"The long throw-in is back," said Thomas Tuchel, ahead of England's World Cup qualifier in Serbia on Tuesday.
And not just long throws.
"We will also talk about long throw-ins, we will talk about long kicks from the goalkeeper and not only playing short."
Long throws and long balls never really went away, but in the Pepification of modern football, they receded. In fact, ever since the Premier League opened the doors to a vast influx of European and South American coaches and players, they have been in retreat.
But fashion is no different in football to in life – people soon get bored of the "in thing" and move onto the next one. In sport, there is more to it than that, it is about finding ways to beat the de rigueur way of playing.
And when he first took the job, Tuchel talked of making the Three Lions mirror English footballing culture more.
The best managers – like Tuchel, and like Guardiola, who institutionalised "tika-taka" in the 21st Century – are always ahead of the curve. Even Pep no longer plays "Guardiola football" as we once understood it.
TACTICAL IDEAS: England coach Thomas Tuchel (Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)placeholder image
TACTICAL IDEAS: England coach Thomas Tuchel (Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Many are taking the appointment of Pep Ljinders as his latest assistant as a sign that Manchester City are going to play a bit more of the more direct "heavy metal football" Liverpool did when the Dutchman was Jurgen Klopp's No 2.
Not that is has had an earthquake effect just yet. WhoScored.com have City top of this season's Premier League – it is, of course, a very small sample size – for passes, but second bottom for accurate long balls.
Since the football Guardiola's brilliant teams inspired – with a heavy emphasis on possession characterised by intricate short goal kicks – has permeated every level, so must the antidote.
The likes of Bournemouth, Brentford and Brighton and Hove Albion have become direct, counter-attacking sides to challenge the elite.
TARGETMAN: Leeds United's Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)placeholder image
TARGETMAN: Leeds United's Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Some people will be glad of it, turned off by what they see as passing for passing's sake. Others will be bracing themselves for a second coming of the kind of up-and-under football which dominated this country in the 1980s.
The beauty of football is that there are different ways to play and enjoy it, and the best teams will be – already are, in fact – somewhere in the middle.
The "anti-football" rants Arsene Wenger used to go on were never much more than snobbery. Refusing to throw the ball long or work hard at set pieces falls into the same category. Mikel Arteta was a cultured midfielder in his day, but he gets it.
Direct football, played well and intelligently, is entertaining.
LONG THROW-INS: But Sheffield United have sold Jack Robinson (Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)placeholder image
LONG THROW-INS: But Sheffield United have sold Jack Robinson (Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Bournemouth, Brentford and Brighton's version of direct football is a long way from some of the hit and hope of the 80s.
As high pressing has become more of a fad, so clipping the ball long to bypass it has become an art. Last season saw a change where teams regularly kicked off games by passing the ball back to the goalkeeper and watching him thump it downfield.
As part of the evolution, big centre-forwards are back from the brink of extinction. Erling Haaland was the most striking example at Manchester City, but this season Arsenal have paid more than £60m for 6ft 2in Vioktor Gyokeres, Chelsea have gone with £30m, 6ft 1in Liam Delap, Manchester United have spent £70m-plus on Benjamin Sesko, who is 6ft 5in, and Liverpool set a new world record of £125m for 6ft 4in Alexander Isak.
Leeds United got their forwards in the free agent market, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin (6ft 2in) and Lukas Nmecha (6ft 1in) are both physical frontmen – not just tall, but happy to throw their weight around.
After a spell of "false nines", the targetman is back.
Sheffield United seem to be bucking the trend, swapping Kieffer Moore for the smaller, more mobile Danny Ings and selling their long-throw expert, Jack Robinson, to Birmingham City.
Hull have been the best team in the early Championship at going long – apparently finding their target 30 times a game.
Barnsley (29) and Doncaster Rovers (27) are in League One's top five for it – and the top six for results.
It is a far more effective tactic when teams come out to play, which is why Tuchel was speaking about it in longer-term tones, as something to implement at the World Cup, more than in qualifying, where they often face teams like Andorra who sit back and smother the space. Tuchel is expecting that in Serbia too.
Do not expect him to morph into a modern-day version of the fictional Mike Bassett or his very real namesake Dave, but the game is changing and England are changing with it. They will not be the only ones.