Two guys are sitting in a bar.

They could be talking about who the Giants’ next quarterback should be, or what went wrong with Daniel Jones. Instead, they are talking about Eli Manning, as, it seems, they have been for most of the last two decades. They are debating whether he should be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible for the first time this year.

Pro-Eli guy: “He beat Tom Brady twice in the Super Bowl.”

Anti-Eli guy: “Yeah, but he was a .500 quarterback in the regular season. His record was 117-117. Does that sound like a Hall of Famer?”

Pro-Eli guy: “Only six players in the history of the NFL have two Super Bowl MVP trophies, and he’s one of them.”

Anti-Eli guy (smirking): “Ha! He never was even voted All-Pro!”

Pro-Eli guy (slams beer mug on the bar): “Did you know, including playoff games, he had 42 game-winning drives and that he was 10-4 in overtime games?”

Anti-Eli guy (voice rising now): “He threw 244 interceptions. That’s more than any player since 2004. And he led the NFL in interceptions three times.”

The argument will go on for a while. It could be hours, days, months or lifetimes. It’s possible no NFL player has ever engendered a wider spectrum of emotions from his team’s fans.

Eli has heard it all.

If he turns on the television, he will hear more. On social media, the debate rages. But where he stands, there is none of that noise — just two Super Bowl trophies, two Super Bowl MVP trophies and a contentment about what has been and what will be.

In the spring of 2004, Eli was the most highly regarded prospect in the draft after leading Mississippi to its first 10-win season in 32 years. The San Diego Chargers had the first pick, and Eli had misgivings about an organization that failed to make the playoffs the previous eight years, struck out with Ryan Leaf and was struggling to develop Drew Brees.

He was intentionally unimpressive in meetings with the team, and when the Chargers appeared undeterred about selecting him, he made it clear he wished they wouldn’t.

“It was not comfortable for me,” Eli says. “But I felt strongly that I didn’t want to go there. I never tried to dictate that I go to the Giants, though.”

The Chargers picked him, made him wear their cap for one of the most awkward draft photos in history, and then traded him to the Giants, which was his hope. Eli was careful about what he wished for, if not completely aware of the consequences.

“I didn’t realize,” he says, “what I was getting into.”

In his first days as a Giant, Eli was met with skepticism and resentment — and that was just from his teammates. Some were not pleased that the team had cut the popular Kerry Collins for a rookie.

“We were like, ‘Who is this spoiled brat — Archie Manning’s son, Peyton’s little brother — making a big stink about what team he wants to play for,’” Giants center Shaun O’Hara says. “What kind of guy is this?”

Eli failed to beat out Kurt Warner for the starting job but made his way into the lineup in late November. By then he was suffering from comparisons to Peyton, who was named the NFL’s most valuable player that year, and Ben Roethlisberger, the quarterback chosen 10 picks after him by the Steelers who was on his way to a Super Bowl victory.

In his first start, Eli was booed.

In his fourth loss without a win, his quarterback rating was 0.0, and he was pulled from the game. On the train home from Baltimore to New Jersey, he sat with quarterbacks coach Kevin Gilbride and told him he had no excuses. But he noted many of the plays the Giants were using were plays Warner favored. Eli gave Gilbride eight plays that he wished the Giants would use. They started using them and his career trajectory changed.

The next season he led the Giants to an NFC East title. But that didn’t win over New York, whose sportswriters came after him like German Shepherds after an intruder and whose customers seemed to enjoy jeering his misthrows more than celebrating his excellence.

Giants defensive end Michael Strahan thought Eli had more pressure on him than any player in the league, given the environment, his last name and the draft history.

“People don’t understand how tough it is to play in New York City,” Strahan says. “It’s another level of scrutiny. I admire him because emotionally, I could not have handled what he handled from the media and fans at times.”

GO DEEPER

Voice memos, legendary cameos help ‘ManningCast’ redefine NFL broadcast

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Eli ignored what the media said about him but made it a point to know what was being said about his teammates so he could be a locker room fireman.

The boos, he admits, were upsetting. But he took them in stride. “I think in most cases I probably deserved it,” he says.

