The long-range goal is supposed to be dead. Depending on whom you listen to, it's the result of analytics or the new mode of managerial tactics. Whatever the answer, the broader cause is the same: stop shooting from so far away; it's easier to score from closer to the goal.
This is part of the wisdom created by expected goals (xG), and if "wisdom" seems like the wrong word for something so obvious, then consider all of the other simple-minded bits of analytical insight that have transformed other sports: three points are worth more than two, it's easier to throw the ball than to run directly into all of the biggest players on the field, and home runs are good. Every time a player indulges the crowd and accedes to their demand to "SHOOOOT," they are ensuring that possession doesn't create a better chance from inside the box.
As soccer teams have (begrudgingly and maybe accidentally) become smarter, the goals we all celebrated back in December 2006 have disappeared.
In the 2008-09 season -- the earliest in the Stats Perform database -- Premier League teams took 45.7% of their shots from outside the box. This season, it's down to 32.5%, the second-smallest share after last season. The average shot in 2008-09 came from 18.3 meters away. This season, teams are shooting, on average, from 15.4 meters, tied with last season for the closest on record.
Combine that with the general, sudden downturn of attacking play in the Premier League this season, and we're left with this: 4.03 shots from outside the box, per team, per game -- the lowest number since 2008-09 and likely the lowest in the history of the Premier League.
And yet, you remember Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers picking out top corners for fun at the beginning of the season, don't you? If not, what about Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai who seemingly has a better handle on the laws of physics than anyone since physicist Werner Heisenberg? Can we forget Fulham's Kevin? Kevin!