In Luis Enrique’s Champions League post-match press conference last week, The Athletic asked the Paris Saint-Germain manager about his sustained commitment to an ultra-creative, ultra-technical approach when this season’s trends in the Premier League have been towards more attritional playing styles and an increased emphasis on set pieces.

“I can’t analyse other teams,” the Spaniard said. “Every team, (the) manager has to choose the way he has to play. Liverpool is one of the teams that plays better. They use the set pieces also in the same way, but this is not our style. We try to play the best football; we try to have fun with our supporters, trying to show them the way we play, in an offensive way, trying to create superiority in every part of the pitch. That’s our idea, that’s our mentality.

“We never choose players by (whether) they are tall or short. We try to play in our style.”

But what does the rest of Europe think about how football is played in England? Do they dislike it or revere it? And how much impact does the Premier League’s style have on competitions elsewhere, if at all?

The Athletic’s continental experts report.

Italy

The Premier League is revered in Italy. Fabio Capello always uses the tempo of English football and particularly the speed with which the ball zips around as a stick to beat Serie A.

Prior to Napoli’s game against Chelsea in the Champions League in January, I asked Antonio Conte if he was across the trends in the Premier League that have placed greater emphasis on set pieces and long throws. Conte got so animated that he offered an apology for the impromptu lecture he then gave.

“You see how dominant Arsenal are at them. They’ve set an example. Everyone’s watching. Having a long throw now is big, because it’s become like having a corner.”

In Conte’s opinion, it even changes how clubs recruit, as they need to move with the times. If greater emphasis is placed on set plays, players who can pose a threat from long throws and corners become transfer targets, as do players who can deal with the threat.

In relation to Chelsea, Conte acknowledged that no one in Italy can spend what they have on aggregating young talent. “If you get the chance to sign a 22-year-old for more than €100m… Everyone’s good at recruitment when they have that kind of money to spend. They tell us to invest in youth. OK, I get it, but who in Italy can put €70m down for a 16-year-old?”

Palace defeated Fiorentina comfortably in the Conference League last week (Ben STANSALL / AFP via Getty Images)

After his Fiorentina side lost the first leg of their Conference League quarter-final to Crystal Palace, Conte’s old assistant Paolo Vanoli spoke about the gap between Premier League sides and their counterparts in Serie A. “It would be stupid and arrogant to say there isn’t a gap between the 14th team in our league and the 14th team in the Premier League. We’d be totally arrogant. And I think we saw this difference tonight.” Palace won 3-0.

James Horncastle

Spain

The ‘back to basics’ approach in the Premier League has not gone unnoticed in Spain, but not many La Liga coaches have been directly influenced by the trends in England.

Games in Spain have traditionally been more tactical and technical, with coaches generally looking to outmanoeuvre each other with player positioning and movement.

The Spain national team has also generally relied on the technical quality of its players to outplay bigger and more physical opponents — from the tiki-taka, World Cup 2010-winning generation including Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and David Silva through to the slightly more direct Euro 2024-winning team featuring Rodri, Fabian Ruiz and Lamine Yamal.

Of La Liga’s current top coaches, Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone is the most historically associated with a more physical and direct style of play.

Simeone’s side were steamrolled 4-0 by a much more intense and athletic Arsenal team in the Champions League group stages last October, but eliminated a less well-organised Tottenham 7-5 on aggregate in the last 16 in March.

“The Premier League is, for sure, the league where the play is the fastest,” Simeone said before their first leg against Tottenham. “Maybe because referees don’t stop the game as much, or due to the (coaching) work done pre-game. (But) it takes more than intensity to win games, there is also the level of technical quality, which might not be as high in English football.”

Jose Bordalas shakes hands with Diego Simeone – both coaches employ an aggressive, physical style at their clubs (Oscar DEL POZO / AFP via Getty Images)

Asked about the current focus on corners and set pieces in the Premier League, another current La Liga coach told The Athletic it was a choice his Premier League counterparts appeared to be making to spend more time working on these elements at training. They said this would either leave less time available to work on other tactical and technical concepts, or it meant players were accumulating more time than advisable working day-to-day on the training ground.

The La Liga coach associated with a basic style is probably Getafe’s Jose Bordalas. His teams have been criticised by rival coaches, players and supporters for an ‘anti-football’ approach, especially breaking up play with tactical fouling and timewasting. But nobody at Getafe cares too much, and recent good results have seen Bordalas’ team climb into contention to qualify for UEFA competition next season.

Dermot Corrigan

Germany

The local attitude has really changed in recent years. Speak to Bundesliga executives about English football now and they are usually quick to tell you they do not see it as a rival competition — in fact, they often describe it in terms befitting a different sport.

There’s no one answer here — no “what Germany thinks” — but partly because there’s no perception of a uniform style of play. It’s not really seen as an ideological competition any more, with competing ideas and philosophies, rather just a big jumble of transfers and physicality.

That’s a simplification, of course, but it’s relatively faithful. That’s not snobbery. Rather, it’s recognition that these are different products now, and that what works for one might not be hugely relevant to the other.

Seb Stafford-Bloor

France

Ligue 1’s top teams don’t tend to place a strong emphasis on set pieces. Marseille, Monaco, Rennes and Lille have a worse record this season than every Premier League side except Wolves.

This might ultimately be down to the difference in pressure between the two leagues.

The reward to win in the Premier League is so great, that it’s hard to blame Mikel Arteta or Keith Andrews for looking to make marginal gains wherever they can.

In France, though, where PSG are so dominant, winning the league is rarely realistic for the chasing pack. And so instead, jobs across the rest of the league often end up being taken by coaches looking to advertise their own exciting, identifiable brands of football in the hope of getting a move to a bigger club where the prospects of winning silverware are greater.

It’s a method that’s proved successful just this season for Chelsea’s Liam Rosenior (Strasbourg) and new Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi (Marseille).

Still, there are still those happy to turn to more direct football. Claude Puel has recently been parachuted in at Nice to save them from a Tottenham-style relegation.

Claude Puel has brought some pragmatism to Nice’s relegation battle (Sebastien Salom-Gomis / AFP via Getty Images)

Others have criticised the state of the game too. Earlier this season, Eric Roy of Brest complained of what he called “Football 5.0”, with constant fouls and time-wasting disrupting the rhythm of the game.

Still, fierce criticism from fans is often reserved for international football. Despite France’s rich attacking talent, Didier Deschamps has long been criticised for his pragmatic approach. When he steps down after this summer’s World Cup, his successor will be tasked with playing a more exciting brand of football.

Alex Barker