How To Coach Counter-Pressing Tactics Like Diego Simeone – Tactical Analysis

Last week, we discussed controlling possession and the tools that can help you teach your team in this manner. Now, were back with a piece about pressing and counter-pressing.

Those two almost exclusively go hand in hand in modern football and are used as some of the main tools of domination in today’s game.

The world’s best teams, such as Arne Slot’s Liverpool, Gian Piero Gasperinis Atalanta, and Hansi Flicks Barcelona, all employ these tactics and rely on them as their primary weapon in most of the duels they play.

The system of coaching those segments of the game requires a lot of work on a physical plan because it needs to be practised in high-intense sessions, but also huge attention to communication between the players and structural organisation when out of possession.

This coaching tactical analysis will show you three soccer drills inspired by Diego Simeone tactics at Atlético Madrid that could be of great help if you want your team to play counter-pressing, high-intensity football, while also developing a range of other football skills.

Counter-Pressing Overview

Pressing game is based on aggression and tackling directed at the player with the ball, to prevent him from making decisions and shortening the amount of time he has to make a decision.

Most of the pressing sides focus on creating pressing traps.

In this analysis, we will shift our focus to reactional pressing, which occurs when the ball is in transition from one side to the other, and whenever the team loses possession.

One thing we would like to point out in the counter-pressing game is that it is entirely dependent on the compactness of your team when defending, so the balance and understanding between your players need to be at a very high level.

That’s why all the coaching exercises we are going to show you have many other uses besides coaching pressing.

Diego Simeone’s rondo (with adjustments)

The first drill we will discuss is the one that world-class Argentina coach Diego Simeone uses at Atlético Madrid.

The setup of the session is straightforward  two squares, one inside the other, with the smaller one measuring 7-10�7-10 meters, while the bigger one is positioned around it at a distance of three meters from every line.

The usual rondo takes place in the inside box, as the players are lined up to play a 5v2 game (this can vary depending on the number of players you want to use).

Here, you can see the initial setting of the drill, as described in the previous paragraph.

The only modification to this, which at first glance seems very easy, exercise is related to the existence of outside lines.

To set minds straight for