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The pressing game
- Updated: October 11, 2016
Roberto Firmino embodies Liverpool’s high-pressing game under Jurgen Klopp and Theo Walcott is leading the charge at Arsenal, but Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United have struggled to make the system work. We examine the high-intensity tactics powering the Premier League’s elite…
The origins of pressing in football are disputed, but Victor Maslov certainly played his part. The Russian coach is credited with introducing the revolutionary system during his time in charge of Dynamo Kyiv in the 1960s, with the aim of restricting the opposition’s time and space on the ball and winning back possession in dangerous areas high up the pitch.
Austrian manager Ernst Happell used a similar approach as he guided Feyenoord to European Cup glory in 1970, and pressing hit the international stage when Rinus Michels’ Netherlands made Total Football famous at the 1974 World Cup. The Oranje hunted the ball in packs, shutting down passing channels and snuffing out attacks before they had started.
Pressing worked and, as fitness and conditioning improved in the decades that followed, it became increasingly prominent. The tactic can be implemented in different ways and with varying degrees of intensity, but the high-octane style developed by Maslov, Happell and Michels is now the favoured method for the Premier League’s elite.
This season it has been easy to see why. Manchester City won 10 consecutive games after Pep Guardiola completely changed their approach without the ball, and the Premier League leaders are closely followed in the table by Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham, who showcased their aggressive high-pressing at its most effective in last Sunday’s 2-0 win over City at White Hart Lane.
Elsewhere, the gegenpressing tactics Klopp employed at Borussia Dortmund have taken hold at Liverpool, while Arsene Wenger has notably increased the off-the-ball intensity at Arsenal. Those two sides make up the rest of the top four and sit just two points off the top. They too have enjoyed resounding victories over their rivals in recent weeks.
High-intensity pressing looks increasingly like a recipe for success in the Premier League, and it’s an area in which sixth-placed Manchester United have been found wanting this season. While City, Spurs, Arsenal and Liverpool all rank highly for distance covered and sprints, United lag behind in more ways than one.
Mourinho’s men have covered the least ground of any Premier League side this season, and while their rivals are working harder than ever without the ball, United have been outrun by their opposition in six of their first seven Premier League games. …
