m shorter than 2013-14 (56m).

But there will always be questions about whether the risk is worth the reward.

It’s no coincidence that high turnovers – winning the ball back within 40m of the opposition’s goal – leading to shots and goals have increased considerably over the past 12 years or so.

Granted, that’s not just down to teams playing out from the back or ill-suited goalkeepers trying to retain possession, but there’s no doubt this riskier way of playing has had an impact.

There’ll never be a definitive answer to the risk vs reward debate, though, as the point of view will be different from team to team, player to player. So, unless every club starts playing in exactly the same way, subjectivity will reign supreme.

But therein lies what makes football so captivating. Sure, some might feel the sport has become more homogenous – and maybe it has, who’s to say? – but there’s enough nuance and constant evolution to keep things interesting.

Look at Man City, for example. Many might perceive them as the most quintessential play-out-from-the-back team around in an era dominated by such a style, but Ederson has this season set a new record for assists recorded by a goalkeeper in a single Premier League campaign (3), and all three involved him going long.

Innovation and trying to be one step ahead of the rest will always be vital components in the ever-changing makeup of elite-level football.

But there’s nothing to say you can’t innovate by seeking inspiration in the past.

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We All Know Goalkeeper Passing Habits Have Evolved, But to What Extent? Opta Analyst.

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