In the past, English football was renowned for muddy pitches, rugged centre-halves and crunching challenges. Plenty of success came via that route, with clubs from England dominating European football in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but the advent of the Premier League and influx of more foreign influences - both on the field and off it - have drastically altered the way football in this country is viewed.
Arsenal's Invincibles are perhaps the best example from the Premier League era of the newer silky style paying dividends, but Arsene Wenger has stuck with the same philosophy since and is still awaiting his next title. Managers, particularly at the top clubs, are not only under pressure to succeed, but they must also do it in a manner which is pleasing on the eye.
Possession-based football
Go back a few years and tiki-taka was all anybody in football could talk about. Spain were dominating world football on the international stage and Barcelona, under the guidance of Pep Guardiola, were in great shape. Such was the dominance of these two great teams that bettingexpert tipsters correctly tipped them to win the vast array of trophies that they did.
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The common theme that ran through both of these teams was their insistence of keeping the ball. They would retain possession for extensive periods of time which would lead to their opposition getting frustrated and invariably making mistakes. For some time, this tiki-taka - passing the ball for the sake of it - style was widely admired; however, people soon got bored of it.
Spain's demise in the 2014 World Cup signalled the end for this style of play as we knew it. There was now a demand for a style of play that incorporated more speed, energy and excitement.
Team selection and squads
In the modern era, the majority of top teams have a squad packed to the rafters with international talent. This gives managers a problem when it comes to picking their team - a nice problem, but a problem nonetheless. The rotation culture in football is one that doesn't allow for much consistency in team selection.
This lack of consistency means that players don't get the chance to build the same sort of partnership that they did in the past. These partnerships have often been the base for title-winning sides; think John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho for Chelsea or Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic for Manchester United.
Managers now feel under pressure to utilise their whole squad throughout the course of the season for the sake of squad harmony. It's hard for them to leave multi-millionaire footballers sitting on the bench for a whole season.
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One example that completely blows this theory out of the water, however, is Chelsea so far under Antonio Conte. The team who are odds on to win the league with all bookmakers have made little change to their starting XI for most of the season; their lead at the top of the Premier League suggests that they are benefitting from this immensely.
How much structure do teams need?
Everybody would love their team to play a style of football where they have the ball for 70% of the game, attack with pace and also keep it tight at the back. However, this idyllic vision of the sport is one very few teams are capable of pulling off and also one that is prone to criticism should it be undone by a less glamorous style. Many have tried to achieve this in many countries over the years, with Guardiola probably coming closest with his Barcelona side in 2009.
However, without a level of solidity and structure teams are unable to consistently perform throughout a gruelling league campaign. This has been shown this year in the Premier League, where Guardiola's current team Manchester City have often struggled. Football is all about balance; if a team has balance then the individuals that make up that team will be given a platform to shine, and that in turn leads to results.
