serghei
Senior Member
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.
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