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Home/Training Drills/Pressing Drills/Ball-Side Overload Press
PressingAdvanced

Ball-Side Overload Press

Press with a ball-side overload. Slide across as a unit to overload the ball side, deny the safe pass, dare the long switch, and win it where you have the numbers.

Create your own drill
Live animationPRS
Duration
12 min
Total drill time
Players
5
Recommended
Pitch
52 × 40 m
Setup space
Level
Advanced
Skill required
Intensity
High
Physical demand
Age band
U13-U14
Any format

Setup & instructions

With the opponent on one side, the team slides across to overload the ball side and press. Leave the far-side player, whose only pass is a long risky switch, and win the ball on the strong side. Emphasise sliding as a unit, staying compact, and pressing where the numbers are. If they switch, slide across again to press the far side. Rotate the roles.

Setup time: 1 min

Tactical breakdown

Sliding the whole team to one side deliberately concedes the far side, and pretending otherwise is how the concept gets taught badly. It is a bet, and the bet is that a long switch takes longer to travel than the team takes to shuffle across. Against opponents who cannot strike a forty-yard ball accurately, it is close to a free win. Against those who can, it is genuinely dangerous, and players should be told which situation they are in.

What the overload buys is numbers where the ball is. Pressing with three against two, or four against three, means a presser can commit hard because there is cover behind him, and a mistake by the carrier is punished immediately. Pressing with equal numbers means everybody has to be cautious and nobody actually wins the ball.

The execution detail that decides it is the far-side player's discipline. The winger or full-back on the opposite flank has to tuck in rather than mark his direct opponent, which feels wrong to him because he can see the man he is supposedly responsible for standing alone in space. That tuck is what creates the overload; without it the team is simply spread out.

When the switch does come, the response is not panic but a coordinated slide, with the far-side player delaying rather than diving in. He is buying the two seconds it takes for everyone else to arrive.

Coach the ball as the reference point, not the opponent. Players slide relative to where the ball is, always.

How to run this drill

  1. Slide the whole unit to the ball side. Everyone shifts relative to the ball rather than to an opponent. The reference point is the ball, always, and that has to be stated repeatedly.
  2. Tuck the far-side player in. He leaves his direct opponent and comes inside. This feels wrong to him and is exactly what creates the overload, so it needs explicit permission.
  3. Press hard because there is cover. Three against two means the first presser can commit fully. With equal numbers everyone hedges and the press produces nothing but running.
  4. Deny the safe backwards pass. Take away the comfortable option so the carrier must either force it into the crowd or attempt the switch. Both outcomes suit the defending team.
  5. Accept the switch as the price. It is a bet that the ball travels slower than the team shuffles. Against opponents who can strike forty yards accurately, choose a different approach.
  6. Delay rather than dive in on the switch. The far-side player buys the two seconds the rest need to arrive. Diving in alone turns a manageable switch into a chance conceded.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Slide across together to overload the ball side
  • Deny the safe short pass, force it backward
  • Leave the far man: the switch is long and risky
  • Stay compact, press where you have the numbers
  • If they switch, slide across and press again

Common mistakes

  • Not sliding across as a unit, gaps appear
  • Leaving a short pass on, no overload
  • Getting stretched by the switch
  • Pressing individually instead of together

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Reward the opponent for a successful switch
  • Add a player to make the overload harder
  • Finish on goal after winning it

Regressions

  • Opponents play at a set pace
  • Walk the slide and the shape first
  • Bigger area to give more time
Equipment
Cones×2
Tactical principles
ball side overloadpressing overloadsliding acrossdaring the switchcompact defendingpressing drillzonal defendingdefending as a unitadvanced pressing drillu14 pressing drill
Audience
U13-U14

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