Introduction to the Style of Play – The 4 P’s

Position – Correct spacing during different moments of the game, relative to your role (center forward,

left back, etc.), the opponent, your teammates, and where the ball happens to be in that moment

Possession – Gaining, retaining, circulating of the ball, which ultimately allows you to move the other

team’s defenders and find space to exploit and attack

Pressure – The act of regaining possession after having lost it through teamwork

(pressure/cover/balance) and communication

Play – Freedom to create, express yourself, and enjoy the game while creating chances to score

Being in a good Position leads to increased chances of keeping

Possession or being able to Pressure the ball effectively, both of which

lead to being able to Play with freedom and enjoy the game

4 P's

Position

Posession

Play

Pressure

Position

Video: Thierry Henry on Guardiola’s Tactics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB9jpteTgH0

Questions to ask before/after watching:

When does the game require discipline and when does it allow for freedom? – in possession vs out of

possession, different thirds of the field

Why is position important? Should you stay in position? When can/should you leave your position?

What has to happen for that to be okay? How do forwards and outside backs give us width and why is

that important? How do forwards and center backs/goalkeepers give us depth and why is that

important? What is the difference between having 3 forwards vs 2? How does that affect the other

team’s defenders? Are there disadvantages? What about having 3 defenders – how would that affect us

and our positioning or decision-making?

Video: La Masia DNA of a Goal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNOKw9sCUls

Questions before/after watching:

Where did the play start? What position received/played each pass? How many passes were there?

Where were the outside backs and why were they important even without touching the ball? Where did

the forwards start and where did they finish? Why did they play it short instead of booting long? Who

did they want to get on the ball and why?

By Positioning yourself where the space is, you give yourself more time,

which increases your quality on the ball.

Space -> Time -> Quality

You find good space by being aware of what’s around you (teammates,

defenders, boundaries), and you relate that to what your Position and

role (forward, goalkeeper, etc.) is on the field. Positioning is the

starting point to gaining and maintaining Possession and being able to

Pressure the ball effectively.

Possession

Video: Bayern Domination

https://vimeo.com/136475380

Questions before/after watching:

What are Bayern (red) players doing technically to maintain possession? (How do they receive, dribble,

pass consistently?) What are the physical demands of keeping possession? Short movements versus long

runs? What are the mental demands of keeping possession? What happens to your mental state when

you are out of possession for long periods of time? Do you see a pass-first mentality?

What habits are they repeating with their team-mates? How many touches do they take? Do they play

the ball at speed or slowly? Are there times to pause and times to speed the game up? How many

passes are they completing? Are they ‘low-percentage passes’ or ‘high-percentage passes’? Are certain

players more involved with others? How might communication play a role? Awareness?

How does their position affect their ability to keep the ball? How does each player – center back,

forward, etc. involve themselves? How does it help them switch the field? Why is that important? How

many players are around the ball? Do they consistently create numerical superiority?

Graphics: Link Between Keeping Possession & Winning – Inspire! Bristol Conference 2013

Richard Bate, Cardiff City FC Youth Academy Director

Questions before/after graphics:

Why is possession helpful? Why is it important to create more chances during a game than your

opponent? What kind of chances or shots can be created through possession vs ‘kick & run’? Why does

it matter how many passes your team makes in a game? What are those passes ultimately moving? (hint

– it’s not the ball) What teams do this the best in the professional game? Is it possible to win games,

create chances, or score goals without dominating possession?

Keeping Possession doesn’t guarantee chances, goals, or wins – but it

does make our percentages go up! Good teams have a pass-first

mentality. Forcing yourself to make good decisions to keep Possession

may backfire in the short term (giving up goals, losing games) but will

benefit you in the long run (player that has maturity and cool under

Pressure can play at higher level than player who takes easy way out

and ‘just boots it’)

Pressure

Video: Ajax Pressing vs Barcelona 2013-2014

https://vimeo.com/136475381

Questions before/after watching:

How does Ajax (red/white team) defend Barcelona? Individuals or as group? What does each player do

individually to assure good defending? Work rate, body shape, speed & angle of approach? Do they dive

in and over-commit? Contain? What are they defending besides the ball? Where are the dangerous

passing lanes? How do they shift and maintain pressure/cover/balance?

What are the back four doing? Do they step too high, stay too low? How do you think they’re

communicating to the midfield and forwards? What are they saying? When the long pass comes their

way, do they take responsibility to win the ball? Do they let the forwards they’re marking settle it?

When they step up, are they stepping alone or are they taking a Barcelona player with them?

Do the Ajax players get behind the ball and then press, or is it the other way around? When do they

decide to press the Barcelona players? When do they press the keeper? When do they decide to sit

back? Is there a line of confrontation? Are there cues that they jump on? How does numerical

superiority effect their decisions? How many defenders are around the ball vs attackers? Does the

sideline affect anything? Where do they force Barcelona to play?

By Pressuring the ball with intensity, at speed, with good knowledge of

what’s behind through awareness and communication, especially from

our back-line and goalkeepers, we will have a better chance of getting

behind the ball, making the field compact, cutting off passing lanes, and

getting the ball back into our Possession.

Play

Video: Barcelona Tiki Taka 2009-2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMkJht0GxOs

Questions before/after watching:

How did the team change from beginning of video to end? What were some patterns you noticed?

Combination play? How often did they have to make a difficult turn with a man on? How often did they

play the way they faced? Who did the outside backs get involved with often (look for #2 Dani Alves)? Did

they get forward? Overlap? When did they choose to do so? What were their cues? How many shots did

the forwards take with their laces vs inside of foot? What allowed them to do that? How did the players

express themselves going to goal? Did they show freedom and creativity? Were they committed to

scoring or did they stay back just in case? How did they celebrate goals (if you can’t see, then how do

you think they celebrated?) By themselves? With a couple team-mates? Whole team? Fans? Why?

Video: Best Goals w/Great Teamwork

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGId3mJgXks

Questions before/after watching:

What did you notice about lots of the goals scored? Did it look fun? Was there a high technical ability

shared among the players involved? Was it usually an individual that made the difference or a group

that put it together? Could you see yourself scoring goals like that? What would it take to do it?

Other Videos Watched:

Thierry Henry Top 25 Goals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko5jBnTn9hU

Dennis Bergkamp – Technique and Elegance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m38PAhjvaY

Lionel Messi: Overall 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPrHkwAtrz0

By putting it all together – Possessing the ball as much as possible,

Pressuring the other team when we don’t have it, and maintaining

good Positioning during both phases – we will give ourselves and our

team-mates the freedom to Play the game in a way that is fun, creates

goals, and wins games.