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por ADIN OSMANBASIC el 1 junio, 2015 • 9:48

Pressing, Counterpressing andCounterattacking

[Definition|Philosophy|Strategy|Tactics|Techniques|Psychology]

Pressing, counterpressing, and counterattacking are three very popular concepts that are associated withthe most exciting and dominant teams in modern football. Pressing and counterattacking are perhaps themore “classic” ideas in football tactics, while counterpressing is a buzzword which has become quitepopular over the last five to six years – despite having existed for decades. But what do these termsreally 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 sometimesconfused with pressure, which is the tension itself. Pressing is the application of the pressure with aspecific intent. Every movement on the pitch creates some sort of pressure or tension somewhere on thefield. Without any pressure or tension the opponent could walk straight upfield and shoot on goal everytime.

So, what distinguishes pressing from a defense that doesn’t press? Intent. When pressing, a team isactively trying to win the ball back through pressuring the opponent and by moving out of or within itsformation. 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 withouttaking the ball from them.

For example, Mourinho’s Inter Milan in the second leg of the Champion’s League semi­finals againstGuardiola’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 intoInter’s hands. Mourinho’s men immediately rid themselves of the ball in transition in order to avoid anysort of disorganization which would stem from being counterpressed or losing the ball after acounterattack. 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 – Inever want to lose position on the pitch so I didn’t want us to have the ball, we gave it away, I told myplayers 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 theopponent 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 anaction is forced in a pressured atmosphere, every aspect of that action is made more difficult. An actionconsists of both a decision and the execution of that decision – if these two aspects can be manipulatedcorrectly, the opponent will lose the ball.

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CLUB PERARNAU

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The red/orange third is the attacking third, the light/dark green is midfield, and the yellow/olive isdefensive. 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. Attackingpressing occurs in the attacking third, midfield pressing occurs in the midfield third, and defensivepressing occurs in (you guessed it!) the defensive third. However, the German FA divides the thirds evenfurther by assigning each one a high and deep zone.

This means it’s possible to have high­attacking pressing, deep­attacking pressing, high­midfield pressing,deep­midfield pressing, high­defensive pressing, and deep­defensive pressing. A good way to think of itis 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 toestablish access to the ball in order to be able to exert pressure upon it. This concept goes hand in handwith the preparation for pressing, meaning that every action must be prepared for (in this sensepositionally, 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.

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Poor preparation for a pressing moment.

Poor preparation leads to a poor press and access.

If there is access to the ball the entire dynamic changes in comparison to when there is no access. Whena team is able to pressure the ball it allows the rest of the team in the deeper layers to push towards theball and leave space on the far side of the field open. If a team played with a high defensive line butdidn’t pressure the ball they would concede a lot of goals because of allowing long passes into the spacebehind the defenders. If a team which played very horizontally compact didn’t pressure the ball theywould have a very hard time defending because every switch of the ball would expose the underloadedfar side.

If there is no access to the ball then the defensive team must answer the obvious question: How do were­establish access without being exposed? There are multiple ways to do this. The most common way isto ignore the ball as a reference point and collectively move towards the space where the ball willeventually arrive. In other words, drop deeper and more centrally to protect the space near the goal andwait to force the ball backwards or wide and away – the space behind the defense and in front of thegoalkeeper decreases as the ball moves forward and the defense moves backwards. Another option is tomove collectively towards the ball and play with the offside rule. If prepared and timed correctly thiscan 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 theteam’s strategy. It’s also possible to prepare the offensive team for the defensive team’s press. It’s quitecommon to see a defense “condition” the play of the offense in a certain way in order to move theminto an area the defense is seeking to press.

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Atletico 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 opponentinto the center of the field in order to isolate him from his teammates and then close the pressing trapon him. The players move in specific routes and block the outside passing lanes in order to encouragethe 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 towardsthe 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 theopponent, how many players participate in the trap, the type of pressing when closing the trap, how theopponent 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 andbaited the opponent into the center. Preparation varies depending on if its dynamic or static and whichgame 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 aspectslike field of view, control of the ball, ability of the player, connectivity of the opponent, or the natureof the pass. If a player isn’t facing in the direction of his passing options then it is extremely difficult toescape a press, therefore the team should press before the player can re­orient himself.

The ball is much easier to take from an opponent who controls it poorly. A team can collectively pressthe ball at the moment it’s miscontrolled because it would take time to re­establish control of the ball.This plays a part in the “opponent’s ability” as well. If the player is very poor at making decisions andcontrolling the ball it would be logical to put that player under immense pressure as soon as he’s aboutto receive it. Most players are taught to press the opponent “as the ball is traveling” because the scenecannot change dramatically within the time the presser leaves his position as the ball is moving betweenplayers.

The ball cannot dynamically change directions in the middle of its route between players (unless there issome crazy spin on the ball, which would be visible and anticipated by the players) so it is an optimaltime to press the destination point of the ball. If the presser decided to leave his position while it isunder the control of the opponent player (without the following layers of the press to protect the vacatedspace and cover him) then the ball could change direction quite easily as the opponent can simply dribbleand 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 theirblock and where they seek to isolate the ball. The press can also vary on which part of the team beginsthe press, which direction the team moves, and when the press stops.

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An example of a team pressing an opponent towards the center and then towards the sidelines once theball has moved there.

If the team is seeking to press high up the field and towards the center, it’s possible for the wingers tobegin the press with arcing runs towards the central defenders while blocking any passing options intowide areas. If the team seeks to press from the midfield towards the flanks it’s possible for the wingerand fullback to begin the press against the touchline.

The pressure usually stops when the ball is won, when access to the ball is lost (due to being dribbled,failing a tackle, being overloaded, etc.), or the ball is forced deeper than the pressing team is willing tomove. It’s also possible to stop pressing once the ball is forced into an area which isn’t necessarily deep,but which the team feels comfortable leaving unpressured, such as the flanks in the midfield. Forexample, in certain situations Barcelona have forced the ball wide and then just focused on the centerwhile just containing the opponent in wide areas and not allowing penetration.

Similarly, the direction of the press can vary depending on the compactness of the team – horizontally,vertically, and diagonally. Within that compactness there are more specific forms of pressing likebackwards pressing and pressing within one’s own shape. Diagonal pressing refers specifically to a teammoving directly towards the ball and “cutting the corners” of your formation as they are the leastvaluable areas and they are furthest away from the ball. Basically, if the ball is in the center of the fieldthe team will collapse diagonally towards it – if the ball is with the opponent fullback the team willcollectively move towards it in a diagonal fashion.

