Off the ball movement is surely needed.
But even then, there are 100s of small tactical battles on the field.
For example, here we are talking about pressing as if the only options are good press or bad press.
But regarding pressing, there are 10s of small tactical duels by coaches like:
-- will you press with 2, 3, 5 players on the backline?
-- will you indirectly force RB to move to the line or to the inside (when trying to escape the press)
-- which midfielders will you heavily mark in order to prevent them to get the ball from defenders?
Coaches add slightly different pressing and avoiding-press tricks in almost every game.
So, sometimes it isn't about: they pressed with more passion or Rashford was bad off the ball.
Sometimes it is about: Lucho had 2 tricks in pressing which Flick hasn't seen yet.
He has surprised us.
And Flick will fix it before the next game vs Psg, unless if Lucho pulls another new little trick.
There are hundreds of different variations of pressing and getting the ball out of the back.
Sometimes even the perfect off the ball movement doesn't help if the opponent is two steps infront of you with some new intelligent movement/pressing/covering trick.
Football tactics evolve on the weekly basis.
Of course. I wrote about some of those things in Flick thread. For example, Lucho often uses selective pressing. Since not all players are the same in terms of quality and influence on the game, they do not require the same approach. Advanced pressing systems have multiple factors involved, they are man oriented, position oriented, situational in regards to result and time left on the clock, and so on. It can get pretty wild and complex. And that's only pressing, let alone other tactical aspects. It's a crazy sport.
For example, let's take a player that is not supremely gifted passer, but also not a liability. And let's say he is a low-priority position, in his own half, in incipient phase of build-up.
That player would probably start unpressed, on first pass. Because he is good enough usually in that comfortable situation to bypass your press if he has time to see it and make a decision. But if he makes a pass, and the teammate gives it back to him (as we often see, ball sometimes circulates twice between players, and a player who passes the ball is always a safety option to receive it back from the target of the pass), he will start to get pressed after the ball is released and before he gets it. Why? It's all very logical and simple. Because now you can press while the ball is in motion, and before the player made a first touch. So you gain a bit more time to get in reach for the press to really pose real danger. He also sees he's going to be pressed even before he makes a first touch. That adds stress, could make him do a heavy first touch, and so on, every factor counts.
Sometimes if a player has poor ball controll, he might not be pressed much at all unless it is the danger of the position that triggers it, not the player itself. Because he won't venture into a dangerous zone and will pass the ball to a teammate, who, instead, is pressed.
There are huge variations applied here from the best strategic managers.
I like Flick, but he is much more simplistic in his vision. He needs to learn from the best. You can tell he is a young manager, with just a few years of experience.
These discussions already start with the top managers. But to get to likes of Enrique, Pep, Klopp, etc, the best ones at this aspects of the game, he has a long way to go. So... more strategy and cunningness, less idealistic desire. You can't press the same all game, you can't press the same very player, so you need an analytical and pragmatic mind also. Set your priorities, minimize your exposure, then you can really take on the best.
