I was caught by surprise recently as I observing one of my coaches preparing his squad for their upcoming weekend fixture. Knowing this coach and his football philosophy he was certainly trying something new in order to combat his weekend opponents.
His general belief, when losing possession, is to press hard and look to win the ball back immediately but in this session the instructions were drop off, get compact and pretty much (as we politely say) park the bus. This led to a great conversation at the end of training. His reasoning for the change of tactics was to nullify pace, as he was taken apart by the speed of the opposition the last time the two teams met.
So I questioned him – “I thought it was your belief that to press was the best form of winning back possession? Maybe you doubt this form of defending now?” His reply was simple – you can’t always play the same way all the time.
Now this is the great thing about football. What is the correct thing to do in this situation?
What would I do? I would apply constant pressure on the ball and maintain a high line in order to try and play on the front foot and not allow my opponents time and space to get going. Risky yes, you have to have courage to play this way, or more importantly, play your own way.
What would you do? Press or no press, change or stick to your beliefs??
The 2013 games between Bayern under the direction of Jupps Hynckes and Barca coached by Pep Guardiola were interesting in regard to combined team energy output.Bayern won both games.When Barca lost possession they would immediately press in a group of 3-4 at the point where possession was lost, regardless if high up the park or in the middle third.Bayern on the other hand dropped 8-9 players behind the ball on losing possession and defended zonally with patience.The use of planned collective energy when defending appears based on the quality of the opposition and the speed of their transition to attack.I think pressing high can occasionally be rewarding at the early stages of the game but hard to maintain throughout the game.Ajax pressed consistently against AC Milan in the UEAFA cup leg 2013.AC Milan sat back and withstood high pressing from Ajax until Prince Boetang punished them on the counter going on to win the game.It seems that high pressing at times can be physically draining and fruitless and yet at times will result in winning the game early.There are a lot of considerations to weigh up.