Pressing is still the new passing, but new patterns emerging - Burnley boss Sean Dyche on a shift in tactics

Sean Dyche impressed early in his Turf Moor reign that “pressing is the new passing.”
Josh BrownhillJosh Brownhill
Josh Brownhill

But Dyche also admitted at the time that “transition is one of the most important things in football now, it’s key, having the ball, not having the ball and regaining it.”

His players have enjoyed great success, often having less than 50% of the ball, winning it high up the pitch and punishing opponents.

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This season, with the quick turnaround from last term, pressing has dropped off, if you like, but Burnley remain one of the main exponents.

Indeed only Leeds United and Crystal Palace made more presses per match according to recent statistics.

But where pressing occurs appears to be changing, with the league as a whole seemingly preferring to let opponents have the ball and steal it in midfield.

Dyche’s side were particularly aggressive at Arsenal in their 1-0 win on Sunday, and he feels there has been a shift: “I think there’s a mixed bag, you’ve got the change in football, the tactical viewpoint, teams deliberately leaving teams with the ball because they’ve got 100 metres to go and score – teams are saying ‘you have the ball, pass it around your box, that’s fine, help yourself’. So maybe there’s been a tactical shift.

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“The crowd shift as well, they bring an energy sometimes, a forcefulness to the performance when they are encouraging you to press and run teams down, so that’s a possible shift.

“We certainly want to press when we can, we’ve made that clear in our intentions at Arsenal, we want to press the best we can.

“But there are often times when you can’t – teams may be really good at keeping the ball from a deeper position, like your Man City’s, some of those teams have a goalkeeper, particularly City’s, who is like having an outfield player.

“I think there are a few shifts in the performance levels physically and mentally, and the game schedule.

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“A lot of changes to kick-off times, which day, and we have more coming, so I don’t think it’s one thing, a number of things may well have impressed upon the game that idea of slightly less pressing, less pace to the press."