Year 4 was tumultuous, starting with criticism from recently retired running back Tiki Barber about Eli’s leadership. Four of his league-leading 20 interceptions that season came in a 41-17 home loss to the Vikings, and three of them were returned for touchdowns.

He was booed by his own many times but never as lustily as on that day. Peyton went to one of his games every year. That was the game.

“It was tough on all of us,” Archie says. “But he didn’t go to his room afterward and sulk and pout. He said he would bounce back the next week.”

Eli owns those interceptions — and all the others.

“Sometimes, I knew what the read was and where the ball should be going and I didn’t want to run because I wasn’t great at scrambling,” he says. “So I probably forced the ball too many times and put the ball in harm’s way.”

Whenever a play didn’t work, for whatever reason, Eli raised his hand. “My fault,” he said over and over. He met with the media on Mondays only after losses. When the Giants won, he wanted the attention on others.

After the loss to the Vikings, the Giants won three of the next four games and earned a wild-card spot in the playoffs.

On the road, they beat the Bucs and Cowboys before taking on Brett Favre and the Packers in Green Bay where temperatures reached minus-5 with a minus-27 wind chill. The Giants’ 23-20 victory earned them the right to be lambs for the wolves from New England in Super Bowl XLII. The Patriots were 18-0 and 12-point favorites.

With 2:42 remaining, the Patriots led 14-10. That’s when Strahan gathered his teammates on the sideline and gave an impassioned speech. “17-14 is the final, OK?” he said. “17-14, fellas. One touchdown and we are world champions.”

Strahan looked in many of his teammates’ eyes. In some, he saw determination. In some, he saw uncertainty. And then there was Eli.

“He had the same strange Eli look as usual, kind of confused but yet confident,” Strahan says. “It was just the weirdest, strangest look that he had on his face at times, but that’s just Eli. He never seemed overwhelmed.”

The Giants faced a third-and-5 on their 44 with 1:15 left to play. Eli dropped back and somehow got away from three pass rushers who could have sacked him, then threw up what seemed like an ill-advised pass in the middle of the field. David Tyree made the impossible “helmet catch” over Rodney Harrison, giving the Giants a first down on the Patriots’ 24.

Where does the David Tyree catch rank in your all-time Super Bowl plays? 👀

📺: #SBLVIII – Feb. 11 6:30pm ET on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/yDEBYJ8VoP

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— NFL (@NFL) February 3, 2024

Four plays later, Eli connected with Plaxico Burress on a 13-yard touchdown pass that made the Giants Super Bowl champions.

When Eli and Strahan embraced on the field afterward, Strahan remembers a different look on his teammate’s face.

“He was so exhausted,” Strahan says. “It was as if he had all the years of holding these emotions in and he could finally breathe.”

Eli’s expressions could be difficult to read. Gilbride, his position coach for three years and offensive coordinator for seven, initially wondered how much Eli cared based on the faces he made.

“His competitiveness is not readily discernable,” says Gilbride, who now does research for Eli and Peyton’s “ManningCast.” “He never looks like he gets angry. But his desire is as good as I’ve ever seen. It’s a high-intensity fire in him.”

Gilbride felt the fire when he apologetically called Eli at 10 p.m. on many Wednesdays to go over unusual defensive looks they could face that week. No problem, Eli always told him. He was watching tape anyway. And besides, Eli had already considered the problem and potential solutions.

The fire was evident again on Fridays when some players were looking forward to enjoying an afternoon off. Not so fast, Eli would tell them. He had prepared teaching tapes for each position group and expected every player to review the tapes with him.

Giants guard Chris Snee, who was part of the same draft class as Eli, sat next to him on airplane trips and always shared a Bud Light on the team bus after games, says Eli worked harder than anyone in the organization.

“I prided myself on being one of the first guys in, but Eli was always there, too,” Snee says. “And then, to his credit, he was always there when I was leaving.”

Four seasons after Eli led the Giants to his first Super Bowl win, the NFL locked out players in the offseason because of a collective bargaining divide. Eli saw it as a potential advantage.

For the first time in his career, he stayed in New Jersey for the entire offseason. He scheduled team workouts at high schools and scripted practices for the offense and defense.

