Pressing and transition

This session really brings everything that my teams do. It’s the first one I do when I go into any club, because it just sets the tone: playing out from the back on the high press, in possession, out of possession. The big thing with all of these activities is the reaction to losing the ball and how quickly you can switch on to try and go and get it back.

They’re all ball-related, you get lots of touches of the ball, and there’s lots of interaction between different players. It’s all hard work with the ball in small areas without the sort of the long lung-bursting running.

“This session brings together everything my teams do”

8v2 Rondo boxes in pairs

The players on the outside keep the ball while the two in the middle look to win it back (essentially setting up in 8v2) [1a].

[1a]

1. Four teams on the outside combine to keep the ball

2. The team of two in the middle looks to win the ball back 

If the middle defender gets a touch on the ball, they swap roles, and the individual who gave the ball away is joined by their partner [1b]. 

[1b]

1. Four blue players on outside plus one blue in middle play against the three red defenders

2. If reds win the ball, one player steps into the area and they play 3v2 to the reds’ advantage

You can progress this by limiting the number of touches, changing the size of the area, or changing the number of defenders. Run two rondo boxes simultaneously.

Bielsa 5v3 rondo

The four blue players on the outside combine with the one in the middle to play against the three red defenders [2a]. 

[2a]

1. Four blue players on outside plus one blue in middle play against the three red defenders

If the defenders win the ball, one player from the outside steps in and they play 3v2 to the reds’ advantage [2b].

[2b]

1. If reds win the ball, one player steps into the area and they play 3v2 to the reds’ advantage

“The blues combine to play against the three red defenders”

Playing out from the back under high pressure

In this example, the red team work the ball around the opposition press and play through the mannequins into the blue team’s back four. As the ball crosses the mannequins’ line, this is the cue for the red front four to move out of the central area and press [3a]. 

[3a]

1. Red team work the ball around opposition press

2. Red team play through mannequins into blue team’s back four
3. Red front four move out of central area and press

The blue front four must recover back into the central area [3b]. 

[3b]

1. Blue front four recover back into central area

2. Red team attack

As a progression, the mannequins can be set wider, with a central gate added to play through.

“The reds work around the opposition’s press”

Small-sided games

We move on now to set up small-sided games with three teams, varying the pitch sizes depending on team numbers. Each team plays each other in a round robin. The players on the outside (yellow in this diagram) are on one touch [4]. 

[4]

1. Three teams play each other in round robin format

2. Players on the outside are limited to one touch

“We aim to be player-for-player as much as possible”

COACHING POINTS

What are the key things to look out for? 

In terms of our shape and how we press, we aim to be player-for-player as much as possible. So the personnel of our team at the back will change to allow us to go and be really aggressive.

But in terms of the technical stuff around pressing, it’ll be body shape and areas we like to show people into and make things predictable. 

The ability for them to defend 1v1, which is not normally what they’ll do, is important. And if they do it well, they get the reward for that. So if they win the ball, we’ll drop a ball down they’ll be able to go and get a finish.

What are the typical mistakes players might make and how do I avoid them?

From a defensive aspect, the typical mistakes will be players running in too quickly and not slowing down when pressing, overshooting the press, getting done 1v1, not making it predictable, or the player on the opposite side not being far enough across and allowing the switch. 

In fairness, the team who are in possession have at least a two-man advantage. So to give the pressers a little bit more reward we might put an extra one in, making it more realistic. 

For the in-possession team, the mistakes tend to be around decision-making of when and where to play.