Horizontal and vertical pressing is basically when the team (or a section of the team) moves collectivelytowards the ball in a purely horizontal or vertical fashion – which is more theoretical. When looking atthe concept of backwards pressing, it is referring to when a player presses the ball once it has alreadypast his position on the field. For example, if the ball moves past the two strikers in a 4­4­2 formationand in front of the midfield 4, if the two strikers move backwards and press the opposition from behindthey are performing backwards pressing (which doesn’t occur very often even in big leagues like theEPL that typically lack compactness – which might also be a psychological point, because players don’twant to backwards press if they don’t have support in the immediate vicinity).

Pressing is not always “collective” either, the collective positional structure is made up of individualplayers in specific positions and specific phases. Some players might still be focusing on “defensiveorganization” while others are already pressing together. Also, one player could be man marking whileothers are performing zonal marking. Not all players are always in the same phase or moving in acollective fashion – which can lead to some very complex pressing systems.

Not all defensive movements are the same either. The types of defense I will describe are variants ofzonal and man­marking. Along with that, you can take the variations of pressing movements I writeabout in the counterpressing section of this piece as variations of pressing too. It’s important toremember that pressing is usually a mix of these variations instead of being purely one type of pressingduring the match.

Rigid Man Marking

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In “rigid man marking” each player chooses an opposing player and presses him specifically, followingthe opponent wherever they go. This is easy to do for the players as it doesn’t require much thinking.The idea is to have constant access to each opponent at all times throughout the game and therefore puthuge pressure upon the opponent while blocking their options.

The weaknesses lie in the fact that each opponent is followed by a player. This puts the pressing playerin a reactionary role as they must follow the opponent’s movements – therefore losing control of hisown movements. The opponent can drag his opponent away from important areas to open space, he canswitch positions with other opponents to confuse the pressing team and disrupt their structure, and if theopponent is skilled he can beat the pressing player and potentially create overloads all over the field.

Flexible Man Marking

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This type of man marking is similar to the previous variant except that players seek to switch players offto each other whenever possible in order to avoid being dragged away from important areas or avoidconfusion when players switch positions during a press. An obvious problem here is in the moment ofthe transfer. When transferring an opponent from one presser to another there are two pressing playerson one opponent, meaning there is an open player elsewhere.

Space Oriented Man Marking

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In this variant the pressing players are focused on protecting a specific space around their position, andif any opponent moves into this space the pressing player begins to man mark the opponent. Once theopponent leaves the designated space the player returns to his position and protects his zone. The logicbehind this variant is that any opponent who is near the ball should be pressed while the rest of the teamseeks to close available spaces.

When a player leaves his position to man mark the rest of the team can collectively move towards theopened space to close up any holes – though this does create space on the far side of the field. Aweakness of this variant is that the player that leaves his position can easily be manipulated and bypassedthus creating overloads higher up the field for the opponent.

Position Oriented Zonal Marking

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In this type of zonal defense, players seek to remain in their positions in relation to their teammates andshift towards the ball. The idea behind this type of zonal marking is that there is no need to directlypressure the opponent or the ball when the team can control the space around the ball by shiftingtowards it in its block.

Because this type of marking is oriented specifically to one’s teammates the compactness of the team ismaintained throughout the block – though it does require a lot of running to close the open space if theopponent seeks only to circulate the ball in safe positions. If the ball is played into a tight near­side area(created by the block shifting towards the ball) it is pressed and the opponent is in a very difficultsituation. As you can tell, this form of pressing the ball is a bit more passive in comparison to othersbecause the team just shifts towards the ball and waits for the opportunity to press instead of activelyseeking out the opportunity to press.

Man Oriented Zonal Marking

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This zonal marking is oriented to the opponent and the pressing players seek to cover their respectivezones while moving closer to a player which may be within the zone. This is different to the SpaceOriented Man Marking because in that variant the players will focus on defending their respective zonesbut will aggressively man mark any opponent who enters their space.

Space Oriented Zonal Marking

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This variant is focused upon congesting the available playing space around the ball. The team seeks tooverload the space near the ball in order to put pressure on the opponent and limit his options. The keyto making this form of pressing successful is making sure there is access to the opponent and the ballplayer is put under pressure.

If the team just shifts towards the space around the ball without putting any access or pressure on theopponent – then they will most likely fail as the opponent can just circulate the ball safely and easilymanipulate the team’s aggressive shifting by switching the ball and attacking the open side. Access is thekey to any press – particularly one which aims to trap an opponent in a pressured area while vacatingthe far side of the field.

Option Oriented Zonal Marking

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The main point of reference for this type of defense is the ball itself. Where could the ball go? Which isthe best way to prevent the ball from hurting us in a specific situation? The players on the team movedifferently from each other – they focus mainly on flexible movements to prevent the progression of theball based upon its positioning. This requires a great deal of intelligence and coordination from thepressing players as it can be a huge mix of man marking, zonal marking, blocking passing lanes withcover shadows, etc. If done incorrectly it is possible for a large amount of space to open up in thedefensive shape.

To see more in­depth pieces on Man and Zonal Marking look at these articles from Spielverlagerung:Man Coverage / Man­to­man­Marking and Zonal Marking / Zonal Coverage.

Porto players blocking the passing lanes into the Bayern midfielders. Notice the space between themidfield and defense for Porto!

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Focusing upon the passing lanes while pressing is an interesting tactic. In basketball this is called‘fronting.’ The basic idea is that it is better to mark the possibility of the ball reaching a specificdestination rather than the destination itself. Would you rather man mark Lionel Messi and let himreceive the ball or would you rather mark the passing lane into Lionel Messi and prevent him from everreceiving the ball? This idea is used quite frequently in basketball and contributed to some of MichaelJordan’s least impactful games when he was defended intelligently in this way.

Here is a video of Payton guarding Jordan and fronting him frequently.

It basically forces the opponent to choose a different pass option and move away from the lane that isbeing blocked. Porto did this against Bayern’s central midfielders when they were higher up the field.When Bayern’s players dropped deeper they simply stayed oriented towards them but goal­side of theball.

Here is a video which shows a few examples of what happens when a player tries to front in too muchspace or with no support.

