Liverpool are the Premier League’s outstanding long-ball team.
And Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson is the standout player when it comes to going direct.
That's according to Sam Allardyce, the former England manager.
He believes that English football’s top pair show the kind of versatility that others lack and that Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have actually embraced a need to mix up play.
But Allardyce, 65, feels that the duo don’t get the credit they deserve for their ability to go long, because admitting you're happy to go direct is now 'frowned upon'.
"Too many players are giving the ball away in their own half," insists Allardyce.
"It's fine if you have the best players in the world because you're going to do it better than anyone else, and if you don't it's very difficult.
"Liverpool play the long ball very well indeed.
“From right to left and very quickly. But nobody will say Liverpool play long ball.”
"You wouldn't hear Martin Tyler saying it because it would be frowned upon.
"You've got to be careful about saying Liverpool play long ball. But that's the way it is.
"They play long ball exceptionally well and better than anybody else. And that's why they do it.”
Rather than criticising, Allardyce, who hasn’t worked in the top flight since leaving Everton 18 months ago, believes that both Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola deserve praise for their use of the tactic - at a time when he feels others over-emphasise the need to play out from the back.
"One of the best long-ball players is the goalkeeper at Manchester City, Allardyce told the Daily Mail.
"His long balls are unbelievably effective. So when you think you're tying them down he goes 'bosh' and the ball is in your box and Sergio Aguero is scoring.
"The top clubs have different ways to beat you. So this emphasis on playing out at the back is over-cooked.
"Over time it'll work its way out and we'll return to normality."
