Pressing and an introduction to tackling

1Why this matters

The best moment to score is often the few seconds after your team wins the ball back, because the opponents are spread out to attack and have not yet recovered their shape. Pressing is the tactic of winning the ball back quickly and high up the pitch. Tackling is the individual skill that finishes the job, and it must be done within the Laws of the Game.

2Pressing

In pressing, defending players move forward towards the ball instead of waiting near their own goal. The nearest player pressures the ball carrier, and teammates close down the nearby passing options. A successful press wins the ball far up the pitch or forces a hurried long kick. It is high-risk, high-reward: if the opponents pass through the press, fewer players are left protecting your goal.

Rules for pressing as a team:

1. Press together. One player pressing alone just runs and gets tired.
2. Press on a trigger, a signal agreed in advance: a pass back to the goalkeeper, a poor first touch, or a player receiving with his back to goal.
3. Curve your run so that it cuts off the pass to one side and pushes the ball carrier towards the touchline, where the line acts as an extra defender.
4. If the press is beaten, everyone sprints back behind the ball.

3Jockeying: defending before the tackle

Diving in is the most common defending mistake. First jockey:

• Close the distance quickly, then slow down about 2 m from the attacker.
• Stand side-on, knees bent, weight on the balls of your feet, about an arm's length away.
• Watch the ball, not the attacker's body or tricks.
• Show the attacker onto their weaker foot or towards the touchline, and wait for a heavy touch.

4The block tackle, step by step

1. Get close, with your standing foot beside the ball and your knee bent.
2. Turn the inside of your tackling foot to face the ball and lock your ankle.
3. Put your body weight through the ball, not the player, keeping your head and body over it.
4. Win the ball, then pass it or clear it straight away.

The poke tackle (a quick toe-poke to knock the ball away) is useful when you are slightly behind. The slide tackle is a last resort for later, on soft ground only, and never from behind.

5Tackling and the Laws of the Game

A tackle is a foul if the referee judges it to be careless, reckless or made with excessive force. Making contact with the opponent before the ball is a foul. The punishment grows with the danger:

Practice

Solution. For example: a pass back to the goalkeeper; a poor first touch; an opponent receiving with his back to goal; a slow sideways pass.

Solution. The curve blocks the pass to one side and steers the ball carrier towards the touchline or into a teammate, reducing the options.

Solution. She committed too early and was beaten by a feint. She should jockey side-on at about an arm's length, watch the ball, and tackle only when the attacker takes a heavy touch.

Solution. A penalty kick and a yellow card.