It would be unstable to front a player who drops extremely deep as another player could just move intothe vacated space or the player who is being covered could utilize the large amount of space to escapethe cover shadow. Bayern focused on longer passes over the opponent midfield and into overloads beforecrossing in the second leg comeback.

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This was more successful because in the first leg Bayern attempted to play through the Porto midfieldwhich was blocking passing lanes – but in the second leg they focused upon moving directly into thespace (which was huge due to the midfielders positioning themselves higher up to block passes) behindthe Porto midfield by bypassing them completely.

When there is a smaller amount of space it is easier to cover a passing lane because the movement of thecovered player is limited – therefore the angle from the ball to the player is much easier to move with(as the ball is extremely dynamic in its positioning for the most part, it’s important that its destinationpoint doesn’t have the opportunity to be as dynamic) and lobbed passes into the space are less successful.

This is why the “fronting” done in basketball happens more often in the “low post” which is closer tothe basket and the baseline where there is less space rather than near half court where there is a lot ofspace to move in. Another difficult aspect when looking at fronting in large amounts of space is thatthere isn’t as much direct contact between the players so blocking the passing lane is even more difficultas the opponent has free movements with nobody physically disrupting him and the pressing player is putinto a reactive role.

Cover shadows and specific running paths which block passing lanes happen very frequently whenpressing. Guardiola’s principle of defending two players at once by defending the space in between themapplies here. There are various running paths that can be taken during a press and various ways to utilizecover shadows – but the idea behind it remains the same; the opponent’s decisions can be more easilymanipulated when their ability to make “other decisions” is decreased. By reducing their options a teamcan actively change the possessing team’s structure and passing patterns.

This leads into how pressing allows a team to control the rhythm of the game. In modern football,defense is normally more dominant than the offense in regards to thinking structure. Offenses are usuallyin a “reactive” role as they don’t seek to change the defense’s structure. Rather, they react to what thedefense is doing and attempt to score with that reactive offensive thinking structure.” As a defense markstheir zones they gain some control over the situation – they are no longer following the opponent, butthey are defending their space and the opponent must play against them rather than controlling thedefender’s movements.

An example of a half back moving forward and forcing the opponent to change.

To find some articles on the “advancing halfback” and David Alaba’s role as a left halfback lookhere: Der vertikale oder vorstoßende zentrale Abwehrspieler and Aspektanalyse: David Alaba, derHalbraumlibero.

Most offenses search for how they can go around or through a defense, but don’t look to change thestructure of the defense itself in favor of the offense. An example of this “proactive” form of attack isPep Guardiola’s teams – specifically Alaba’s role as a “half­space libero” where he moves forward fromthe halfback role and can force the opponent into a 4­4­2. An “active” offense is one that wouldresemble the more rigid attacks of Bielsa or Van Gaal – one which plays in its way regardless of whatthe defense is doing.

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A “passive” offense would resemble Mourinho’s Inter in 2010 vs. Barcelona in the second leg where itdoesn’t seek to do anything. One extra category could be added called “ignorant” in which the teamsimply ignores the opponent and tries to play, and even further layers could be distinguished within thesethinking structures such as “passive aggressive” – though all of these thinking structures require aseparate and more in­depth analysis for another theory article.

This defense definitely thinks differently in comparison to the previous example with Atletico Madrid, no?

Defenses have similar thinking structures too. They behave in similar ways to the offensive thinkingstructures, meaning that a proactive defense would seek to change the structure and movement of theopponent. A team which presses correctly could force the opposition to alter their positioning in order tocontinue playing – which disrupts the opponent’s harmony and dynamic. If the positional structure of theoffense is forced to change, then the combinations to escape pressure will have a different structure aswell – usually forcing a weaker structure. In this way, a defense can “attack” the possessing team.Therefore, some coaches do not believe in the “phases of the game,” which I will elaborate upon later inthe piece.

There can be a special psychological effect that comes with aggressive pressing or counterpressing aswell. After a team has pressed the ball a few times, the possessing team will begin to expect the press.They make decisions as if they are being pressed even if they aren’t “truly” being pressed any longer –in this way a “false press” can evolve and a team can merely display the beginning characteristics of ahigh press and force the possessing team into poor decisions. This both saves energy and allows one teamto control the other. It can lead to “rhythmic pressing,” where a team spends portions of the gamepressing intensely and other portions in a “resting press” or a “false press” – which has its own specificadvantages.

The act of pressing an opposing team and their space to play takes away options by guiding them awayfrom the pressured areas. Depending on the options left to the player with the ball it can also increasethe difficulty of executing a decision. The time it takes to perform an action is decreased in both

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physical and mental ways. The “fear” or anticipation of a press happening can force the player to play asif some decisions are already unavailable for him before they truly are.

Finally, the different aspects within a compact press should be differentiated and evaluated. Tom Payneat Spielverlagerung wrote an in­depth tactical theory piece on the subject for us [insert the link here]. Itis possible to differentiate the aspects of compactness into space, tactic, dynamic, and synergisticcompactness (with access of course). Spatial compactness refers specifically to being compact withinone’s own shape – in other words, there isn’t much space within the block of the team.

Tactical compactness means that within the team’s block the defense doesn’t open various possibilities forthe opponent play to within it. Dynamic compactness means that within the block the team is positionedto more easily anticipate the opposition’s actions in order to pressure them quickly.

Finally, synergistic compactness (or staggered compactness) means that within the positional structure ofthe defensive block there is cover and layers to any movement, trigger, or action that is performed bythe block. Along with access to the ball, these are all aspects which you could find in a compact team,but it’s important to differentiate these deeper layers and understand them in order to use them better. Inthe end, a mixture of all these aspects is what makes compactness successful.

Some things to think about in regards to pressing are: in option oriented zonal marking, movementswhich are in the opposite direction of the block’s collective movement are underrated and haveinteresting effects. The idea that not all players are in the same game state or phase on a physical ormental level is interesting as well and opens up a lot of possibilities when looking at specific positionalstructures and how to achieve them.

COUNTERPRESSING

Counterpressing is a concept which has largely attributed to the success of teams such as Jürgen Klopp’sBorussia Dortmund, Jupp Heynckes’ Bayern Munich, as well as Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona and BayernMunich. So what is counterpressing? And is every counterpressing scheme the same?

The effects of counterpressing on the traditional 4 phase cycle (yes, I did use MS Paint for this).

