How to solve pressing in football?

To succeed in football, you must master a wide range of fundamental movements. In terms of pressing, it's essential to accelerate, decelerate and change direction quickly. These movements allow players to press with varying speed and intensity. They also help players to reposition themselves if they decide to drop off, or their opponent has passed the ball to someone else. When pressing in football, ideally the whole team need strong positioning skills. Support from surrounding teammates helps to ensure attempts to press are not made in isolation. As a result, maintaining a compact shape behind the ball is crucial. To help players work on their positioning, split your pitch into five zones. Once the game begins, ask your team to look around and think about how they can help their teammates to press by occupying certain zones. After a while, if players need a little help, encourage them to go into a particular zone. Then, get them to try to move together as a unit. Games like tag and Wembley singles or doubles are great as there's lots of transition and turnover. This will encourage players to develop their deception skills on and off the ball. It will also allow them to start predicting the actions of their opponents. When pressing in football, players need to quickly adjust their position as they get closer to the ball. Tweaking the angle of their body – and how tight they get – can limit their opponents' options and dictate play. This could result in the other side having to play the ball backwards or kick it long. It could even force them into a certain area of the pitch, such as out wide and away from goal. Just like with timing, you can develop your players' technique through repetition of the task. The more opportunity they get to explore pressing, the more chance they have of developing their technique. If you also make your activities reflect the actual game, then you're on to a winner.