For the 2019–20 season, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) introduced a new rule allowing goalkeepers to pass the ball to teammates inside the penalty area from goal kicks, having previously only been allowed to pass outside the penalty area.
At the time, the FA said the change would result in a “faster and more dynamic/constructive restart of the game” which would “reduce wasted time”, suggesting it would reduce defenders' time wasted by playing the ball before it. He left the area – knowing that this would result in the goal kick being retaken.
The rule was buried among many other changes, suggesting that lawmakers may not have fully anticipated the impact it would have.
But since then goal kicks have become shorter and shorter, and it is now common to see two centre-backs standing next to the goalkeeper inside the team's penalty area preparing to build up the attack.
This is happening even at the bottom of the English football ladder, where the number of goal kicks ending in their own half in the Championship is now almost the same as in the Premier League.
“Coaches have realized that they can use the opposition's enthusiasm against them,” former Manchester City goalkeeper Karen Bardsley told BBC Sport.
“This can be done by utilizing deep starting positions of midfielders, full-backs or midfielders.
“Thanks to the change in the rules around goal kicks, we are starting to see these passes into the penalty area to try to attract opposition pressure – they can be many, or perhaps just a few, to tempt opposition players into an area, sideways, or commit more players higher up.
“In addition, in response to the high-pressing style, some teams allow players to remain in the opponent's defensive line, forcing the opponent's midfield to decide.”