“We had the opportunity to outwork people, and that’s not always the case in the NFL,” Eli says. “I probably worked the hardest I ever worked that offseason.”

That season, the Giants went 9-7, but it was an ugly 9-7. They allowed more points than they scored, had the NFL’s 32nd-ranked running game, the 27th-ranked defense and an overwhelmed offensive line. But Eli led eight game-winning drives and passed for a career-high 4,933 yards as wide receiver Victor Cruz — Eli’s special offseason project — broke out with a career year.

“We were spoiled”

Victor Cruz & Mario Manningham on Eli’s greatness

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— New York Giants (@Giants) September 25, 2021

In the playoffs, Eli won again at Lambeau Field, this time by outdueling Aaron Rodgers. Then came the NFC Championship Game at the 49ers, which some consider Eli’s most remarkable performance. He was sacked six times and threw 58 passes in a 20-17 victory that tested the limits of human endurance.

“He got physically assaulted all game,” says Snee, who apologized to Manning for his performance on the bus afterward. “We were peeling him off the ground numerous times and he was never rattled or started yelling.”

Eli never missed a game because of injury, not in junior high school, high school, college, or the NFL. He played through a separated shoulder in 2007 and plantar fasciitis in 2009, and his streak of 210 straight starts is the 10th-longest in league history.

With 3:46 to play in Super Bowl XLVI, the underdog Giants trailed the Patriots by two points. Eli began a possession on the Giants’ 12 with a perfect pass, perhaps the most perfect in the history of Super Bowls. Mario Manningham ran a sideline route and Eli placed the ball where only Manningham could catch it before stepping out of bounds. The 38-yard completion was the spark to the game-winning drive.

On a recent “ManningCast” NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth said he never saw a better throw.

It was one of Eli’s four most impressive games, along with Super Bowl XLII and the conference championship games that preceded both Super Bowls.

“Every major opportunity he had, he took advantage of,” Strahan says. “He’s just a closer, man.”

In high school, his friends called him “Easy” or “Easy E.” The nickname, appropriate as any ever, stuck.

Eli cannot recall a time in a football game when he felt nervous. In those fight-or-flight moments in which heroes are discovered, Eli’s palms never moistened, his heart never raced and his eyes never darted side to side.

“When those Super Bowls were on the line, I had zero negative thoughts,” he says. “I’m only thinking about scoring a touchdown and winning a Super Bowl.”

After the Super Bowl, the Giants failed to do what was necessary to protect their quarterback and began an organizational struggle that continues to this day. For the rest of his career, Eli had a 48-67 record as a starter. He played in just one more playoff game.

In late November of 2017, the Giants were 2-9. Eli was watching tape on a Tuesday by himself in the quarterbacks room as always when coach Ben McAdoo came in and told him his plan was for Eli to start the next game that week, but Geno Smith would replace him during the game.

Eli suspected McAdoo was starting him just to keep his streak of consecutive starts alive. He and his wife, Abby, cried it out that night. The next morning, he went in early and asked McAdoo if the streak was the reason he was starting. McAdoo confirmed it was.

“That’s not what this is about,” Eli told him. “You don’t play someone because of a streak. How can you coach that way? How can I prepare that way? Let’s pull the Band-Aid off now.’”

The streak ended. Eli started four more games that season and 16 the next before becoming a backup to Jones in 2019, his last season in the NFL.

GO DEEPER

Duggan: An appreciation of Eli Manning in his final days as a Giant

Texas quarterback Arch Manning, the son of Eli’s brother Cooper, recently texted his uncle Eli. He wanted to talk about what to do when he’s out with friends and fans ask to take photos.

Eli told Arch that when he was playing, someone once asked to take a picture. Eli obliged, and the photo of him holding a beer and making a funny face made the rounds. Everyone had a laugh at “drunk Eli.” From then on, whenever he was at a restaurant or bar, he told fans that he had to follow a team rule that prohibited him from taking pictures where alcohol was served.

Eli had concocted the team rule and suggested Arch take the same approach.

As the quarterback in the city of overreactions, Eli was determined to be understated. He rejected repeated invitations to appear on “Saturday Night Live” until after winning his second Super Bowl and turned down multiple endorsement opportunities.