Counterpressing can be defined as pressing the ball in transition from offense to defense – attempting tomove the cycle of the “phases of play” in the opposite direction. The cycle of the game moves in thefashion shown in the above graphic – but what if you could move from offensive organization todefensive transition and immediately back into offensive organization? This “match control” is a maincharacteristic of counterpressing. It allows you to skip the defensive organization phase entirely if donecorrectly.

Guardiola has said that his Barcelona team were the “worst defensive team in the world,” so he liked toavoid defending against the ball as much as possible. The cycle is quite flexible and can be manipulatedin many ways throughout a football match – with some teams seeking to stay within only a few phasesof the cycle and others playing throughout all of the phases. For example, a team caught in a “chaospressing” matchup could be playing in offensive and defensive transitions constantly – never trulysettling into any “organization.” It’s possible to catch two strong counterpressing teams in these types ofexchanges throughout games. It could also be a peek into the future of football – who will control thechaos better?

Counterpressing not only plays a large role in controlling the rhythm of the game and stabilizing thedefense, it also plays a big role in play­making. If the ball is won successfully in defensive transitionthat means the opponent was in offensive transition and moving into an attack. Because the opponent wasmoving into a counterattack (which means they were spreading out and running up the field) when theylose the ball they are unorganized and exposed in regards to controlling the offensive transition of theball­winners. Schweinsteiger admired how Spain prepare for defense while in possession here:

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“If you look at the ideal example, Barcelona or Spain, you can see how good their defenders are atsetting up, even while they still have possession. That is perfect defending. The teams that defend well in

this tournament will go far. In many situations when you are attacking, you already have to startthinking about what happens once the ball is lost. As a defensive player, you already have to watch the

opposing attackers and ask yourself what could happen when the ball is lost.”

– Bastian Schweinsteiger

Preparation is an important aspect of both counterpressing and pressing. In order to properly pressure theball, the players must be positioned in the correct areas before the ball is lost. It requires concentrationas well as the ability to quickly switch mentality from attack to defense.

Pep Guardiola has a famous “15 pass rule” in which the main purpose is to make sure his players havethe time to move into their appropriate positions within the team’s structure before beginning the attack.The reason the players must take up these positions is not only to prepare to attack but to defend. If theplayers are positioned properly they will be able to press better in defensive transition. The playerscannot focus completely on offense at all times, they must be thinking about what will happen if theywere to lose the ball and position themselves accordingly.

Many times teams will move forward “too early” in regards to how many players they have in forwardpositions in relation to the opponents. This results in an inability to control the transitions throughpressing. Therefore, the team who is poorly positioned to pressure when the ball is lost must react tohow the opponent is attacking rather than determining how the opponent will play by pressuring them.This ultimately results in a lack of game control.

Dortmund trying to occupy a small area of the field while remain distant from each other duringcounterpressing.

A basic guideline for positioning could be for the players to seek to occupy smaller areas of the field ina compact manner while remaining as far from each other as possible (and maintaining connection)within that small area. It’s also important to consider the value of the center of the field while pressing.When the opponent wins the ball they can be forced away from the center of the field and towards thetouchline or even backwards – limiting his space, ability to turn, and reducing his options. This causesthe transition to take longer or the ball to be won back, and if the transition takes longer the defense canreorganize more easily.

A team which players extremely wide and focuses on playing through the flanks would struggle tocounterpress properly as they aren’t compact. At the same time – a team which plays extremely narrowwouldn’t be able to counterpress properly because they wouldn’t control a large enough area of the field.It is all about balancing the positional structure in regards to the opponent’s defense. A coach can decidewhere the team should be narrow and where it should be wide, maybe depending on where theopponent’s best player plays.

Just like a normal press has specific differences, counterpressing does as well. The defensive transitionlooks similar to a team which sits in a compact block and shifts towards the ball. Though whentransitioning from attack into defense, teams are in an “offensive structure,” which can be described bycrazier numbers in regards to formations, such as 2­3­2­3. But how exactly does the team try to win theball back in these moments?

Space­oriented

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This category is what Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund would fall under. This method is focused on congestingthe available space for the opponent. When the players press the space around the ball the opponent willbe cut off from his teammates, pressured, and won’t have any room to play. The team seeks to move ina compact fashion towards the ball and focus on the space around the ball instead of specific opponentsor passing lanes as the high number of players in the space around the ball naturally cut off theopponent’s teammates and passing lanes.

This type of pressing suffocates the opponent’s space and the players can move closer and closer to theball before taking it away, forcing a turnover from a short pass attempt, or steering the ball into adisadvantageous area. This is similar to a very compact zonal defense shifting towards the ball – they arefocused congesting space while moving towards the ball, but they also make sure they are connected tothe opponent.

Man­oriented

Heynckes’ Bayern often used this method. The focus here is on pressing the ball with one or two playerswhile the other players focus upon any access points the opponent on the ball may have by moving intoa man­marking scheme in the surrounding layers of pressure. The advantage of man­marking is that thedefenders will always have access to the opponent – meaning they can directly challenge for the ballevery time.

The presser of the ball must be careful not to be beaten by the dribble as this form of pressing is moreoriented towards direct challenges. Normally, the ball presser will try to force an action, but if he canwin the ball that’s even better. In contrast to space­oriented counterpressing, this pressure allows morebreathing room for passes but it leads to many more challenges and tackles. This fit Heynckes’ team wellas they had players who were excellent in challenging for the ball.

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The danger lies in the fact that man­marking can easily be manipulated by dragging the pressers aroundand destroying the stability of the press. It can also be tough if the opponent has excellent 1 vs. 1players and players who are excellent in tight spaces.

Passing lane­oriented

Pep Guardiola’s teams fall under this category. This type of Counterpressing is primarily focused uponcoaxing the opponent into playing a pass into a seemingly open lane before intercepting the ball. Theplayers immediately move towards the ball and block certain passing lanes while leaving others open –this baits the ball player into trying to play a pass to his teammate, but the passing lane is then attackedby one or more players for the interception. The team usually seeks to force the ball into areas lessstrategically important areas like the sidelines where the opponent is further from the goal and space iscongested.

Sometimes they will block all of the passing lanes and move towards the opponent in order to force along pass or force a pass backwards – or, alternatively, give up the ball.

Ball­oriented

If you’re looking for more articles dedicated specifically to counterpressing we have two here: Counter­or Gegenpressing and Counterpressing variations.

