Spain: Breaking an aggressive player-to-player press

Victory over 2019 runners-up the Netherlands saw Spain progress to their first ever World Cup semi-final. As Signeul observed, "Spain have remained very true to their playing identity throughout this competition. In this game they faced a Netherlands team that were very well organised tactically, but they [Spain] came up with solutions. All their players are fast, fit, strong in their duels and technically excellent. They showed great awareness of how to create and access space, using the intentions of their opponent. It was very impressive."

• To beat a player-to-player press, teams need to work out how to break the first line of that press. The ability to go through, around or over the opposition's press is essential, as is being able to solve problems as they arise.

• If the attacking side can get past an aggressive player-to-player defensive press, they can then exploit space in the territory the defending team is no longer able to cover.

• Fast changes in the direction of play can make it difficult for opposition players to cover the ground needed to apply direct pressure.

• When players are being tightly marshalled by the opposition, teams need to work out where their team-mates are stronger in 1v1 duels.

• If one attacking player can get the better of their opposite number 1v1, this can create a numerical overload against a player-for-player defensive system.

In order to decode exactly how Spain (who lined-up in a 4-3-3) solved problems and ultimately make the difference in this game, you first need to understand the defensive approach employed by the Netherlands in their 3-5-2 formation.

As we see in the clips below, when Spain were building from a central position or a goal-kick, the Netherlands were content for their three centre-backs to be 3v3 with Spain's three forwards. Meanwhile, the three Dutch midfielders each took responsibility for one of Spain's three midfielders. This in turn allowed the two Dutch forwards to occupy Spain's centre-backs.

Whenever Spain played the ball wide to either of their full-backs, it was the responsibility of the Netherlands' wing-back on that side to press the Spanish full-back that received the ball, regardless of how deep the full-back was at that point. The Dutch wing-back on the opposite side would then tuck in alongside the far-side centre-back, creating a back four.

The Netherlands, working as part of high or mid-press, demonstrated a willingness to squeeze Spain into tight areas to prevent them from progressing their play. In this game they applied 249 pressures for every 30 minutes spent out of possession (30 minutes being the average time a team spends without the ball in a game, on the assumption that the ball is in play for approximately 60 minutes). This figure was significantly higher than the average for the tournament as a whole, which is 209 pressures per 30 minutes. Of those 249 instances of pressure being applied, 83 were direct, which is the fifth-highest number across the whole of the 2019 World Cup and the 2023 World Cup so far. This data highlights the scale of the challenge Spain faced in building attacks.

When in possession, Spain had very little time or space to play the ball forward. This meant they had to work hard to create space to play into, and had to find solutions knowing their players would seldom be allowed to receive the ball undisturbed.

It was notable that Spain played over their opponents more often in this game than they had in previous matches during this tournament. Goalkeeper Cata Coll (23), centre-back Irene Paredes (4) and defensive midfielder Teresa Abelleira (3) were all ranked in the top five players in this game for passes attempted over the opposition, making 24, 17 and 12 attempts respectively. In the graphic below, we see that 40% of Spain's attempted line breaks in this game were over the Netherlands' lines, 34% were around and just 25% of their attempted line breaks were through the opposition lines (Spain's lowest percentage of the tournament so far). 

In addition, 36% of Spain's passes were forward. This represents a 9% increase on the percentage of forward passes played in any of their previous games, and was achieved despite their having less time and space to play in than in any of their other matches in the tournament. These shifts in their approach demonstrated their willingness to create opportunities to break lines in different ways, thus responding to the specific challenges their opponents posed.

As Signeul noted, "Because the Dutch midfielders played so tightly to Spain's middle three, it was more difficult for Spain to play through [the Dutch lines]. They had no choice but to find other solutions by going over or around [the Dutch]."   

In the clips below, we see two examples of how Spain attempted to break the lines of the Netherlands defence.

Clip 1: From their goal kick, Spain keep their two centre-backs low and narrow. Their two full-backs are low, and two of their central midfielders are also in their defensive third. This ensures that six Netherlands players (including two of their three midfielders) are in their highest third of the pitch. When Codina (14) plays the ball to her goalkeeper, it triggers Jennifer Hermoso (10) to make a deep run towards her own midfielders, bringing the Netherlands' only remaining midfielder with her. The ball then travels over seven Dutch outfield players and into an area where the two teams have matched up 3v3. This places a lot of onus on players' ability to make the difference by beating their opposite numbers in 1v1 situations.