“I was always very conscious of how the media would portray me in this market,” he says. “I never wanted people to think I was silly or not focused.”

To O’Hara, Eli understood the responsibility of being the face of the Giants.

“So many quarterbacks have come and gone in the New York market in the last 20 years, but this good old boy from New Orleans somehow figured out Da Vinci’s code,” says O’Hara, who has long considered Eli one of his best friends.

To teammates, Eli revealed himself. One of his secrets was he liked to have a good time — like, a really good time.

“I’ve seen Eli dancing on tables,” Strahan says, chuckling.

Strahan also has been a victim of Eli’s practical jokes. Eli often changed the language on teammates’ mobile phones to Chinese, but he went beyond that with Strahan. The defensive end picked up his mobile phone to see the wallpaper had been changed to a photo of a teammate’s private parts.

Before the Giants left to go to Super Bowl XLII in Arizona, they had a walkthrough in East Rutherford. Players had their dress clothes in their lockers so they could change before heading to the buses. When Eli’s offensive linemen looked for their dress shoes, they couldn’t find them — in their place were new shoes painted bright purple. And so they headed to the Super Bowl looking like clowns as their quarterback cracked up.

In his post-playing days, Eli has gone from concealing his personality to marketing it. For the ESPN show “Eli’s Places,” he wore elaborate makeup as a tryout quarterback named Chad Powers to prank Penn State coaches. On the “ManningCast,” he has done the “Sexy Dexy” dance and sang for Pete Davidson. On “The Eli Manning Show” on Giants.com, he cooked with Matthew McConaughey and had a pie-eating contest with Jason Biggs.

He played so long and hard, but somehow time has been a friend. Many old quarterbacks wear their sacks, interceptions and losses on their faces. Not Eli.

Being home with his family, including son Charlie and daughter Caroline, is a big part of Eli Manning’s post-playing life. (Courtesy of the Manning family)

At 43, he works out several times weekly, taking early morning high-intensity interval training classes at a local gym. He has had only one surgery in his life — an ankle cleanup in 2015. He says nothing hurts enough to mention, and he can run, jump and throw, which he does often when he plays with his four children.

One of the reasons the “ManningCast” appealed to him more than a traditional broadcasting job is he does it from his basement. Eli’s priority is being there for his family, as it was for Archie when the boys were young.

Ava, 13, wants to do it all like Eli did at her age. Her determination is like his, too. She is a competitive swimmer and lacrosse player and also plays field hockey and basketball. Lucy is more laid back. The 11-year-old likes individual sports, especially tennis. Eli has been helping her study states, capitals and fractions. School comes easy for 9-year-old Caroline — his joke is she takes after Mom. She plays hockey.

Charlie, 5, has learned all the NFL teams by their helmets. He can tell you his father played for the Giants, his uncle played for the Colts and Broncos, and his grandfather — “Red,” they call him — played for the Saints, Oilers and Vikings.

Charlie plays hockey, basketball and flag football for two teams — both are the Giants. Eli is a coach on both football teams.

After their first three children were girls, Eli did not yearn for something he didn’t have. But Abby wanted a boy, partly because she dreamt of a son who would treat her as sweetly as Eli treats his mother, Olivia.

Eli and Olivia always had a special connection. It grew during the five years he was the only kid in the house after his brothers went to college.

Olivia collects antiques. Eli accompanied her on search missions and became a collector himself.

“You think Peyton was going to go antique shopping with his mother?” Archie says.

Olivia loves wine. Eli subsequently took an interest in wine, and now it is a shared passion. When his mother visits, he breaks out a special bottle from his cellar.

Eli Manning, author of history, owner of big moments, thrower of interceptions and master of perspective, steps out to his front yard, into the smell of autumn and the beautiful chaos of a young family.

School just got out, and kids are coming and going, laughing and playing. This is a special time of day for Eli.

He looks out to where life has led.

When he was playing, Eli never had his sights set on the Hall of Fame.

“All my goals were about team-oriented success,” he says. “Trying to win championships — that was my goal.”

He isn’t anxious about his chances now, though he acknowledges being inducted would be very meaningful.

