Click here to watch Parts 1 & 2 on computer!
Click here to watch Parts 1 & 2 on mobile!
There are two prevailing ideas in soccer that have developed over the past two decades: (1) playing out of the back and (2) pressing high to start attacks closer to goal.
Playing out of the back has always been an ambition of many in the game. In more recent times, Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona teams took this idea to a new level and the rest of the world wanted to follow. Since then, the idea of playing out of the back has become more universal and clubs and coaches everywhere are putting their own spin on how to do this at all ages and levels of the game.
While the idea of pressing high to win the ball is not new, Jurgen Klopp’s teams at Mainz and Dortmund, and now at Liverpool, created a picture of how this can be so effective in controlling a game by putting the opponent under intense pressure and forcing turnovers to create scoring chances. Now, everyone wants to press high and win the ball, and the belief in pressing has even changed the definition of the desired qualities of a front line player.
In today’s session, we tackle the ideas of how to play out of a high press. Coach David Garcia walks us through his themes on how teams and players can think about how to systematically find ways to play out of pressure in the modern game. David started his coaching career in Spain and learned from some coaches who learned from some of the best teachers of the game. He offers us tangible ideas that provide a nice framework for how players and coaches can think about dealing with these high pressure moments in the back as well as throughout the entire field.
Understand, playing out of the back is hard. Playing out of the back under extreme pressure is even harder. It’s not possible to master this concept in a single video, article or training session. We can begin somewhere, however, and Coach David offers us a great starting point to build a foundation from which more advanced principles can be introduced and mastered.
A big thanks to Coach David Garcia for the time involved in preparing this discussion which involves video chalkboard to introduce the concepts as well as videos of his teams and professional teams demonstrating the concepts.
Thanks for watching and enjoy!