Clip 2: Here, Spain are under pressure from an aggressive Dutch high press. They play over their forward and midfield lines to Caldentey (8) who receives the ball under pressure. She switches the ball to her right-back Oihane Hernández (12), who in turn plays a line-breaking forward pass to Redondo (17). The Dutch respond by engaging a mid-press, but Spain retain the ball and Abelleira (3) plays through the lines to Redondo (17). Finally, Oihane Hernández (12) makes a forward run and loses her marker, allowing her to receive the ball in behind the Dutch line.

Having players with the technical ability to retain possession under pressure and get out of the pressure zone with the ball can open space elsewhere on the pitch. When a team presses aggressively in a player-to-player system, they commit numbers to the press in order to isolate their opponents, which inevitably means they concede space elsewhere.

When Spain were pressed in this way, they demonstrated an ability to keep the ball and transfer it to less crowded areas of the pitch. This made it more difficult for the Netherlands to apply direct pressure, especially in the wide areas on the opposite side of the pitch to the ball. 65% of Spain's final third entries in this game occurred in the outside wide channels.  

Spain's technical ability on the ball was crucial in helping them overcome the Dutch pressing strategy, as Anna Signeul explains. "Their players are very comfortable on the ball and can move it quickly", she said. "Their game awareness means not only do they know where the space is, but they can also create it and have the technical ability to access it, even under intense pressure."

In the next two clips we see examples of how Spain changed the direction of play and used clever movement to create and access space.

Clip 1: The first point to note here is the way Spain midfielder Hermoso (10) and forward Caldentey (8) create space by dropping in and pulling wide. Unsurprisingly, their markers come with them to track their runs. Spain centre-back Paredes (4) then deceives the Dutch by checking back and switch the direction of play back into the left channel. This creates a dilemma for the defenders, who face a choice between staying with their players or defending the vulnerable space. As a result of all this, Spain left-back Batlle (2) is left free and creates an overload to progress the move.

Clip 2: As Spain build up a move on their right-hand side, the Netherlands players are concentrated on that side of the field, leaving the left side of the pitch open. Hermoso (10) then drops down into space and centre-back Paredes (4) is able to receive the ball under no pressure. To deal with this situation, the Netherlands' right wing-back (who would normally be asked to press Spain's left-back) leaves the player nearest her in order to push Hermoso under pressure. Hermoso responds by changing the direction of the play to the outside right channel.

When playing against a player-to-player defensive system, a team can gain numerical or spatial supremacy if their players can win their 1v1 battles. Beating their opposite number gives a player control of territory and allows them to serve as an overload when their team has the ball. These situations also give the next defender a decision to make, because the overload can turn a 1v1 into a 2v1 for the attacking side.

In this game, Spain attempted 19 step ins and 15 take ons. Their ball progression completion rate was 85%, which is in the top 8% across both the 2023 and 2019 Women's World Cups.

Spain also achieved a high level of success down their left channel, with left-sided forward Caldentey, left-sided attacking midfielder Hermoso and left-back Batlle dominating the rankings for attempted ball progressions.

According to Signeul, "Jennifer Hermoso was very effective in this game and worked very hard to help Spain progress the ball and break lines. She was always under pressure when she received [the ball] and her ability to protect the ball and retain it was a key component in Spain's ability to unlock the Netherlands' defensive approach and move the ball into space away from pressure zones."

In total, Hermoso (10) received the ball 50 times under pressure, retaining it on 25 occasions. These impressive figures were bested by team-mate Caldentey (8), who ranked first in this match both for the number of times she received the ball under pressure (53) and the number of times she retained it (27).

In the clips below, we see examples of the impact Spain could make when they won their 1v1 battles against their markers. By using their strength to protect and retain the ball under direct pressure, and by moving quickly to steal some space from their defender so they could receive the ball under indirect pressure, Spain were able to find ways to progress the ball directly from winning their 1v1's.

At the highest level, games are won by the smallest of margins. When the best teams in the world come up against each other, creating those margins in the first place takes a huge amount of work, to say nothing of exploiting them to score goals. Anything less than complete consistency can be punished, but in this game Spain demonstrated their ability to stick to the principles of their attacking play and used their technique to create two decisive moments.

In our last two clips, we see how Spain used wide areas, changed the direction of play, played over their opposition and won battles 1v1 to carve out the crucial goal-scoring opportunities that secured their 2-1 victory.