Football's New Era - The Rise of 'Counter-Pressing'

A philosophical battle between tiki-taka & counter attacking has left Guardiola isolated 

“A football team can forget everything and still win. I'd choose to take the steps we take at Ajax, towards the football that we all want to see," Cruyff stated after Chelsea lifted the Champions League in 2012.

Now we know that Cruyff lives the totalfootball philosophy and finds anything else ‘ugly’ and ‘anti-football’. Last season this blog wrote an asking "Is there a right way to play?" concluding that there is no ‘right way’ to play the game, only opinions. It is mere arrogance and ignorance of Cruyff to believe there is. The truth is that different styles are necessary for team’s to achieve success and for football to advance. Therefore when we consider the start of this season we are starting to see two distinct styles and philosophies, it would appear a new style is becoming more popular than the Barca way, a style which could well dominate the top echelons of European football this season.

It is only early in the season yet already we are seeing a trend emerging between the top sides in terms of their style and approach. In fact there have been three games this season which highlight a battle between two philosophies of play. In the early games this season we have seen Bayern & Barca face Dortmund, Atletico Madrid and Chelsea. Klopp, Simeone and Mourinho. Some of the best coaches in European football today. For this reason alone the games have been fascinating yet what has fascinated most is the complete difference in approach of these coaches to Guardiola's 'teams'.

It has been a clash of philosophies; possession based build up versus the deep defensive counter attack. It is so fascinating is because the styles clash so perfectly and it makes it such an intriguing match-up. The question is, which one will prosper this season?

A possession based approach

For the past several years Barcelona have dominated world football. In Guardiola's four years he won 17 trophies, incredible. This style is the totalfootball philosophy which originates from the Michels & Ajax school of football. The style of football under Guardiola evolved from direct attacking football to a more controlled possession based style called 'tiki-taka'. It evolved due to the need for the team to 'rest' in possession and because teams started to defend against Barcelona much deeper and compact. 

Guardiola's style became one of controlling possession, a slower based tempo and having many players playing high up the pitch. Retaining possession was fundamental to their success. This approach results in high possession statistics and often the production of many chances at goal. The drawback is that it often means the opposition have a strong defensive block which is hard to penetrate. Thus the need for players such as Lionel Messi and Iniesta to find ways through. Of which most times Barca did find a way.

However, like with many football cycles and styles the Barcelona model has being taken to extremes. This blog spoke before of how Barcelona were at their best when playing an attacking 4-3-3 formation, with counter attacking football. Their evolution to seeking to have 70%+ possession was actually detrimental to their success. They allowed sides to become organised and difficult to break down and importantly by not allowing other sides to attack, they had little room to exploit and counter.

The longer Guardiola’s ‘tiki-taka’ went on the more it became learnt and mastered. It was simply fascinating watching coaches attempt to overcome Barca. The solution appeared simple, yet in truth it was far more complex and organised.

Solutions to counter 'tiki-taka'

Let us take Atletico Madrid. Diego Simeone hasworked wonders for the club since he arrived as coach, a club which suffered from constant turnover of players and coaches for so long. Yet the Argentinian has given the club stability and importantly stamped his authority and style on to the team. 

Atletico have won the Europa League and Copa Del Rey with Simeone using a style which is organised, disciplined and completely committed to hard work on the defensive end. In the two legs against Barcelona in the Super Cup Madrid were excellent at restricting Barcelona and especially Lionel Messi’s influence. 

Yet it was not simply excellent defending but their ability to counter attack with speed which makes this Atletico side so impressive. It this element of their style which makes them a genuine threat this season. 

With David Villa playing the point and Arda Turan and Diego Costa supporting him with deep runs Madrid’s counters are explosive and although not always effective (there is an acceptance of losing possession to expose teams quickly) they aim to expose a team 'out of balance' as quickly as possible.

In the Super Cup Barcelona struggled to deal with Madrid’s threat and although they did win on away goals, the signs were there that Madrid could be a real threat this season in La Liga and the Champions League.

Of course this was this style of football which Mourinho decided upon to defeat Barcelona in his time at Madrid. It took many different experiments and opportunities to master it, yet perhaps they would have been better learning from Jurgen Klopp and Dortmund on how to master the counter press.

Dortmund's 'counter pressing' philosophy

This similar situation was seen in the German Super Cup tie between Dortmund and Bayern Munich. Now last season this blog marvelled at Bayern’s quality and variety in style and approach, the word ‘complete’ was given to them. Yet the plaudits have always been showered on Dortmund for what they have achieved with their limited finances and excellent coaching and scouting network. 

