Bournemouth have been one of the major positives to begin the 2025/2026 Premier League season.
They are currently in fourth place with 10 points.
Since the 4-2 loss on the opening day to Liverpool, the Cherries have allowed only one goal in their last four Premier League matches.
Not only that, but only Newcastle United and Arsenal have conceded fewer expected goals than Andoni Iraola’s side.
Last season, Bournemouth were the best high-pressing team in the Premier League by a decent margin.
They led England’s top flight in PPDA, build-up completion percentage allowed, high recoveries, and goals directly from the result of high turnovers.
It was a difficult summer on the south coast as Bournemouth watched their three best defenders, Dean Huijsen, Illia Zabarnyi, and Milos Kerkez, move on to bigger clubs.
So, how in the world has Andoni Iroala kept Bournemouth one of the better out-of-possession teams in the Premier League after losing their three best defenders?
In this tactical analysis, we will discuss Andoni Iraola’s high press, why it is so effective, and how the new additions to Bournemouth’s backline have allowed them to maintain the level of play we saw from the Cherries last season.
Andoni Iraola Hybrid High Press
The first place to start is Adoni Iraola’s hybrid high press basics, which took the Premier League by storm last year.
It’s a system that does take some time to coach properly, which is why you saw Bournemouth go through a terrible run of form when he was first hired in 2023.
The goal of the hybrid high press is to start out in a zonal structure, force the ball to one side of the pitch, and then jump into a man-to-man high press.
Bournemouths initial zonal structure aims to cut off any central routes for teams to play through.
The forward (Evanilson in this example) will make a curved run to force the goalkeeper to play the ball to the centre-back.
