Italian Pressing and Conditioning Play Part 1: Pressing from the Back and Condensing Play

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This is part 1 of a four part series on Italian Pressing and Conditioning Play

Pressing from the Back and Condensing Play

pressing from the back and condensing play
  1. Defenders drop off slower than attackers to allow them to get close and to delay their forward momentum.  
  2. The defenders attack the ball the moment the furthest attacker is along the defensive line of the last defender. 
  3. They move together to the ball, in this case treble- teaming the man on the ball.
  1. Here the strikers are along the line of the last defender and that is the instance the three defenders step and leave them offside and press the ball collectively.
  2. Use a command call, the best player to do it is the last defender who has to have good awareness of the positions of the other two opponent’s players as well as the player on the ball.
  3. The Command can be STEP, a short and sweet command that has to be instantly adhered to.
  4. Then you are relying on the officials seeing this and getting the decision right!! Good luck with that.
  1. (A) and (C) are offside if they receive the ball.
  2. (B) has 3 players challenging. Timing of the movement is crucial, all players attacking the ball at the same time.
  3. You need good talkers to do this.
  4. Slowing the opponent’s forward movement helps the recovering defensive players get back to help too; such as midfield players recovering back. 
  5. Defenders must make sure the player on the ball does not get past them. Keeper acts as sweeper if the trap fails.

Part 2 Coming Soon