The Dutch team of the 70s could fall under this category. This pressing is focusing solely on the ball.All the players in the surrounding area press the ball immediately once its lost without focusing on theball­player’s options. This wins the ball by exerting huge amounts of pressure on the ball carrier andwhoever he might pass it to. This is dangerous if the player on the ball is a good dribbler and can beata player to lift his head up to open options for an escape pass – which the pack of pressers wouldn’t be

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able to follow at the same speed the ball is moving.

Pressing takes dynamic movement, good anticipation, and intelligent execution. This is why most of thebest dribblers in the world are also good at pressing the ball, e.g. Lionel Messi. When Messi is actuallyworking hard on defense he is quite an impressive presser of the ball who can perform many differentactions.

One specific action while pressing is to deliberately run past the opponent, this would mean the opponentwould not be slowed down, but the pace of play will be quickened. The pressing player will likely missthe ball due to not seeking to “sit down” and establish a distance to the ball and control his speed whenengaging the ball player. When moving full speed towards the opponent it is quite easy for the player onthe ball to move past the presser, but the presser’s intention isn’t to win the ball – he only wants toforce the opponent into a quick movement and get his head down.

After the player on the ball makes his quick movement it is easy for the rest of the pressing players toread his next move and recover the ball. The player who ran “through” the opponent is then animmediate and direct option for transition as he’s moved past the opponent and into open space up thefield.

Counterpressing can vary from team to team based upon where a team will look to do it (if they don’tdo it everywhere), how many players they use to do it, and how long they seek to do it. The 5­6 secondrule made famous by Guardiola’s Barcelona is one example of a team which had a specific timeframe fortheir pressure – if the ball wasn’t won back within 5­6 seconds of having lost it the players move intotheir defensive block. Some interesting variations of counterpressing could arise when studying the effectof time on counterpressing situations and how it affects positional structures.

COUNTERATTACKING

Finally, we have Counterattacking. This is a term most people who watch football are more familiar with– as the term has existed for ages in various types of sports, games and combat. Counterattacks can bedefined as attacking in transition from defense to offense. This is different than transitioning with theintent to restart a deep circulation of the ball. Once again, the intent of the team is really the key to allthree of these concepts.

The idea behind the counterattack is take advantage of the fact that the opponent is in the transitionphase. If one team is transitioning from defense to attack, the other team is transitioning from attack todefense. This means that the team which is transitioning from attack to defense most likely isn’t in asuitable positional structure compared to what it would be if they had time to transition into anorganized defense – though some coaches work to set up a suitable positional structure for the transitionphases while attacking.

This is a video of the MNF where Carragher mentioned Chelsea’s positional structure in possession as areason for their stability in the other phases of play – a good example to help everyone understand

defending while in possession.

Attacking in this moment means the counterattacking team can take advantage of aspects that can befound when facing a disorganized defense – increased amounts of space, greater options, and lessdefensive pressure. When combined these aspects allow the attack to gain a valuable characteristic whichis difficult to create and control against an organized defense – speed of attack. When facing a deep,compact, and organized press it is difficult for the players to ever reach “full speed” unless they properlyprepare for the action and begin their movements ahead of time. It is the players with excellentacceleration and close control of the ball in tight areas that succeed in these situations.

Combining the previously mentioned aspects of a counter attack creates an atmosphere that is difficult tocontrol for the defense. A full speed attack which has space, time, and multiple options is the perfectcandidate to penetrate the defense and create high­probability goal­scoring chances. When defending atsuch high speeds it is much more difficult to maintain the body control necessary to quickly change

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directions, maintain balance, and read the situation in order to adjust properly.

This is made especially difficult as the defender has a reactive role in the engagement. He must defendthe offensive player’s movements while the attacker is the one with the ball and thus can determine howthe ball will move. At full speed, a talented attacker can add dribbles and feints to throw the defenderoff before penetrating the necessary space. But how much space is a defense truly covering whendefending against Counterattacks?

The width from half­space to half­space for most transitions is enough. The exposed defense cannotcontrol all of the space efficiently and are open to combinations and quick switches from one half­space

to another to penetrate.

Width – many people talk about this quality of attack as an extremely important aspect of any offense.So do counterattacks spread from touchline to touchline? No, they very rarely ever do. It’s very difficultto move the ball with pace and control from one touchline to the other consistently in modern football.What is important is relative width to the defense – an offensive team only needs to be wide enough tostretch the defense. Anything beyond that could have adverse effects depending on the team’s strategy.Do you want your winger to be on the touchline if the farthest the defender will move from the centerof the field is to the edge of the box?

This is how most counterattacks work — they stretch from one half­space to the other at maximum!Most offensive transitions in football resemble the offensive transitions in basketball in this sense. Inbasketball there is a phrase which goes “filling the lanes in transition,” in football a similar action takesplace as players fill the half­spaces and the center. So why does a “narrower” transition have betterresults than one which stretches from touchline to touchline?

This is because a player in each half­space is enough to stretch a defense which is low on numbers whilemaintaining a stronger (closer) connection between the attacking players. The distance from one edge ofthe box to the other is much shorter than it is from one touchline to the other – this means that passesare quicker, more accurate, and easier to control. If the offensive transition happens to stem from one ofthe flanks, then it is quite common to see the far­side winger completely abandon the flank and moveinto the center to maintain compactness.

These aspects together provide a favorable atmosphere for quick combinations in transition – which isparticularly difficult for a defense because if they make a mistake they do not have the time needed torecover position in such a large amount of relative space. If the defense tries to pressure and fails (whichis usually the case if there are smaller amount of defenders), then they must move across quite a largearea to try and prevent penetration of the defensive line.

Given the multiple advantages of breaking through with a counterattack, it is important to differentiatethe various strategies and tactical variations when it comes to offensive transition. Similar tocounterpressing, the starting positions of a counterattack are determined by the positioning of the playerswhile on defense. The defensive structure and strategy will relate directly into the strategy and structurefor the offensive transitions. If the defensive team is compact on defense and win the ball, they arenaturally in a better position to escape a counterpress through quick combinations with many players inthe immediate area.

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These zones can vary for specific strategies, but the majority of counterattacks can be broken down intothe use of the center and half­spaces before penetration (or during creation) and in penetration (or

during finishing). The flanks could also be included for various reasons even though they aren’t used asfrequently.

