Tactics Board
Pressing, counterpressing, and counterattacking are three very popular
concepts that are associated with the most exciting and dominant teams in
modern football. Pressing and counterattacking are perhaps the more “classic”
ideas in football tactics, while counterpressing is a buzzword which has become
quite popular over the last five to six years – despite having existed for
decades. But what do these terms really mean and why are they so important to
modern football?
Pressing
Pressing can be defined as creating tension with the intention
of getting the ball back. This is sometimes confused with pressure, which
is the tension itself. Pressing is the application of the pressure with a
specific intent. Every movement on the pitch creates some sort of pressure or
tension somewhere on the field. Without any pressure or tension the opponent
could walk straight upfield and shoot on goal every time.
So, what distinguishes pressing from a defense that doesn’t press? Intent.
When pressing, a team is actively trying to win the ball back through
pressuring the opponent and by moving out of or within its formation. When a
team isn’t attempting to win the ball back, but to contain the opponent’s
offense – then that team’s intention is to defend the goal by stopping the
opponent from creating chances without taking the ball from them.
For example, Mourinho’s Inter Milan in the second leg of the Champion’s
League semi-finals against Guardiola’s Barcelona didn’t want to win the
ball. They only ever had the ball because they had to – because if
Barcelona lost the ball trying to create a chance it meant that possession had
to change into Inter’s hands. Mourinho’s men immediately rid themselves of the
ball in transition in order to avoid any sort of disorganization which would
stem from being counterpressed or losing the ball after a counterattack.
Mourinho said after the game that he didn’t want his side to have the ball:
“We didn’t want the ball because when Barcelona press and win the ball
back, we lose our position – I never want to lose position on the pitch so I
didn’t want us to have the ball, we gave it away, I told my players that we
could let the ball help us win and that we had to be compact, closing spaces.”
Pressure is one characteristic of the atmosphere around the ball which
creates conditions in which the opponent can no longer properly control the
ball and is ultimately forced to lose possession. Pressureforces an
action to occur rather than allowing it to occur based on the will of the
opponents. When an action is forced in a pressured atmosphere, every aspect of
that action is made more difficult. An action consists of both a decision and
the execution of that decision – if these two aspects can be manipulated
correctly, the opponent will lose the ball.
The red/orange third is the attacking third, the light/dark green is midfield, and the yellow/olive is defensive. The colors within them represent the split into high and deep zones (for example, red = high attacking press, orange = low attacking press.)
The German football
association’s model for distinguishing the different types of pressing is quite
good. The field is split into three horizontal thirds – the attacking,
midfield, and defending thirds. Attacking pressing occurs in the attacking
third, midfield pressing occurs in the midfield third, and defensive pressing occurs
in (you guessed it!) the defensive third. However, the German FA divides the
thirds even further by assigning each one a high and deep zone.
This means it’s possible
to have high-attacking pressing, deep-attacking pressing, high-midfield
pressing, deep-midfield pressing, high-defensive pressing, and deep-defensive
pressing. A good way to think of it is to just split each third in half horizontally
and call the top half high and the bottom half deep.
The
most fundamental component to pressing is being able to press. In other words, you have to
establish access to the ball in order to be able to exert pressure
upon it. This concept goes hand in hand with the preparation for pressing, meaning that
every action must be prepared for (in this sense positionally, but it can apply
to psychology or other aspects of football) – including the pressing itself. If
a pressing action is prepared for properly then the pressing team will have
proper access to the ball.
(Poor preparation for a pressing movement)
(Poor preparation leads to a bad press and access)
If there is access to the ball the entire dynamic changes in
comparison to when there is no access. When a team is able to pressure the ball
it allows the rest of the team in the deeper layers to push towards the ball
and leave space on the far side of the field open. If a team played with a high
defensive line but didn’t pressure the ball they would concede a lot of goals
because of allowing long passes into the space behind the defenders. If a team
which played very horizontally compact didn’t pressure the ball they would have
a very hard time defending because every switch of the ball would expose the
underloaded far side.
If there is no access to
the ball then the defensive team must answer the obvious question: How do we
re-establish access without being exposed? There are multiple ways to do this.
The most common way is to ignore the ball as a reference point and collectively
move towards the space where the ball will eventually arrive. In other words,
drop deeper and more centrally to protect the space near the goal and wait to
force the ball backwards or wide and away – the space behind the defense and in
front of the goalkeeper decreases as the ball moves forward and the defense
moves backwards. Another option is to move collectively towards the ball and
play with the offside rule. If prepared and timed correctly this can be an
extremely valuable way to win the ball back even without access to the ball.
Preparing for the press
means moving into the proper positions to be able to press according to the
team’s strategy. It’s also possible to prepare the offensive team for the
defensive team’s press. It’s quite common to see a defense “condition” the play
of the offense in a certain way in order to move them into an area the defense
is seeking to press.
Athletico preparing Chelsea for a pressing trap in the center of the field
Above is a variation to preparing the opponent for the press.
Atletico Madrid seek to move the opponent into the center of the field in order
to isolate him from his teammates and then close the pressing trap on him. The
players move in specific routes and block the outside passing lanes in order to
encourage the opponent to move into the center of the field.
Once the opponent is
isolated from his teammates and has no escape route, the team can move towards
the ball collectively and win it in a good area which would likely result in a
great counter attack. Pressing traps can vary as well – aspects of the trap
include where the trap is set up to isolate the opponent, how many players
participate in the trap, the type of pressing when closing the trap, how the
opponent is isolated, when the trap is set, and more.
In the above example,
Atletico Madrid were quite active as they moved out of their shape to start and
baited the opponent into the center. Preparation varies depending on if its
dynamic or static and which game phase or game state it is in.
So what are the triggers
to begin a press once in position to do so? They normally depend on aspects
like field of view, control of the ball, ability of the player, connectivity of
the opponent, or the nature of the pass. If a player isn’t facing in the
direction of his passing options then it is extremely difficult to escape a
press, therefore the team should press before the player can re-orient himself.
The ball is much easier
to take from an opponent who controls it poorly. A team can collectively press
the ball at the moment it’s miscontrolled because it would take time to
re-establish control of the ball. This plays a part in the “opponent’s ability”
as well. If the player is very poor at making decisions and controlling the
ball it would be logical to put that player under immense pressure as soon as
he’s about to receive it. Most players are taught to press the opponent “as the
ball is traveling” because the scene cannot change dramatically within the time
the presser leaves his position as the ball is moving between players.
The ball cannot
dynamically change directions in the middle of its route between players
(unless there is some crazy spin on the ball, which would be visible and
anticipated by the players) so it is an optimal time to press the destination
point of the ball. If the presser decided to leave his position while it is
under the control of the opponent player (without the following layers of the
press to protect the vacated space and cover him) then the ball could change
direction quite easily as the opponent can simply dribble and exploit the
movement of the presser.
When the defending team
goes to press can also depend on which section of the field they set up their
block and where they seek to isolate the ball. The press can also vary on which
part of the team begins the press, which direction the team moves, and when the
press stops.
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