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Why Pressing on the Wings Is and Remains So Effective
Hello and welcome to the latest edition of our newsletter! In this edition, we'll be focusing on the following topics:
⚽Pressing (Part 1)
✒️Football Quote of the Week
👉Weekend Recommendations
⚽Pressing
Every soccer fan is familiar with this situation: the opposing center-back has the ball, passes it to the right-back, and the entire defending team shifts to the right side without pressuring the player in possession. The forward with the ball sees no options for a forward pass and passes it back to the center-back. The center-back then plays the ball to the left side to the left-back, causing the entire defense to shift to the left to prevent the left-back from advancing.
This pattern often repeats in the game, and the defending team hopes that the opponent makes a mistake. However, at some point, a team must stop merely shifting from one side to the other and transition to pressing. The critical question is: When and how should they do so?
The transition to pressing carries risks. To apply pressure on the player in possession, spaces must be opened up that the opponent can exploit. Defenders must engage in one-on-one battles, with the possibility of losing the duel. Hence, the decision of when and how a team transitions to pressing is of significant importance. In fact, this aspect of defensive tactics receives considerable attention from coaches nowadays.
Pressing offers excellent opportunities. Ideally, the defending team can win the ball, surprise the opponent, and immediately launch a counter-attack. However, the risks and rewards of pressing are high. Therefore, hardly any team rushes forward haphazardly, hoping to somehow win the ball. Systematic aggression is the order of the day.
Pressing Intensity:
As explained at the beginning, pressing can take place across the entire field, and it makes sense to distinguish between various types of pressing based on where it occurs. The division of the field into three thirds has proven to be useful. The front third extends deep into the opponent's half, the middle third covers the area just in front of and behind the halfway line, while the back third is in one's own half. Due to this division, the German Football Association (DFB) distinguishes between three different types of pressing:
Defensive Pressing: When a team only applies pressure to the opponent in the back third, without pressing in the front two thirds, it is referred to as defensive pressing.
Midfield Pressing: If a team allows the opponent to initiate their build-up in their own third but then transitions to pressing in the middle third, it is known as midfield pressing.
High Pressing: When a team disrupts the opponent across the entire field and doesn't allow them time on the ball, causing them to engage in duels everywhere on the pitch, it's called high pressing.
Principles of Effective Pressing:
Applying Pressure on the Player in Possession: In soccer, the player with the ball typically holds the advantage, as they can act while defenders must react. Every soccer player is familiar with the situation: with ample time and space, making good decisions is easy. However, when the opponent denies time and space, panic and errors are more likely. Applying high pressure to the opponent increases the chances of winning the ball. Pressing aims to create disruption and often involves a psychological element.
Limiting Options: The more options available to a player in possession, the more likely they are to make a successful choice. If three open teammates are nearby, they'll likely find a safe pass. When only one player is available, the chances of an overlooked pass or an inaccurate one increase. When no teammates are free, panic can set in. The fewer options the player in possession has, the better for the defending team.
Creating Numerical Superiority: To limit the options of the player with the ball, the defending team should establish numerical superiority near the ball. The more defenders pressure the player in possession, the higher the pressure. And the more defenders cover the nearby passing options, the fewer choices the player with the ball has. However, numerical superiority near the ball also comes with a drawback: it can leave the defending team in numerical disadvantage in other areas. Striking the right balance is crucial.
Location of Pressing: As previously defined, there are three types of pressing: defensive, midfield, and high pressing. In simple terms, the further up the field a team wins the ball, the better the chance of launching a successful counter-attack. Winning the ball five meters from the opponent's goal allows for an immediate goal attempt. However, higher pressing also carries higher risk. If a team deploys several players to press high in the opponent's half and fails, it may leave their own half exposed to a counter-attack. This choice involves a trade-off between ball recovery and goal prevention.
Covering and Shifting: Pressing doesn't always lead to immediate ball recovery. Therefore, it's important that defenders support one another. Teammates behind the players engaging in duels should provide cover. For example, when a team is employing high pressing, the defensive line should not remain deep in its own penalty area, as the opponent would have a lot of space in midfield to exploit. Instead, teammates should step up, maintain compact distances, and cover for their colleagues. Ideally, there should be another layer of cover behind the initial covering players, which is referred to as shifting.
Pressing Signal:
It is crucial that all players on a team know precisely when the team shifts from a passive style to pressing. For instance, if eight players move forward but two remain behind, there will be a lack of cover. This increases the risk of a failed pressing attempt. So, when does a team transition to pressing? How do the players recognize the right situation? Each team has its own procedures. Pressing often begins after a specific signal, which is not necessarily an audible one, as players typically don't carry whistles. Instead, it is often a specific action by the opponent or a ball played into a particular area. These situations that initiate a team's pressing are known as "pressing signals." Teams practice in training to determine when to initiate pressing based on the opponent's actions and when to remain passive. This concept can be illustrated with a practical example.
Principles of Pressing in Practice: Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan
Arrigo Sacchi, who initially worked in his father's shoe factory during the 1970s and 1980s before gaining recognition as an amateur coach, took over as the head coach of AC Milan in 1987. Despite never having a professional playing career, Milan entrusted him due to his remarkable coaching skills. The club had firsthand experience of Sacchi's abilities: the year before, he led second-division AC Parma to eliminate the big Milan teams from the national cup. Milan's president, Silvio Berlusconi, felt that Parma had an extra man on the field due to how well Sacchi's team defended. This success was attributed to his sophisticated tactical system.