This Super Cup match was in contrast to the Champions League final last season which was a battle between two attacking sides who looked to penetrate quickly. With the arrival of Guardiola the a more ‘Barcelona’ style was expected and that is what this game produced. Guardiola’s team was more patient in their build up and dominated possession against Dortmund. Yet they would be punished four times by Dortmund’s excellent counterpressing (gegenpressing) method. It was a lesson for Guardilola and other coaches across Europe of how to exploit the Barca model of play. 

In fact Jupp Heynckes copied Dortmund's gegenpressing method last season with Bayern, a move which completed the jigsaw for Bayern's success. This transitional defensive tactic has become invaluable for sides to limit teams attacks and expose them on the break.

Now of course a counter attacking style this is nothing new, Inter Milan’s catenaccio overcame Ajax’s style of play in the 1960's, yet what is happening is that coaches like Klopp are building their sides to be the modern ‘masters’ of the counter attack. 

An organised, structured and solid defensive block is where these ‘counter pressing’ coaches build their foundations from and this is why defending and organisation is so important for top European sides in today’s game. Importantly keeping the defensive block of the back four, keeper and two holding players together has been key for Dortmund’s success these past several years. Adding Aubameyang to the attack was precisely to give Dortmund even more ‘speed’ for their counter attacking play which has so far proved extremely successful.

What we are seeing through 'counter pressing' is not the ultra-defensive mindset of catenaccio but something more akin to 'positive defending', stressing the importance of transitional counters at full speed.

Barcelona's anti-thesis

And who is the 'master' of this type of counter attacking football. Well for the past decade there has been no other like Jose Mourinho. He can be regarded as the anti-thesis to Guardiola, the so called enemy of Barcelona and their philosophy and style. 

Mourinho believes that the game of football is won in transition, effectively he argues that counter attacks provide the best chance to score and therefore are key for a teams success. Mourinho sets his sides up to counter attack, that is his approach, a somewhat ‘reactive’ mentality built on defensive solidity. 

Yet he has been continually lambasted for his poor and ugly style of football. Cruyff’s beliefs about Mourinho were similar to many others, yes success is good but style and success is even better. And this is what Atletico and Dortmund have brought to their style of play, it is not ‘ugly’ but actually entertaining. They make ‘tiki-taka’ look dull. Cryuff does not believe in anything but the Ajax way, yet surely he cannot say that ‘counter pressing’ football is ‘anti-football’? 

It is Mourinho who has caused Barca such difficulty and frustration this past decade. His Chelsea side between 2004-2007 was in direct contrast to what Barca were, as too were Inter and then Madrid. He valued players like Essien, Drogba, Milito, Cambiasso, Pepe and Ronaldo. They possessed strength, speed and physicality and he has been successful because of it. In contrast to Barca he favoured the longer, direct ball especially on counter attacks and he has been very successful. 

Yet perhaps this Chelsea team has something very special in terms of their ability to counter and entertain. Eden Hazard and Andre Schurrle are two of the quickest and most skilful wingers/forwards in Europe, which gives Chelsea’s counter attacks such speed and directness that they could be great to watch as well as extremely effective. 

A clash of styles 

Many consider defensive teams easy to set-up and manage, believing it is ‘simple’ to coach a team to defend yet more difficult to coach them in possession. I do not agree. To get a team to defend as one, whether pressing high or dropping off takes time and great persuasion skills. It is why coaches like Mourinho, Klopp and Simeone have become so valuable and successful, they have convinced their players to sacrifice the self for the team. Just like what Heynckes did with Bayern last season. 

It is clear that this season will see the dichotomy of styles between ‘tiki-taka’ and ‘counter pressing’ more so than in previous years. At first it seemed sides tried to 'replicate' Barca's style yet we are now seeing some of Europe's best coaches finding a tactic which is in near contrast to Barca's tiki-taka. Klopp, Mourinho and Simeone have found a style which suits their philosophy as well as which provides success to their team. Football's 'new era' appears to be seeing the rise of counter attack football and coaches.

This style is markedly different to possession based football, simply it is about quality not quantity. The coaches want their teams to invite pressure, to allow the opposition the ball and then to punish them with frightening speed in transition. 

Perhaps the biggest difference in style comes when we consider the controlling of games. Watching these two styles clash is a joy to watch, like some sort of hunt, yet whom is the predator and whom is the prey? Yes ‘tiki-taka’ has control of the ball yet does it have control of the ‘game’? 

For Guardiola he believes in dominating possession in order to control games. Yet for the 'counter pressing' coaches it is seems clear that they have found ways of controlling games without having possession of the ball, this is an art form in itself and one in which more coaches are seeing the value in over tiki-taka football. 

The Whitehouse Address @The_W_Address

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