“Whether I get in or don’t get in, it’s not going to impact how much I’ve appreciated the game or what I’ve taken from the game or the friendships, the good times, the bad times,” he says. “I feel so grateful to have been with the New York Giants organization for 16 years.”

He could campaign for himself. But he won’t.

“That’s not me,” he says. “And hey, I can see both sides of the case. That’s just kind of my personality.”

And now Charlie wants to toss around a football with his father. Charlie throws it as if he were born to. His passes travel high and deep, arcing like rainbows.

Eli Manning’s legacy? Whatever it is, he’s good with it.

(Top photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame is loving late-night basketball in Las Vegas.

The unbeaten Knights (12-0) advanced to the Platinum Division championship game of the Tarkanian Classic, opening a 20-point lead before prevailing over Layton Christian (Utah) 73-60 on Friday night. Notre Dame will face Eastvale Roosevelt (10-1) for the championship Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Bishop Gorman. They are ranked No. 2 and No. 4 in The Times’ top 25 rankings.

Tyran Stokes continued his impressive play with a 29-point, 10-rebound performance after a 30-point effort on Thursday. NaVorro Bowman had 20 points.

Eastvale Roosevelt 78, Redondo Union 74: Brayden Burries and Myles Walker each scored 18 points in the win. Roosevelt had a 45-32 halftime lead before handing Redondo Union (9-1) its first defeat. Hudson Mayes had 22 points and Chris Sanders scored 20 points for Redondo Union.

Crespi 76, St. Anthony 56: The Celts (8-4) picked up a quality nonleague win, with Peyton White scoring 26 points, Isaiah Barnes 16, Carter Barnes 14 and Malakai Perrantes 13.

La Habra 70, Sonora 45: The Highlanders are 13-1 after a strong performance from Jaedon Anderson, who made a school-record nine threes en route to a 32-point effort.

Anaheim Canyon 91, Costa Mesa 41: Brandon Benjamin had 31 points for Canyon.

Grant 67, Viewpoint 66: In only its second game of the season, the Lancers (2-0) served notice they figure to reach the City Section Open Division playoffs. Aeneas Grullon scored 26 points for Viewpoint (9-3). Wizdom Burnes, who scored 18 points and had 13 rebounds for Grant, made a shot at the buzzer for the win. Champ Merrill led Grant with 24 points.

Harvard-Westlake 74, Fairfax 33: Joe Sterling had 21 points and Cole Holden 14 points for the Wolverines.

Chatsworth 66, West Albany (Ore.) 56: The Chancellors improved to 7-1 in Oregon. Alijah Arenas had 24 points.

Golden Valley 60, Gardena 45: Alex Villego had 25 points for Golden Valley.

Legacy Christian 78, Crescenta Valley 71: Vaughn Zargarian had 41 points for Crescenta Valley.

Heritage Christian 81, Valencia 40: Tae Simmons had 22 points and Dillan Shaw 19 for 11-0 Heritage Christian.

Palisades 55, El Camino Real 54: Jack Levey made a shot at the buzzer to give Palisades the victory.

Girls basketball

Ontario Christian 73, Maryland Bullis 65: Kaleena Smith had 26 points and nine assists for unbeaten Ontario Christian (14-0), which will play in the Nike TOC final against Archbishop Mitty from San José in a game that will decide No. 1 in California and maybe No. 1 in the nation in girls basketball. Archbishop Mitty defeated Mater Dei 59-42 in the other semifinal.

Sierra Canyon 69, Coeur d’Alene (Idaho) 56: Jerzy Robinson led the unbeaten Trailblazers with 30 points.

Birmingham 65, Mt. Diablo 50: Lili Martinez had 20 points and Zoee Mitchell 16 for the Patriots.

St. Joseph 85, Valencia 84: Freshman Kamilia Basyrova scored a school-record 40 points for Valencia.

A sharp, anxious intake of breath, followed by a round of applause that carries a mixture of quiet admiration and, more than anything, relief. On other occasions, it ends with supporters shaking their heads and asking why.

We are talking about the crowd reaction to — and I’m borrowing this description from a colleague who is a regular at Stamford Bridge — “the most dangerous pass in football”.

