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Home/Training Drills/Pressing Drills/High Press Trap
PressingAdvanced

High Press Trap

Pressers: set the trap with the first defender's angle, block the forward and switch options, and win the ball high to finish immediately. Build-up players: keep composure, use the keeper, and learn to recognise and beat the trap.

Create your own drill
Live animationPRS
Duration
15 min
Total drill time
Players
6
Recommended
Pitch
52 × 36 m
Setup space
Level
Advanced
Skill required
Intensity
High
Physical demand
Age band
U13-U14
Any format

Setup & instructions

In roughly a 52x36m defensive third, a keeper and two centre-backs build out against three pressers. The trigger is the pass out to a centre-back: the striker curves the run to show play inside and cut the switch, the near presser jumps to the receiver, and the far presser reads the rushed ball across. Win it and finish first. Rotate the units so everyone presses and plays out.

Setup time: 3 min

Tactical breakdown

Coaching a press without coaching press resistance produces a team that presses well against opponents who cannot play, and gets picked apart by anyone who can. This exercise is deliberately two-sided: the front three are learning to spring a trap, and the back line is learning to see it coming. Both groups improve, and neither gets the comfortable version.

For the pressing team, the trap is a sequence rather than an effort. The first defender's angle shows the ball one way, which is a decision made before he arrives. The second and third defenders do not chase the ball at all, they occupy the options the first has just made attractive. Winning it is the outcome of geometry, not of running harder.

For the build-up team, the counter-lesson is that a trap only works if you take the pass it is offering you. A centre-back who recognises that the wide option has been left deliberately open, and instead uses the keeper to switch, has beaten the press without a single skill move. Composure here is a reading skill, not a temperament.

The reason to win it high is arithmetic. A turnover thirty yards from goal produces a chance far more often than one in your own half, because the defence is stretched and the keeper is exposed. That is why the finish should be immediate, within two or three touches, before the shape reforms.

Rotate the roles. A defender who has spent ten minutes being trapped presses far more intelligently afterwards.

How to run this drill

  1. Set a back line playing out against a front three. Keeper, two centre-backs and a full-back building out against three pressers, with a goal to attack immediately on a turnover.
  2. Set the trap with the first defender's angle. The first presser curves his run to close one side and leave the other apparently open. That decision is made before he arrives, not on the way.
  3. Occupy the option, do not chase the ball. The second and third pressers cover the passes the first has made attractive. Everyone chasing the ball is a scramble, not a trap.
  4. Jump the forced pass. Time the interception as the ball is released, not as it arrives. Winning it in the lane rather than at the receiver's feet is what creates the chance.
  5. Finish within three touches. The value of a high turnover is that the defence is stretched and the keeper exposed. Working a better opening simply lets the shape reform.
  6. Coach the build-up team to read it. A wide option left deliberately open is the tell. Using the keeper to switch beats the trap with no skill required, only recognition.
  7. Rotate the roles. Players who have spent ten minutes being trapped press far more intelligently afterwards, because they know what the picture looks like from inside it.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Set the trap with the first presser's angle: show them one way, not just toward the ball
  • Curve the run to cut the switch and the forward pass at the same time
  • The near presser jumps the moment the ball travels to the trapped player
  • Screen the easy way out so the only pass left is the one you want to intercept
  • Win it and go: the reward for pressing high is a short path to goal
  • Press as a unit, on the same trigger, or the trap leaks

Common mistakes

  • Pressing the ball without cutting the pass behind, so the trap has a hole
  • The first presser arriving square, letting the receiver switch away
  • Winning the ball and then slowing down instead of attacking the goal
  • Pressers triggering at different moments and breaking the shape

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Add a holding midfielder as a build-up option to bait and screen
  • Give the build-up team a target to reach if they beat the press
  • Shorten the finish window to a two second turnover-to-shot

Regressions

  • Build-up team plays two touch so the trigger is easier to read
  • Remove the far presser so the trap is a simple 2v2 up top
  • Start with a walk-through of the trigger and angles before live pressing
Equipment
Cones×2
Full Goals×1
Markers×3
Tactical principles
high presspressing trapwinning the ball highpress resistanceplaying out under pressurepressing drillhigh press drillforcing turnoversadvanced pressing drillu14 pressing drill
Audience
U13-U14

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