Let's learn "How to Build a High Press That Can't Be Broken Down"! 8 Points That Will Dramatically Change Your Defending From the Front

This time's theme is "How to Build a High Press That Doesn't Get Broken Down! 8 Points That Dramatically Change Defending from the Front Line." The instructor is Itaru Kato, who started his coaching career as a high school teacher and currently serves as head coach of SC Toyohashi Azalea in the Aichi Prefecture adult league.

Kato is a coach active in many fields, including serving as an advisor at Nihon Fukushi University Affiliated High School and as head coach of the Japan national minifootball (6-a-side) team.

This time's theme is how to instill in a team the high press, which is considered the most difficult part of defending. In the first part, he introduced the structure of the high press and 4 points: "intermediate," "containment," "decision," and "coordination." (Text by Tomoyuki Suzuki)

Organizing Defending into 8 Cycles

Kato defines defending in the area closest to the opponent's goal, when the pitch is divided into 3 parts, as "defending from a high position," and speaks of its difficulty as follows.

"The space to defend is the largest, and the opponent has a goalkeeper, so you end up defending at a numerical disadvantage. That is why the high press is difficult."

The 8 keywords that organize this defending are intermediate, containment, decision, coordination, management, recovery, quick attack, and transition.

Specifically, players take up positions, set their aim, one player makes a decision, and everyone coordinates. They prepare for and recover long balls, and if they win the ball they launch a quick attack, and if they lose it they go to win it back.

"The purpose of the high press is not to win the ball itself, but to score goals. Therefore, it is important to communicate all the way to the attack after winning the ball."

Why the Press Gets Broken Down

One cause of the high press being broken down is positional errors. And another is the problem of decision-making: if one player goes on his own, the players behind him do not coordinate, and even if the bench urges "go now," a delay of a few tenths of a second occurs.

"Before saying 'go to the ball!', I want you to check whether the player is starting from the correct position. For example, is he biting too much on a player and leaving space open, or is he going to defend late from a situation where he cannot protect the goal direction? That kind of checking is necessary."

Also, it is important not to think that you can win the ball with a single press. You want to share the idea that forcing a long ball and recovering it is also one form of success.

"In modern soccer, it is almost never possible to win the ball with one press. I want the players to have the feeling that they keep attacking a second, third, and fourth time, and only then finally win the ball."

Cast a Net, and Everyone Coordinates with One Player's Decision

From here, the 8 points are introduced in 3 phases. They are "cast a net," "reap," and "stab & return."

On that basis, he explains point 1 of the 8, "intermediate," which is the starting point of the press.

"Intermediate" refers to a position at an exquisite distance where both the player and the space can be defended. The basic idea is to defend from the goal direction and eliminate the opponent's shortest route. "Containment" refers to limiting the pass courses with one's eyes, like a tiger stalking its prey, and restricting the opponent's options.

"The image is to make the opponent think, 'If I play it here, I'll be intercepted,' and to restrict and guide their options. I show the players a picture of a tiger, and when I do, the way the front-line players enter their combat stance when going to press changes."

And in "decision," the player who becomes the first defender goes to win the ball with explosive speed, and keeps attacking a second and third time.

"If you eliminate the pass course with your back, the players behind you might as well not be there. This second and third attack becomes the chance to turn a numerical disadvantage into equal numbers or an advantage."

And "coordination" is the synchronization of everyone, including the goalkeeper. Players on the side opposite the ball narrow inside, increasing the numbers in the center. As a result, the players near the ball can go forward with peace of mind. Kato shows footage of a school of sardines and has the players imagine that movement.

"With one player's decision as the signal, everyone moves forward at the same timing, compressing the distance between players and eliminating places for the ball to escape. That is coordination."

In the second part next time, he will introduce the remaining 4 points and training to improve the high press.

[Instructor] Itaru Kato / Born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. After serving as a teacher at a public high school in Aichi Prefecture for 16 years, he switched to becoming a professional soccer coach and individual analyst for professional soccer players. Currently, in addition to serving as head coach of the Japan national minifootball (6-a-side soccer) team, he runs coach development and clinics as representative of "Itaru Football Support." His books include "Introduction to Soccer Training from an Individual Analyst" (Heibonsha) and 2 others. On the field, he serves as head coach and GM of "SC Toyohashi Azalea," and as an advisor (junior and junior youth) for the Nihon Fukushi University Affiliated High School soccer club and for Seagrosso Chita. He has also served as coach of the Aichi Prefecture Boys' National Sports Festival selection (U-16), coach of the U-17 Tokai selection, and coach of the Barcelona Academy Aichi school, and has worked widely both in Japan and abroad, including as director of Uganda's "KOMOREBI FOOTBALL ACADEMY." He holds the JFA-certified A-grade General license.