It’s the short, vertical ball from the goalkeeper to — typically, but not always — the midfield pivot, who is receiving under pressure, back to goal and close to their own penalty area.

Exhibit A: Chelsea’s Robert Sanchez trying, and failing, to pass to Moises Caicedo against Brighton earlier this season, when Carlos Baleba scored.

What a season Carlos is having! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/D7qC37kvwb

— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) September 29, 2024

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It was a case of role reversal for Baleba against Fulham when Alex Iwobi profited from a stray pass from the Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.

Forcing the error. 👊 pic.twitter.com/g0Jmd2O2LN

— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) December 6, 2024

As for Chelsea, they got their own back at Southampton, where Noni Madueke read Joe Lumley’s pass (35 seconds onwards in the clip below) to Kyle Walker-Peters and set up Christopher Nkunku for their second goal.

Tune into all of Wednesday night’s action. 📺#CFC | #SOUCHE pic.twitter.com/zY3em5RMBA

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 5, 2024

Fulham? It’s a minor miracle they didn’t concede against Newcastle when Bernd Leno signposted a pass to Emile Smith Rowe and Newcastle’s players were left shaking their heads in disbelief after Fabian Schar somehow failed to score.

Brentford had a reprieve against Ipswich, who were perilously close to serving a goal up on a plate to West Ham in October. A VAR offside call rescued Tottenham Hotspur’s Fraser Forster at Bournemouth, whose goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, was lucky that Gabriel Martinelli didn’t punish him for a loose straight ball against Arsenal, which is where Mads Hermansen passed Leicester and Harry Winks into trouble (see below) in September.

As for Manchester United, the awful goal they conceded against Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League last week was yet another example.

The list goes on and on and, in many ways, provides fuel for those who wonder why so many teams continue to take such chances playing out from the back and in particular by using this type of pass.

There are probably a few ways to answer that question. The first thing to say is that, on a broader level, the coaches that play this way believe it makes far more sense to attack in a controlled way, in possession, through a mix of established principles and rehearsed movement patterns, even if that leads to the odd mistake, rather than tossing a coin and hoping it lands heads up — which is how they view knocking longer balls forward.

The second point — and this shines through when you discuss some of the incidents highlighted above with coaches who are proponents of this style of play – is that the execution of that bounce pass close to goal, taking in the decision-making around it, the positioning, and the movement and the timing, is the problem when it goes wrong, not the pass itself.

Third, it’s inevitable that the moments when it breaks down will get far more attention than the good passages of play.

Before we look at some more examples, it’s worth pointing out that some Premier League clubs — or maybe that should be ‘some Premier League managers and goalkeepers’ — have little or no inclination to play this game of risk and reward. The goalkeepers at Bournemouth (Arrizabalaga went off-piste against Arsenal), Crystal Palace, Everton, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest in particular tend to play short sideways passes in build-up or go long.

In fact, even when the No 6 drops deep to receive a vertical ball in space with no sign of any pressure, the pass is often turned down by their goalkeepers. Below is Nottingham Forest’s Danilo, arms outstretched, asking for a ball he was never going to receive from the goalkeeper, Matz Sels.

Newcastle’s Nick Pope does the same (Bruno Guimaraes is pointing out that Sandro Tonali is free below)…

… as does Everton’s Jordan Pickford.

That said, Pickford bizarrely deviated from the script at Arsenal on Saturday. What followed was a car-crash moment between him and James Tarkowski, as the Everton goalkeeper bobbled a pass that the centre-back struggled to control, encouraging Martinelli to press. The expressions on the faces of the two Everton players afterwards said it all.

Time to look at some passages of play that show the reward and not just the risk, beginning with Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea in November.

Declan Rice is the player to watch here. He takes up a starting position behind Nicolas Jackson, on the opposite side to the free man (William Saliba) he wants to find after Arsenal have provoked Chelsea’s press with a short goal kick.

Cole Palmer makes the standard run (curved) for any player leading the press in this situation, attempting to force the ball one way. Jackson, meanwhile, is ready to jump to Gabriel if David Raya returns the pass.

