What is pressing in football?
What is pressing? Put simply, pressing is a term that refers to the techniques and tactics employed by a team or group to apply pressure on the opposing players in order to regain possession of the ball. This style of play is often utilized by teams that either do not possess the ball or possess it less frequently than their opponents, aiming to increase their chances of best home teams to win today back possession.
In general, the pressing style of play has both benefits and drawbacks because it creates vulnerabilities that opponents can exploit. It can make teams susceptible to counterattacks as players often concentrate in the same area of the pitch.
Common types of pressing
What is low pressing?
What is pressing? It's applying strong pressure on the opponent in their own half to regain possession of the ball. After winning the ball, they organize quick counterattacks.
Low pressing is very suitable for teams that prefer counter-attacking defensive tactics. Low pressing brings stability and security to the home team's goal. However, it requires attackers who are quick and agile to protect the goal.
What is mid pressing?
What is pressing? It's about applying pressure and gaining complete dominance over the midfield area, denying the opponent opportunities to attack and gaining full advantage in organizing attacks. A good midfield will help in both defense and attack. Mid pressing poses a lower risk of counterattacks compared to high pressing.
What is high pressing?
What is pressing? It's about applying maximum pressure on the opponent's half of the field. Players are organized into lines with attackers pressing into the opponent's half.
The defenders are pushed up into midfield to defend and regain possession. Playing high pressing requires the entire team to constantly press, control the ball, and organize continuous attacks. High pressing is effective in controlling the ball and launching continuous attacks, forcing the opponents to retreat and defend in numbers.
Conditions for playing a pressing game
What is pressing? Pressing gameplay brings about high efficiency, aesthetically pleasing attacks that fans love. However, the reality is that creating pressure isn't easy when the quality and form of the players are not guaranteed.
Implementing pressing gameplay requires the team to have players with good physical fitness, mobility, seamless coordination, good individual technique, and ball control.
Without these conditions, pressing gameplay can be detrimental if players lack sufficient physical fitness. With a decline in physical fitness, losing possession is a possibility, opening up dangerous counterattacks for the opponent.
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Advantages and disadvantages of pressing
Advantages
The advantages of pressing include constantly putting pressure on the opponent and providing ample time for the game. Good ball control opens up numerous goal-scoring opportunities and weakens the opponent's attacking capabilities.
Pressing gameplay also brings about an aesthetically pleasing attacking style and demonstrates the team's offensive strength. The effectiveness and beauty of pressing gameplay were evident in the 3-0 victory of the Vietnamese national team against the Malaysian national team (group stage of the 2021 AFF Suzuki Cup).
Vietnam's attractive pressing gameplay has delighted fans with a convincing victory over a strong regional opponent.
Disadvantages
What is pressing? As a new playing style with many advantages, pressing still has its drawbacks if overused. Pressing is primarily an attacking style, hence all defensive aspects are minimized.
Therefore, if possession is lost, the opponent can easily launch very dangerous counterattacks. The players' fitness is a crucial factor in determining whether a team can effectively press.
If a player is out of form, the whole team may suffer, as decreased fitness makes it easier to lose possession, difficult to contribute to the defense, leading to difficulties in thwarting opponent counterattacks and scoring goals.
Furthermore, the coordination between players is also key to effective pressing. If players do not understand each other, play haphazardly, in coordination, the opponent can easily best football predictions app their moves, leading to dangerous turnovers that create opportunities for opponent attacks.
Effective ways to escape pressing
Pressing gameplay is highly effective and common in modern football. However, due to its prevalence, almost all professional teams are trained to effectively escape pressing. The issue is that for pressing to be effective, players must also have a strong technical foundation to execute it well.
Pressing involves applying pressure, narrowing, and compressing the opponent's playing space. Therefore, to effectively escape pressure, it's necessary to expand the playing space.
For example, if you're surrounded and there are many opponents nearby, look for spaces outside the area where the opponent is pressing to pass to a teammate. Passing the ball, as well as long passes that bypass the lines, are effective ways to escape pressure.
Conclusion
Above are the pieces of information to help you answer the question of what pressing gameplay is and the pros and cons of this playing style. From there, you can delve deeper to defeat your opponents and score goals effectively.
This is also the factor that makes this style of play popular and increases the attractiveness of modern football. Therefore, the beautiful game not only involves dribbling and scoring goals but also becomes a real spy game among coaches.