When looking at counterattacks, these specific zones that I’ve outlined give an overview of thestrategically different areas on the field. Teams usually try to break through the center and the half­spaces – the half­spaces are used more often due to the fact that the center is more concentrated withopponents in transition. Overloads in transition help to break through zones as well as use the value ofthe specific zone more intensely. For example, if the ball is won deep in the center of the pitch due to apressing trap in a compact defense, the higher number of defenders become a higher number of attackers– which serves to overload the central zone and allow the players to combine out of the center and breakinto the flanks more easily.

Depending on the lineups and strategy of a specific team, the counterattacks will vary as well. A teamlike Real Madrid, who have Ronaldo and Bale out wide, press the flanks and remain compact so they canoverload the flanks and break through the defense with their talented wingers – because it fits theirplayers and their strategy. Where a team aims to win the ball on the field and which zones they aim tobreak into determine the nature of their offensive transitions – and these aspects are further determinedby the coaching philosophy and strategy which stems from the types of players available.

Within the counterattacking strategies lie the tactics – such as how many players attack in transition andwhich passing, movement, and dribbling patterns are used. In regards to the thought process to escapingcounterpressure and counterattacking, Pep Guardiola has mentioned that one of his principles is to firstsearch for the long escape pass (preferably to the center forward or winger) and if it is not available tosearch for a safe short pass or combination to escape the pressured zone.

Besides playing vertical or diagonal passes in behind the defense into space for runners, there arecombination strategies when it comes to the long pass into the forwards. The first low and long passforward will search for the attackers – such as a “target man,” i.e. a player who is the focal point of theattack and can control the ball under pressure as well as create for others. A target man is commonly thecenter forward (classically, the #9), though a winger can be the target man as well. The positions whichare naturally the quickest to move into high areas are the ones which begin in higher areas – such as thestrikers and the wingers.

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Though the situation isn’t exactly transitional – Salzburg’s goal here was to move Kampl into a creativeposition while have 3­4 runners ahead of him. A perfect example of an intermediary goal of a transition

offense if the direct through pass isn’t available immediately.

The number of players which support the forwards varies depending on the strategy. With less playerssupporting the offensive transition, the atmosphere calls for more dribbling. With more playerssupporting the offensive transition, more complex combinations may occur to penetrate the defense. Ifthe defense cannot be penetrated immediately with a through pass, an intermediate option in transition isto put one of the offensive players in a creative position – meaning a player who can receive the ballwith time and space to play the penetrating pass to the forwards or even dribble and shoot.

Mourinho, and many other coaches, have talked about the principle of always having 5 players indefensive positions during an attack. So naturally his teams attack with 4­5 players while the other 6­5push up behind the defensive transition to condense the space. I will use this common number as anexample throughout my graphics, but it is important to know that counterattacks for any team couldvary.

An example of Messi moving inside with his diagonal dribbling while the other runners make runs whichbind the defenders, providing options for combinations, and opening space. This resulted in a Messi goalafter he played the pass into the most central player and then received a lay­off. He also could have

played the far side winger through unmarked.

The orientation of the counterattack can vary. In the case of Lionel Messi, he can receive the ball after avertical pass into Suarez who lays it off towards Messi moving inside while the other players makepenetrating runs for him. Or he could receive the ball directly to his feet and cut inside while the ball ison his left foot – therefore having his body between the ball and the defense. From there, he coulddribble inside diagonally, play his long diagonal ball over the top, or move inside and combine with theforwards. The runs being made by the other attackers serve to both bind the defenders and to open spacefor Messi at the same time.

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This image shows the effects of a lay­off pass after a long vertical pass. Pressure gathers around thedestination of the ball (Robben) and opens space for Mueller to expose once he receives the lay­off as he

is in stride and facing forward.

The previous example contained many important elements of counterattacks, such as – lay­off passesafter a vertical ball, defender­binding runs by the attackers, and diagonality. A lay­off pass after avertical ball attracts many players to the destination point of the ball before quickly moving the ballaway to a teammate who is better positioned, has a good field of view, and can take advantage of thespace created by the vertical pass into the forward as the defenders gather around him. The lay­off passcan be played with various techniques – the inside of the foot, the outside of the foot (which is moreeasily hidden and quicker), a back­heel pass (which would attract the attention of the defenders in theopposite direction of the pass – the direction of a players eyes plays a role as well), or a chipped ballover the feet of the defenders (a very underrated form of passing).

Two more passes are also interesting – the one­two and the “return pass.” A one­two pass or a “wallpass,” is a basic combination which uses an overload to move the initial ball player past his opponentquickly. Basically, in a 1 v 1 situation, another player can come create a 2v1 and the ball player candribble towards the opponent and, once he has gotten close and forced the opponent to commit, then passto his teammate before running around the opponent and receiving the return pass in space – this is abasic example of using an overload to break through a zone. This can involve third man, fourth man,and more runs off of the ball in more complex combination play.

The effects of a return pass. The defender gets lured toward ball moving quickly between the players andleaves too much space open which allows penetration.

The “return pass” is used frequently in counterattacks as well as normal offensive organization. This isbasically a 1­2 pass without the penetrating run. Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets, and Messi use this pass quitefrequently between each other. The idea is simple – to lure the defender towards the ball before one ofthe players takes the ball and move into the space the defender vacated. In this example, the wingerplays a pass to the center forward who immediately returns it to him, but the passing managed to pullthe defender slightly more towards the center which allowed the winger to break through the space onthe return pass. These types of passes can also include multiple off the ball runs as well.

In regards to specific types of passing, the principle of pass communication comes into play as well.Bielsa has said that there are 36 different ways to communicate through a pass – for example, a veryhard pass into a players feet during a combination could be read by the player as the passer telling himto “dummy” the pass (let it go through him into a teammate further along the passing lane) or that thesituation for the receiver will be very tight and difficult to solve so the speed of the pass had to behigher in order to enter the zone. That is only a few ways of communication through a pass, there aremany more which could be explained in its own tactical theory article!

When looking at the “field of view” during combinations and offensive transition, there are manystrategic values to this aspect of play. After the lay­off pass the receiving player can now have the ballwhile his field of view is forward and he can accurately assess the situation and make a decision. Thiswould be much more difficult if the ball was played into the target man and he wasn’t allowed to turn –his field of view would only allow him to play backwards accurately.

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Field of view when facing goal from the half­spaces.

For a deeper analysis on half­spaces look here: The Half Spaces.