Timing and understanding are absolutely key to what happens next. Rice waits until Palmer gets closer to Raya and then runs on the blind side of Jackson to receive a soft pass in front of him that…

… he can play first time to Saliba, and Arsenal are out.

It is a pattern you will see again and again at Arsenal and elsewhere.

Below is an example of Ryan Gravenberch doing the same thing for Liverpool on the opening day at Ipswich.

Gravenberch is an interesting player to watch when receiving straight passes because of his exceptional ability to take the ball under pressure on the half-turn. In the image below, Chelsea’s Romeo Lavia is pressing him.

But Caoimhin Kelleher’s pass is ‘safe side’ (away from where Lavia is approaching), and Gravenberch is a master of getting his body between the opponent and the ball to protect and turn in one motion.

Not only are Arsenal and Liverpool retaining possession in these images, but they’re also taking opposition players out of the game while building an attack.

Take a look at this example of Manchester City playing out against Liverpool at Anfield at the start of December. The image that starts this phase of play is remarkable and, in many ways, captures the modern game: Ruben Dias is playing one-versus-one against Luis Diaz, 10 yards out, with nobody in goal (Stefan Ortega is on the corner of the six-yard box, out of picture).

As soon as Dias passes to Ortega, Manuel Akanji knows he has to connect with the City goalkeeper. Cody Gakpo, circled on the left, is already anticipating the pattern and preparing to press Dias.

The natural thing for Akanji to do — and what happens 99 times out of 100 — would be to pass to Dias.

Indeed, Mario Lemina did exactly that against Liverpool in September. Salah read him like a book but, uncharacteristically for him, shot wide of an open goal.

Akanji, however, scanned prior to receiving from Ortega and, aided by Dias also pointing where to play next, recognised both the need and the opportunity for a different (and much more progressive) pass to Kyle Walker.

As the City right-back travels forward, a line of four Liverpool players are out of the game.

But that’s Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City, I hear you say. What about clubs outside the traditional ‘Big Six’?

Brentford are a fascinating case study, in part because of their evolution under Thomas Frank. The percentage of long passes from their goalkeepers has dropped by a third in less than two years. Furthermore, the bounce pass to play out has been used frequently this season and with the exception of a mix-up against Ipswich that went unpunished and a slightly nervy moment in the first half against Chelsea on Sunday, it has worked extremely well.

The example below is from Brentford’s game against Villa and starts with Ethan Pinnock passing a goal kick to Mark Flekken. Vitaly Janelt’s clean technique and game intelligence really stand out in these scenarios.

In the image below, Janelt has his right hand outstretched, preaching calm and telling Flekken to wait as Ollie Watkins starts to make that familiar curved run. Clearly, this passage of play asks a lot of Flekken — or any goalkeeper. It’s not just about being good with their feet; they need to be calm, trust their team-mates, and make smart decisions in response to the opposition press.

When Watkins gets closer, Janelt makes his move, arriving at pace and running off the back of John McGinn, who has his eyes on Flekken and Pinnock.

Youri Tielemans leaves Yehor Yarmoliuk and jumps, along with McGinn, to press Janelt. But the Brentford midfielder and Flekken have worked it perfectly and Nathan Collins is ‘out’.

Three Villa players have been bypassed as Collins drives forward and…

… a few seconds later, Yoane Wissa has the ball inside the Villa half and Brentford have a four-versus-four attack.

The instinct is to say that the passages of play highlighted above look relatively straightforward. In reality, they require hours and hours of practice on the training ground as well as players who have both the technical ability and the mental fortitude to handle the ball in these situations and deal with the crowd anxiety. Indeed, that leads into a question that football fans will often ask about their team: are our players good enough to play this way?

Let’s analyse some clips of where it goes wrong.

The clip below is from Manchester United’s game against Tottenham in September. Diogo Dalot, playing the role of auxiliary No 6, receives a straight pass from Onana with his back to goal. Both United centre-backs — Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez — are higher than you would expect in this scenario.

