Football/Soccer Session (Academy Sessions): SALA Boys - Pressing From the Front.

Pressing Details.

Pressing Triggers:

1. Poor touch - Press immediately whenever opposition player takes a poor touch.

2. Sideline / byline - Press whenever opposition player is close to the edge of the pitch.

3. Less dominant foot - Press immediately whenever the ball is passed to opposition weak foot.

4. Backward pass - Press whenever a backward pass is made by the opposition.

5. Slow reaction - Press whenever the opposition player doesn't expect a pass (slow to react). 

6. Slow pass - Press and intercept passes that are slow between opposition players.

7. Facing own goal - Press whenever opposition players are facing their own goal.

Pressing Strategies:

1. Ball Oriented High Pressing through S.A.G.S. (Sprints, All-in, Going-in and Second-wave) at the right moment. Press and hunt the ball aggressively to force opposition in making quick decisions and forcing them into technical and tactical mistakes.

Sprints - Always looking to sprint and attack the ball when we are out of possession.
All-in - When one player goes in to press, everyone else follow.
Going-in - Players going-in with controlled aggression to go through the ball and win possession.
Second-wave - Players stepping-in quickly whenever our first wave pressure is broken to re-press and win back possession.

2. Slide & Screen - Attacking players sliding across to screen the middle third and prevent opposition from playing through the lines or force opposition to one part of the pitch and press aggressively to win back possession.

Starting Position:

Players look to take up starting positions in-between opposition players, either to the side, in front or behind. This would allow us to potentially hunt the ball, shadow press, cover spaces / players, block passing lanes and eventually regain possession.

Pressing Vocabulary:

1. Press.

2. Doubles.

3. Re-press.

4. Counter press.

5. All-In.

6. Run through.

7. Box them in!

8. Foul break.

Small Sided Game

Organization:

Set up as shown.

Instructions:

1. At the start of the exercise, blues would be starting as the pressing team while reds and yellows starts as the attacking team.

2. The blues will send in three players from the middle grid into the end grid, the players will look to press to score or force errors.

3. The three supporting blue players in the middle grid are looking to block passes that are being played through by the attacking teams, if they intercept the passes they look to finish in the counter goals that are placed on the outside of the middle grid.

4. The attacking teams are limited to two-three touches and have to complete 5 passes before looking to switch play. When switching play, they can only play the ball across into the opposition grid on the ground.

Whenever a pass or through ball is intercepted by the blues in the middle grid, the reds / attacking team can send in two players into the middle grid to counter press.

5. The pressing team (blues) work for three minutes and switches role with one of the attacking teams (reds / yellows) on coach's call.

Defending Coaching Points:

1. Recognising when to go fast and slow down when applying pressure i.e. acceleration and deceleration.

2. Recognising when to run though an attacker.

3. Shape of press to force play into where we have numbers.

4. Angle of approach i.e. sideways to kill a passing lane and make the play predictable.

5. Good positioning of the defenders in the middle grid to provide cover and balance.

6. Communication.

Attacking coaching points:

1. Speed of play.

2. Weight and accuracy of passes.

3. Movements on and off the ball i.e. movement to create space, movement to receive the ball, movement away from defender(s).

4. Quick passing combinations to switch play.

5. Quick transition from attacking to defending upon losing possession.

Progressions:

1. Mini competition - All three teams compete to see who scores the most goals from pressing situations. Goals scored from pressing situations in the attacking third counts as double.

2. One player from the attacking team can drop into the middle zone to receive and combine to play into the other attacking's team grid.

3. The attacking teams in the end grids are allowed to switch play by playing over the press.