This also applies to the specific zones I’ve outlined earlier. The field of view when moving forward inthe half­space means that the player is facing diagonally towards goal – allowing him to view optionswhich are central and deeper than him, which wouldn’t be the same if the player was facing forwards –he would have to turn side to side to play passes towards the side. On top of that, the half­space isconnected to both the center and the flank – so it has access to varied strategic zones, while the centercan only move directly into a half­space on either side. The center is of course the most important areain football and many great synergetic effects arise from controlling this area.

Half­spaces have other nice characteristics in contrast to the center as strategic zones [include link tohalf­space piece]. If the field is divided into 5 vertical strips, the ball must move across 4 zones to gofrom touchline to touchline – which is very long and easy to defend. When inside the half­space, aplayer is connected to the near side flank directly and is 3 zones away from the far flank, which iseasier to reach than 4 but is still a bit far – nevertheless it forces a defense to stretch and defend the farside a bit more.

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The space­opening effects of the Barcelona players playing in one of the half­spaces.

If the player is in the center, he can play a pass across 2 zones (1 zone wouldn’t shift the defense verymuch) and reach the flank on either side, and the flank is strategically the least valuable zone as it’s sofar from the opponent goal and the field of view is limited by the touchline. Though if the ball moved2 zones from the half­spaces, it would move into the other half­space. So the ball can move a fartherdistance quickly and remain in a zone which is closer to the goal, which has multiple advantageouseffects.

The importance of field of view applies to offensive transition as well in the fact that it can be apressing trigger for a defense. When a player has first won the ball, his field of view is the worst as hehas taken his eyes off the game to focus and take time to re­orient himself technically (controlling theball) and tactically (seeing where his teammates are) – this is the moment most teams seek to press theball (counterpressing). So it is important to have players in the immediate area to support the ball­winnerand move the team into a more stable position.

Coaches in Barcelona have said that whoever has won the ball has done his job and doesn’t have to doanymore – he should look to pass the ball off to a teammate who has a better field of view to initiatethe counterattack. There are always exceptions of course — if a player clearly intercepts the ball and hasit under control quickly and didn’t take his eyes off the game for long, he can immediately initiate theoffense transition.

Looking back at the Lionel Messi example, the idea of a forward’s runs binding defenders is important.When Lionel Messi cuts inside and starts dribbling diagonally toward the goal, Suarez or Neymar canlook to make a diagonal run in the opposite direction of Messi right across the defenders. As he travelsacross the defensive line the defenders must pass him along to each other’s zones – this not only delaystheir movements towards the ball, but it also drags them in the direction of the run. This is because ifthe defender doesn’t follow the player, the player can just receive a pass in the space unmarked. So thedefender follows the run to avoid the immediate threat, but he opens up the space he should beoccupying.

So as Messi is dribbling inside he can either choose to play his teammates through the defense or usetheir space­opening decoy runs to drive into the created space and shoot. The space­opening runs canalso open spaces for late­runners to move into untracked quite often – like Neymar running inside

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diagonally while Jordi Alba exposes the opened wide area. There are many advantages to these defender­binding runs – any movement from the offensive players has some sort of consequence. It can distort thedefensive system, open space, offer a passing option, and more.

Evasive runs from the center or from the point of the ball are also a part of a striker’s movements. Anevasive run refers to a run moving from the center into either side of the field towards the flanks. Thiscan bind the defenders as well as create central space for wingers to move inside and combine or dribblethrough. Another aspect of this type of run is possibly creating a 1 v 1 situation on the flank once thestriker’s run has ended. A similar run can be made away from the ball if needed – for example, ifCristiano has the ball on the left and Benzema is next to him and they are defended by two players,Benzema can move away from the situation in order to turn it into a 1 vs. 1 situation for Ronaldo bydragging his player away. This is advantageous due to the fact that a 1 vs. 1 situation in large amountsof space is less complex to deal with for a forward than a 2 vs. 2 situation.

This example takes the previous scene with Messi and highlights the effects of his diagonal dribblinginstead. Messi will often move inside in this manner and “only” have to bypass 2­4 players at an anglewith his body between the defender and ball. Because he is moving diagonally he evades a large portionof the team while moving towards goals and attacking an underloaded area. Respect Messi’s Diagonality!

The third aspect mentioned in the Messi example is diagonality. This simply means that a team has ahigh orientation towards diagonal play – similar to the term verticality. Diagonal play has multiplebeneficial effects – one of which is the fact that it breaks both horizontal and vertical linessimultaneously. This causes defenders to make much more complicated movement than if the pass wereonly vertical or horizontal, meaning there is a larger room for mistakes in the chain­movements of thedefense. A diagonal pass both directly gains space and shifts the field of play.

Facing the field diagonally from the flank or half­space means that the ball player is closer to thesideline while facing away from it – meaning he faces away from the least important space on the fieldat the moment and isn’t likely to receive backwards pressing. Taking into account the ball­orientedmovement of every defense, they naturally “underload” the far side of the field and the farthest point ofthe ball because it is in the least amount of danger of being exposed – right? Well diagonal balls havethese zones in their range (part of the reason Messi’s passes are so successful) as they can move longdistances quickly while arriving in an area with minimal pressure.

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Examples showing the value of diagonal passes even against deep defenses. Both of these situationsresulted in goals after a Juanfran cutback cross in Atletico’s 3­1 victory of Chelsea.

Another interesting aspect regarding diagonal passes is the fact that in any given space, a diagonal passfrom one “corner” to the other is the longest possible pass. So even if a defense has moved deep, theyare still open to being exposed by a long diagonal pass behind them on the far side – whereas manydefenses are used to dealing with shorter passes and obvious crosses when they’ve dropped deeper. Usingdiagonal passes and overloading the ball­far space which was under­loaded by the opponent defense is acommon strategy against deep defenses. Real Madrid under Ancelotti, Atletico Madrid under Simeone,and Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson were some of the teams which did this frequently.

The final characteristic of diagonality I will mention is how it eliminates opponents on the route to goal.When Messi is moving inside diagonally he is “evading” a large group of players in the near side whilemoving towards the far side players and towards goal. While he is doing this the offensive players makeruns which bind and drag more players into the space which Messi is dribbling away from – almostgiving it the look as if he is going around a large portion of the defense and attacking the point atwhich the defense has a smaller amount of players to break through. This was particularly common inthe seasons he played as a right winger under Guardiola and the current season under Lucho as he wasallowed to gain more momentum when moving inside from the less crowded touchline (among otherthings).

