Премьер лигийн нээлтийн тойрогт Брентфорд өндөр прессинг ашиглан Тоттенхэм Хотспурыг 3-0-ийн харьцаатай буулган авчээ.
Роберто Де Зербигийн удирдсан багийн эсрэг өндөр прессинг хийх нь эрсдэлтэй гэгддэг ч Брентфорд энэ стратегийг төгс хэрэгжүүлж, өрсөлдөгчийнхөө довтолгооны эхлэлийг эхний хагаст бүрэн хаасан байна. Игор Тиаго, Матиас Йенсен болон Мамаду Сангаре нар талбайн бүсүүдийг хуваан авч, Тоттенхэмийн хамгаалагчдыг урт дамжуулалт хийхээс өөр аргагүй байдалд оруулж байв. Энэхүү нягт зохион байгуулалттай прессинг нь Виталий Жанелтийн 2-0 болгосон гоолыг оруулахад гол түлхэц болжээ.
Тоглолтын туршид Натан Коллинс, Кристоффер Ажер нар хамгаалалтын шугамыг өндөрт байрлуулж, Тоттенхэмийн тоглогчдын шилжилтийг амжилттай хянав. Түүнчлэн Виталий Жанелт болон Матиас Йенсен нар төвийн бүсэд бүсийн хамгаалалтын үүргийг гүйцэтгэж, алдагдсан бөмбөгүүдийг эргүүлэн авах замаар Брентфордын аюулгүй байдлыг хангаж байлаа. 49 дэх минутад Майкл Кайоде гоол оруулж тооны харьцааг 3-0 болгосны дараа ч Брентфорд прессингээ үргэлжлүүлэн тоглолтын хяналтыг гартаа барьсаар байв.
Премьер лигт багуудын прессинг хийх арга барил өөрчлөгдөж, физик хүч болон тактикийн уян хатан байдал нь тоглолтын үр дүнг тодорхойлох гол хүчин зүйл болж байна. Энэхүү ялалт нь өндөр прессинг нь орчин үеийн хурдан довтолгооны эсрэг эрсдэл гэхээсээ илүүтэйгээр боломж болон хувирч байгааг харууллаа.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Pressing a side coached by Roberto De Zerbi presents a certain risk: failure makes you vulnerable to his team’s vertical passing combinations.
However, the pressing landscape of the Premier League has changed since De Zerbi took charge of Brighton & Hove Albion in 2022.
The rise of man-to-man pressing, mastery of different pressing structures and focus on physicality across the league have reduced that risk.
The high press has levelled the playing field against quick build-up play from the back. Instead, the strategy, individuals and execution dictate the outcome.
In the opening weekend of this Premier League season, Brentford’s success in this phase of the game against De Zerbi’s Tottenham Hotspur was crucial in their 3-0 victory.
Keith Andrews’ side denied Spurs the chance to build up attacks throughout the first half, and their immaculate pressing led to Vitaly Janelt’s goal, making it 2-0.
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Against Tottenham’s 2-2 build-up, Brentford used Igor Thiago to split the pitch and force Spurs towards their left.
The Brazil striker positioned himself closer to Jan Paul van Hecke and bent his runs to block the passing angle into the defender.
Behind him, Mathias Jensen and Mamadou Sangare marked Lucas Bergvall and Sandro Tonali, with Janelt in a zonal role and the wingers sitting deep to track Spurs’ full-backs.
But when Spurs goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky played the ball to Marcos Senesi, Jensen moved towards the centre-back while blocking the passing lane into Bergvall.
Here, the lack of options forces Senesi to go long, and Dango Ouattara’s deeper position allows him to contest the aerial, with Janelt and Nathan Collins ready to win the second ball.
In another example, it’s the same setup and Kinsky’s pass to Senesi is the trigger for Brentford’s press.
When the goalkeeper plays the ball to Senesi, Jensen presses the centre-bak while blocking the passing lane into Bergvall.
Meanwhile, Thiago is in position to attack any potential backpass, Sangare is marking Tonali and Janelt is in a zonal role.
Senesi finds Robertson at left-back, but Ouattara is ready to put the pressure on, allowing Michael Kayode to track Mathys Tel, with Collins dropping to support the right-back — and in the end, Robertson’s pass fails to find Tel.
The initial role of Brentford’s centre-backs, Collins and Kristoffer Ajer, during the high press was to move up and mark Conor Gallagher and the dropping Richarlison.
In theory, that created space for Tottenham’s wide players to attack — a trademark of De Zerbi’s build-ups — but Kayode and Keane Lewis-Potter were aware of that and were always one step ahead.
In this example, Brentford are pressing in the same way, and Kinsky plays the ball into the space behind Collins and Ajer, who are tracking Gallagher and Richarlison.
However, Brentford’s full-backs are already defending the central space and are ahead of Tel and Mikey Moore, the Spurs wingers.
As a result, Lewis-Potter wins the header, and with Collins dropping to recover his position, Janelt’s zonal role allows him to win the second ball.
The awareness of Collins and Ajer added further protection to the back line. The centre-backs dropped quickly to cover the central space when they felt the ball wasn’t going to be played into their marker.
Here, Thiago and Jensen exchange positions, but the centre-forward presses Kinsky early and doesn’t maintain his role.
This gives Kinsky two passing options — Senesi and Bergvall — but Janelt’s zonal role leaves only the left centre-back free.
Senesi tries to capitalise on Thiago’s mistake, but Gallagher and Richarlison are tightly marked by Collins and Ajer, which persuades the Tottenham centre-back to find Tel’s run in behind.
Collins spots that possibility and drops early to support his right-back, Kayode, and collect the loose ball.
Janelt was Brentford’s safety net, picking up any free player in the centre of the pitch and contesting the second balls.
That zonal role was key in the German midfielder’s goal, but it was Jensen who performed it rather than Janelt.
Before the goal, Spurs have the ball and Jensen and Janelt exchange positions. When Kinsky tries to find Richarlison between the lines, the Denmark midfielder drops to support Brentford’s centre-backs.
Ajer dispossesses Richarlison before Jensen wins the ball back from Bergvall and shoots on target.
Starting from a higher position, Janelt supports the attack and scores from the rebound.
In the second half, there was no need for Brentford to continue their high press, especially after Kayode’s 49th-minute goal made it 3-0. Yet, they still regularly won the ball up the pitch when they decided to press high.
The most impressive aspect of Brentford’s high press against Tottenham on Saturday was the coherence of its different parts and how they worked in tandem to nullify De Zerbi’s side.
In the Premier League, pressing high against lethal quick build-ups used to be a risk.
Now that the pressing landscape has changed, it’s an opportunity.
