Principle 4: Wolfpack
Week 2
Focus: Pressing
Subfocus: Limit Space
Principle: Wolfpack (all credit to TOVO for the concept)
This will go along with scanning. When we lose possession of the ball (negative transition), we must know who will press the ball first. This will become intuitive through playing over years and years with coaching.
The player who is closest to the ball must press. However, they can’t press without first looking around and forming a relationship (close distance) to their teammates. Without forming the relationship, they will go 1v3 and our opponents will break our first line of defense easily.
The first pressing player directs the flow of play, meaning they will cut off the passing option that allows his or her opponents the most space and time. We call this “cutting the field in half”.
This is as simple as bending the run so the side where there’s space is blocked and the only option is to go to players on the side of the field with less space.
This first trigger player is the “Alpha”.
They lead the rest of the “Wolfpack”, who must move forward and press with as much intensity as the alpha. If they don’t, we leave holes to be exploited. And this is with as much pressure as possible. In Spain, they say to “chase the player into the locker room”. We’re relentless once our players “pack up” and decide to press.
The next part of this are the defensive lines. We don’t want our players to be on the same defensive line as it’s too easy to penetrate.
Instead, we want them a little forward or backward from one another, staggered to ensure we can cut off as many of our opponents passing lanes as possible.
1. Preflection, Mobility, and Stability - Our routine warmup with some fun activities to help strengthen, engage, and protect muscles and ligaments from injuries.
2. Rondos - 4v2 - Now, we focus on the two players in the middle. How is the “alpha” cutting off half the field to make this game 2v2 rather than 4v2? How is the second player covering the split and making sure that if the ball is passed to the side, they can keep the ball within the two original attacking players? Angles, distance, and timing matter here.
3. Positional Play Game - 4v4+4 - This is a game divided into four sections. The players in possession have a set amount of passes to earn a point (we will go to goals on Thursday). The team out of possession must win the ball back as quickly as possible and transition into an attacking formation (make the field big, find open passing and dribbling lanes).
The four on defense must try to get as many “wolves” (players) into a “forest” (1/4 of the field) as possible. They are staggered like in the principle images above and have an alpha, second defender, third defender, and fourth defender all making the field as small as possible for the attacking team.
Once the defense wins the ball, the attacking team must go into the middle to touch hands before pressing the ball. This gives a little time for the transition as well as helps the new defensive team “hunt” as a “pack”.
4. Training Game - 5v5+5 to goal - Now, we build up to playing with 10 players in possession like in a real game (5 players +5 neutral players = 10 field players) and five pressing.