The different strategic zones within the penalty box when looking to create a goal scoring chance.

*An interesting piece by Michael Caley on the value of making extra passes in the “Danger Zone” canbe found here.

When finishing off counterattacks, the main goal of the team is to penetrate the penalty box – be itthrough passing or dribbling. I’ve outlined the most important zones in the box in the image above –with most of the penetrations coming in the half­space areas. After penetrating the box, most of the bestgoalscoring chances come from a very fast and low pass across the face of goal for a tap­in (dependingon the positioning of the defenders) or a fast and low cutback pass moving away from the goal andtaking advantage of the defenders’ backward­moving momentum. The passes across goal end up in thehigher central zone while the cutbacks end up in the deeper central zone. Shots directly from the half­space after penetration is another efficient (but less efficient than making the extra pass?*) form ofscoring.

Other good approaches involve diagonal dribbles towards the box and combining to break through orcontinuing the dribble and shooting – though these may be more difficult than the previous options. Asmentioned earlier, long diagonal balls towards the weak side of the defense (be it for headers or to playinto feet) are also an efficient form of finishing off an attack – though it can involve lower percentageaspects depending on the specific situation.

Finally, there are some interesting psychological effects when it comes to counterattacks. The quickimpulse to switch the player’s mindset from defense to attack is highly important when it comes tooffensive transition as it could mean exposing the opponent with greater speed. The fact that there arelarger amounts of space to play into during a counterattack also has an important psychological effect onthe players. As they are moving at high speed and into large amounts of space, they make decisionswhich are much more aggressive, direct, and confident – as opposed to the more cautious and thinkingapproach if the spaces were to have more defenders.

Mourinho’s Inter in 2010 were interesting in part due to their wider horizontal defense instead ofdefending in a narrow and horizontally compact fashion in some scenes. As you recall from the earlierparts of this piece, Inter didn’t want the ball – so they just moved towards the ball passively and soughtto prevent penetration. Barcelona could switch the ball through midfield very easily because of that. Theinteresting part came when switching the ball, because whenever the ball would move to the “weak side,”Inter would already have players there as they weren’t so horizontally compact – and the players neversought to win the ball so they weren’t easily pulled out of the shape.

This forced Barcelona’s overloads on the weak side (Maxwell and Pedro for example) to have aninefficient positional structure to break through the Inter defense in the overloaded zone. Maxwell stayeda bit deeper as he wanted to be sure to receive the ball and there was less opportunity to move verticallybecause of that. Combination play in football is all about minor positional advantages, be it on the ball­side or goal­side. It’s similar to basketball in this sense as well because in basketball multiple “picks” or“screens” are set in order to give one team a positional advantage over the other.

In the end, the players had to think with the ball more and delayed their actions (decisions andexecutions) – the best moments of penetration came when Xavi or Messi were involved because they areexcellent decision makers as well as having the necessary technical execution.

ANYTHING ELSE

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To finish off I’d like to elaborate on the philosophy of Lillo and Guardiola as well as some othercoaches. The idea is that phases of the game do not exist. They do not separate the game into “offensiveorganization, defensive organization, offensive transition, and defensive transition,” but they view thegame as a continuous flow of specific positional structures which the team is trying to achieve.

Of course one team will still have the ball and another team won’t, but this is not as important as thepositioning of the players themselves. As I mentioned throughout the piece – it is possible to attackwhile defending and to defend while attacking. This is why separating the game into the traditional 4phases misses some of the complexity that’s involved in the game. Some players might be in a specificphase of play while their teammates are doing something differently – so it is difficult to categorize theentire team into a collective game phase.

The way they view the game is through the positioning of players in relation to the reference points ofthe game to form a collective positional structure. Regardless of what’s happening the team should seekto have a good structure and ball­oriented shape – this will provide the stability and efficiency needed inevery situation.

To use the traditional game phases in order to better explain this: when in possession, the team want tohave a positional structure which is efficient for attacking but would help them counterpress the ball ordrop deep if they lose it. While transitioning to defense the team seeks to have a positional structurewhich is best for pressuring the ball or protecting the goal, but also translates well into the other phases.

The general idea is that on the hierarchy of importance, the positional structure of the team is moreimportant than who has the ball or which “phase” the game is in. The team only seeks to have a specificpositioning in relation to what is happening in the moment and play that way throughout the game.These guidelines to the specific positioning and movements during the game are all coached to theplayers and worked on throughout the season. The game is different when viewed through the idea that ateam is only ever seeking the appropriate positional structure to what is happening throughout the matchrather than viewing it through the recurring traditional four phase cycle which could lose some of thecomplexity of the game.

* Adin Osmanbasic is a football coach and analyst.

Seguir a @AdinOsmanbasic

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El FC Red Bull Salzburg conquista la ÖFB­Cup tras ganar al FK Austria Wien. Tercer doblete del club (2º seguido): 2011/12, 2013/14, 2014/15.

Retwitteado por Martí Perarnau

Santi Retortillo @enlineadegol

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Perfil histórico ­ Francisco Gamborena: el timón del Real Unión > ow.ly/NPBWH Por @albertocosin

Martí Perarnau @martiperarnau

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4/6/2015 Pressing, Counterpressing and Counterattacking

http://www.martiperarnau.com/tactica/pressing-counterpressing-and-counterattacking/ 32/32

Perarnau Magazine es mucho más que un blog de fútbol: es el punto de encuentro en la red del análisis deportivo con elvalor añadido, la mirada en profundidad que no descuida la inmediatez. Dirigido por el periodista Martí Perarnau, elMagazine concentra opiniones que van desde el análisis competitivo a temáticas concretas como las tácticas de fútbol.

El deporte rey centra buena parte de los contenidos y resulta una publicación especialmente útil para un entrenador defútbol o un simple aficionado que quiera descubrir desde facetas de su propio deporte hasta historias relacionadas con eldeporte en general. El balón y las noticias que lo rodean centran el grueso de los contenidos, pero no se limitan al fútbol.El hecho diferencial del Magazine radica en la variedad: ponemos el foco en los principales deportes olímpicos y suscompeticiones, en la salud aplicada al deporte y en un exhaustivo diagnóstico del mercado profesional.

Perarnau Magazine quiere liderar en la red un periodismo deportivo reposado que se abre camino con las luces decarretera antes que con las de crucero.

©2015 Blog fútbol. Blog deporte | Análisis deportivo. Análisis fútbol Aviso legal

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