“An outfield player taking a goal kick used to be a rare treat, a sign that the goalkeeper had pulled a muscle and needed a willing team-mate to launch the ball towards the centre circle. But since a tweak of football’s laws in 2019, the once-humble goal kick has become an increasingly integral part of how a club chooses to build up play. Some teams choose to have a defender pass the ball laterally to the goalkeeper, some ask the goalkeeper to play short to team-mates in the box, while some still prefer to go long and direct. …”
The Athletic