Normally, the pass made from the player occupying Dalot’s position here would be first time and with the left foot given where Dejan Kulusevski is pressing. But Dalot takes a touch to control with his right foot…

… turns his whole body around and passes with his right foot, too, allowing Kulusevski to get close to blocking. That extra touch also means Brennan Johnson is able to press Martinez easier (admittedly, Martinez’s lack of depth doesn’t help).

Panicked, Martinez blindly helps the ball on…

… and Pedro Porro is now on the attack for Spurs.

Some coaches are a lot more detailed with their messages than others. They will talk, for example, about the importance of goalkeepers receiving the ball in a neutral position, so that the opponent leading the press doesn’t know which side to jump and also discourage goalkeepers from making sweeping actions with their passes (picture that awkward Pickford ball to Tarkowski at Arsenal) to prevent the ball arriving with a bounce or with spin on it.

In other words, completing a pass to a team-mate isn’t enough when playing out against a press; it’s about giving the player receiving the ball the best possible opportunity of making their next action perfect — after all, multiple passes will often be required. It’s interesting to hear Liverpool players talking about how their manager, Arne Slot, has stopped training sessions because passes have not been played to the back foot of the receiver.

The problem with one sloppy pass is that it often leads to another. In the next photo, the Ipswich goalkeeper, Arijanet Muric, plays a ball around Tottenham’s Dominic Solanke using the outside of his right foot. It’s high risk and comes off, but the pass isn’t easy for Sam Morsy to play first time and that contributes to the next pass being untidy…

… which ends up with Dara O’Shea jumping to try to get the ball under control and encouraging Spurs to press even more.

Ipswich are committed to playing out from the back under Kieran McKenna and their build-up involves a lot of straight passes that they generally execute well — the montage below is from Saturday’s game at Wolves.

McKenna — and this feels important for any coach who wants to play this way — took time to explain his philosophy to the Ipswich fans to try to manage the apprehension that often builds in stadiums during these phases of play.

Away from home can be more challenging, though, and rival supporters will revel in the sort of moment that Ipswich endured at West Ham earlier in the season.

The first thing that jumps out when you watch the passage below is the setup. As well as being very close to the penalty area, both of Ipswich’s defensive midfielders, Morsy and Kalvin Phillips, are marked from behind before the goal kick and that feels like a red flag.

Morsy is unable to arrive at speed or on the blind side of an opponent. As for Phillips, he makes the penalty area more crowded by dropping inside and bringing Lucas Paqueta with him.

In fact, Phillips almost gets in the way of Morsy’s pass…

… which ends up at the feet of Paqueta.

Amid a scene of chaos in the Ipswich penalty area, O’Shea clears off the line.

On the subject of overcrowding, there were 14 players (8 v 6) in a tight space when Southampton tried to play out against Villa this month (see the image below). Southampton survived this one, but they conceded against Liverpool in a not-dissimilar fashion and there was the Chelsea goal, too.

Watching Southampton this season, it was hard to avoid the conclusion that neither Lumley nor Alex McCarthy, both of whom deputised for the injured Aaron Ramsdale, were equipped to play Russell Martin’s brand of football at this level — and maybe they weren’t alone.

Clearly, there are times when the straight pass isn’t on and the goalkeeper needs to adopt a more pragmatic approach. Fulham’s Sander Berge is pictured below signalling to Leno that he should miss him out and go over the top of Brighton’s aggressive press.

Getting caught in two minds is probably the worst position for a goalkeeper to be in and that’s what happened to Tottenham’s Guglielmo Vicario against Brentford (below). It’s almost as if Vicario is so programmed to play that straight pass (it’s central to the way Spurs build up under their manager Ange Postecoglou) that he doesn’t recognise an alternative. Fabio Carvalho capitalised on Vicario’s indecision but, to the Spurs goalkeeper’s credit, he recovered and denied Bryan Mbeumo moments later.

Both Vicario and Forster, his deputy, have had their share of close shaves this season, most recently at Bournemouth a couple of weeks ago, where Kulusevski felt like a sitting duck for Tyler Adams when the straight pass arrived.

On Sunday, against Southampton, Spurs were at it again right from the kick-off.

Four passes later, James Maddison was running through on goal and putting his team 1-0 up.

The risk, Postecoglou and others will argue, is worth the reward.

(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Meech Robinson)