Modern-day football is evolving with every passing day, with top teams, trying to play attractive football and win at the same time. In Layman terms, Pressing is the act of pressurizing opponents to get the ball back by getting closer to him/her. It has evolved in every season and each team’s pressing depends on the team’s coaching staff.
Tackling is the act of interfering with the player’s actions, such that the player’s action ceases. Tackling involves physical challenges. The ability to restrict attackers enables the defender to make a controlled tackle, which can be a block, poke, or slide tackle.
Both pressing and tackling is done to get the ball back from the opponent. It needs a lot of practice and it requires a team effort, cohesion and intelligence. Both can happen anywhere on the pitch. In the 2019/20 season of the Premier League, a total of 123000+ pressing instances along with 13000+ tackles were seen. You can interact with the report below to see each team’s pressing and tackling zones. On the right, we have the benchmark of most tackles and pressures achieved in the entirety of the season.
Liverpool made the most number of tackles and pressed the most in the attacking third of the pitch, which is their usual tactic – to force a mistake from the opponent. Last placed side, Norwich City made the most number of tackles and pressed the most in the defensive third of the pitch – clearly a tactic which didn’t work for Daniel Farke’s side. Do you think the above stats were a testament to the position of the team in the last season? Let us know in the comments below!