To coach pressing well, stop coaching effort and start coaching decisions: when to go, who goes first, how they approach the ball, and what everyone else does while they do it. "Press!" shouted from the touchline tells players to run. It doesn't tell them when, where to or with whom, so they chase on their own, get bypassed by one pass and leave space behind. Pressing works when the team understands it together.
This guide breaks pressing into four questions your players can learn to answer, shows what that looks like with an under-10 team and an under-15 team, and gives you a simple game, coaching cues and sessions to coach it, whether you call it training or practice.
When a coach shouts "press", players hear "run at the ball". The nearest player sprints in, usually straight at the opponent, and the rest of the team watches. One pass later the press is broken and there's a gap where the presser used to be. Do that ten times in a game and the team is tired, out of shape and convinced pressing doesn't work.
The problem isn't the players' effort. It's that a slogan replaces an understanding. We wrote more about that in A Manifesto for Football in 2026. Pressing is a team decision, and decisions can be coached. Even at the top level it's coached as a set of shared decisions rather than a call to run harder, which is how David Moyes approaches it in his Pressing Masterclass on The Coaching Manual.
Good pressing starts with a trigger: a moment when the player on the ball is more likely to lose it. Common triggers:
Without a trigger, the smarter choice is often to stay compact and delay, which is the principle of recovery and delay. Pressing all the time isn't brave; it's predictable.
Usually the nearest player, but only one of them. Two players arriving at the same moment leaves someone free. Teach players to call it ("mine!") so the decision is shared and quick.
Fast to start, slower in the last few yards, so they arrive balanced rather than diving in. A slightly curved run lets the presser show the attacker one way, usually towards the touchline or towards a teammate, and cut off the pass behind them. Stay on your feet until the ball is there to win.
This is the part most coaches leave out, and it's the part that decides whether a press works. A press is defined as much by the players at the back as by the player who goes to the ball.
When the front players press, the whole team moves up behind them. In his Pressing Masterclass, David Moyes wants his defenders up on the halfway line when the team presses from the front. That takes away the space between the lines, so the team with the ball has nowhere easy to play into. If the front players press and the defence stays deep, a gap opens in the middle, and one pass through it beats everyone.
Behind the first presser, the second player gets close enough to win the ball if the attacker beats the first: that's cover. Everyone else shifts across towards the ball and closes passing lanes. Pressing is one player going and ten adjusting, with the back line setting how much space there is to play in.
| Question | At U10 | At U15 |
|---|---|---|
| When | Go when the ball is close and their touch is poor. | Recognise agreed team triggers, such as a pass to the full-back or a player receiving facing their own goal. |
| Who | The nearest player goes, and says so. | The nearest player goes, with the front players setting the press and the rest following their lead. |
| How | Get close quickly, slow down, stay on your feet. | Curved runs that show the attacker one way and block the pass behind. |
| Everyone else | The next nearest player goes to help, and the team stays close together. | The back line pushes up, towards the halfway line when pressing from the front; cover behind the presser; the team shifts across and closes passing lanes. |
At U10, keep it about the ball and the two or three nearest players. A team-wide pressing plan can wait. Under about 14, the aim is players who understand defending and make good decisions, not a pressing system that wins games through fitness.
This practice comes from Martin Hunter, UEFA Pro Licence tutor and former Technical Director at Southampton FC. It's quick to set up because the area is the size of a penalty area, 44 x 18 yards, so you can use the markings that are already there.
Set-up. Mark a halfway line across the middle and three small gates at each end. Two teams of six wait behind their gates, and a server with a supply of balls stands at each end of the halfway line. That's 14 players for around 10 minutes.
How it works. A server passes to one team, and three players from each side come on to play 3v3. The attackers score by dribbling through a gate, but only once they're in their attacking half. If the defenders win the ball, they can score through the opposite gates, again only from their attacking half. When a goal goes in or the ball goes out, the next server plays to the next three waiting, and a new wave starts.
Why it works. Three defenders is enough to learn the whole job: one presses, two support. And because the attackers can't score until they're past halfway, the defenders don't have to win the ball to succeed. Stopping the attack getting forward is a win in itself.
What to coach, drawn from Martin's coaching points:
See the full practice, with video and animation
Everyone goes at once. The whole team chases the ball and one pass beats them all. Coach one presser and one helper first.
Pressing at the front, sitting deep at the back. The forwards press, the defenders stay on the edge of their own box, and a huge gap opens between them. The opposition plays one pass into it and the press is gone. When the front presses, the back moves up.
Pressing without cover. A brave first defender with nobody behind them simply gets dribbled past. The second player matters as much as the first.
Diving in. Players arrive at full speed and lunge. Coach the slow-down in the last few yards.
Pressing all game. Young players can't sustain it, and constant chasing leaves no room for the other defending principles. Teach them when to press and when to drop and stay compact.
Coaching it unopposed. Pressing only exists against opponents trying to keep the ball. Small-sided games teach it far better than drills.
Easier for the defenders: make the area longer, so pressers have more time to close the distance before the attackers reach halfway.
Harder for the defenders: make the area wider, or add a fourth attacker, so the two supporting players have more space to cover and passing lanes to close.
For more ideas, see our seven pressing sessions for youth teams, or browse the free coaching sessions library by age group.
The basic idea, one player goes to the ball and the next one helps, can be introduced from about U8 or U9. Team pressing with agreed triggers suits players from around U13, once they're playing larger formats and can read the game further from the ball.
A moment that makes the player on the ball more likely to lose it, such as a poor touch, a pass towards the touchline or a player receiving with their back to goal. Triggers tell the team when to press together, rather than chasing every ball.
Closing down is one player getting to the ball. Pressing is the whole team acting together: the first player closes down, the second covers, the rest close off passing options, and the back line pushes up to take away space.
Sometimes, when there's a trigger and the whole team, including the defenders, moves up to support it. A team that only ever presses high gets tired and exposed; a team that knows when to press and when to drop learns more about defending.