A Pressing Issue
I'm going to press your buttons! I promise these subtitles will get more creative.
Good morning! I want to talk about how I coach a high pressing team and why it’s one of my favorite things to coach!
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Neat Reads
Neat Reads is a segment where I share an article or podcast that interests me and relates to our weekly theme.
I’ve got two great articles from Spielverlagerung that are best enjoyed on your laptop with a coffee and note pad!
Liverpool’s Pressing System (2019)
What does a good press look like?
A lot of conversations online about pressing begin and finish with the shape in which you press. This is all well and good. There are some pressing structures that do better against some build up structures, but these can be found online or by just watching the Premier League.
There is very little conversation about intensity, and the importance of using time effectively.
Many of the players I’ve worked with, professional or academy players, have said that the biggest difference between academy and professional football is the speed.
Simply put, players have very little time on the ball against high quality opponents. Why is that?
The shape we press in is important, but there’s something to be said for holding your players accountable and pressing at match speed or improving the match speed they press in.
We will not prepare our players for professional football if we do not create an environment that is realistic to the game in training.
Here’s what I encourage in training to get the result I need:
How fast you get to the ball
How aggressive you arrive to the ball
Not giving up until the ball is lost or passed away
It sounds cliché, but these are good standards to set for an individual in a pressing structure.
Exercise of the Week
This session plan is from the week we prepared for our U18’s trip to South Africa. We beat Mamelodi Sundowns, SuperSport and Stellenbosch. Every head coach said they were impressed with the pressing shape and intensity.
Exercise 1 is great because we can set up in the shape we want right away at the start of the session. From there, all we need to focus on is intensity and the three standards I listed above.
I also printed this session plan and put it out on the wall, which is why there are individual responsibilities and phrases that the players need to say, in accordance to our game model.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading this week! If you’ve noticed, I removed the Coach’s Corner section. The Q&A got very little engagement on a weekly basis and the ramblings can fall under the main body of this newsletter.
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See you next week!
Kindest,
Cameron