In a time when almost all teams primarily favored a man-marking style of play, he introduced space-oriented defending in his teams. Although his ideas were not entirely new, he combined the tactical elements so skillfully that they elevated defense to a new level. At the same time, he paved the way for an intellectual revolution in football. The four reference points for defenders - the opponent, teammates, space, and the ball - were conceived by Sacchi himself.
In Milan, he began refining his team's pressing. He wanted the team to act collectively, attack the opponent cohesively, and win the ball as deep as possible in the opponent's half. Sacchi had a clear understanding of when and how his team should transition to pressing. The foundation of his tactics was space-oriented defense. The players were expected to shift collectively across the field, maintaining even distances from each other. When the opponent passed the ball between their center-backs, Sacchi's team shifted along with them. However, as soon as the opponent played a pass to the full-backs, the team initiated their pressing.
The choice of the pass to the full-back as their pressing signal and why Sacchi's Milan team excelled in executing it can be understood by examining the principles of effective pressing:
Starting the Pressing on the Wings: The wings are an interesting place to initiate pressing. In the center of the field, a player theoretically has the option to pass the ball in any direction - forward, backward, left, or right. On the wing, the sideline acts as a natural barrier. The opponent's options are limited by the sideline. Therefore, Sacchi's team had to cover fewer possible action options. Blocking the passing lanes back from the wing into the center and directly forward and backward was sufficient.
Creating Numerical Superiority: To create numerical superiority, several players from Sacchi's team advanced towards the wing. One or two players would engage the opponent with the ball, while others aimed to intercept the pass back into the center. The purpose of this numerical superiority was to further restrict the opposing player's action options.
Increasing Pressure on the Opponent: To increase the pressure on the opponent, the entire team shifted towards that side during the counter-pressing. Particularly the player involved in the duel would sprint at full speed towards the ball-carrying full-back. Deprived of his action options, the full-back had to make a decision under pressure. This was a brilliant idea during Sacchi's time in the late 1980s, as full-backs were often the least technically skilled players on a team. Many made mistakes under pressure. Sacchi's team could win the ball not only through successful duels but also due to errors by the opponent.
Winning the Ball Close to the Midfield Line: Attacking the opponent's first pass to the wing also ensured that the ball was won near or even ahead of the midfield line. This provided a short distance to the opponent's goal, facilitating a quick counter-attack. It was, therefore, a suitable location for winning the ball.
Team Consolidation: The entire team would collapse around the ball, the defense would push up, and the winger from the other side would move into the middle. The protection in proximity to the ball was always present. Although Sacchi's team left space on the opposite wing, it was calculated. A long pass to the other side could circumvent this pressing. However, this was also calculated: a short pass is easier to execute than a long one. Few opponents could precisely play a long pass to the free wing under pressure. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, full-backs were generally considered technically weaker during Sacchi's era.
Using this tactic, Milan under Sacchi won the Italian championship once and two European Cups. While Sacchi doesn't like to be reduced to the defensive aspect of his football, he emphasizes his innovative work in the offensive area. Nevertheless, his pressing is the facet of Milan's play that has been most frequently copied. Even today, many teams use the pass to the full-backs as a signal to initiate pressing.
The Pressing Trap: The central question that arises is why the attacking team, knowing the pressing signal, doesn't simply avoid it. Why did Sacchi's opponents even pass the ball to the full-backs when they should have known that this was precisely what Sacchi's team intended? The answer lies in the sophisticated preparation that Sacchi's team invested in pressing. Even when shifting players, they ensured that the opponent was directed in the desired direction. The defenders positioned themselves so cleverly that the opposing defenders had no other choice but to pass the ball to the full-back. Sacchi's players covered all other possible passing lanes with their positioning. They effectively forced the opponent to make a specific pass. Once that pass occurred, the pressing trap was set. Even without active pressing, Milan's players compelled the player with the ball to choose the pass to the full-back because he had no other passing option.
In modern football, such pressing traps play a significant role. They intentionally guide the opponent in a predetermined direction to then win the ball.
Approach Behavior: Defenders have various options to apply pressure to the opponent. In the example of Milan, the full-back was approached at full sprint. The defending player ran directly towards the full-back. In this situation, he could either decelerate to engage in a tackle or continue sprinting towards him (risking a collision). Both are valid ways to attack the opponent. However, the direct sprint towards the opponent is just one option. Another approach involves curving towards the opponent. The full-back is approached slightly off-center, allowing the defending player to work with his shadow and block the opponent's passing lane. For example, if he wants to guide the opponent back into the center, he would approach him from the side. This type of approach, where the defender curves towards the opponent, is called "curved approach."
Practical Example of Complex Pressing with a Curved Approach: Jürgen Klopp's FC Liverpool / 2018/19 Season
By having the winger approach the defender in a curved manner, he initially blocks the direct pass to the full-back with his shadow. Klopp's team is intentionally trying to force the pass into the center. Therefore, Klopp's midfield player maintains a certain distance from the opposition's defensive midfielder, who is the intended recipient of the pass, to encourage the pass to be directed there. However, as soon as the pass arrives, they immediately close down and press. Liverpool's full-back plays a crucial role here because the opponent is forced (unless they can technically break free) to pass the ball to their own full-back on the outside. Then, they are aggressively pursued by Liverpool's full-back at full sprint, and this is where the pressing trap is supposed to close in.
✒️Football Quote of the Week:
"So is football. Sometimes the better team wins!" - Lukas Podolski
👉Weekend Recommendation:
Listen / Watch: Podcast episode from Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE with Kevin-Prince Boateng as a guest. - Stories about his time at Milan with Zlatan, Ronaldinho, and Seedorf - His time at Sassuolo under Coach De Zerbi - Messi and his magic - Mental health.
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