Having read the Chronicle and O'Brien's intimation that the plan against Southampton was not to press - I'd counter with the fact that Barcelona's success has not been built on just having the best team in the world, but pressing the opposition beyond compare. Unless that was a misquote, it is a ******* bizarre tactic, to suggest that at any level of football, pressing the opposition is not an essential facet of winning the ball back.
If you're going to press high up the field, you need to do it right. There's no point just a few players pressing as they'll pass it round them and we'll be exposed, particularly against the better teams. I wonder if he meant we shouldn't press until the ball comes into midfield. Either way I didn't notice any difference today.
True. But to press high up the field, then you've got to be losing the ball high up the field in the first place. So I guess we need to work on ball retention first. I can understand not wanted to press a Premier League to high up the pitch as it leaves space behind, but the other side of the copin is that if you give the likes of Ramirez time to pick a pass then you'll be opened up. Much like Watson did for Wigan.
