Receiving under pressure
Receiving under pressure is the set of decisions made before the ball arrives: where to stand, how to open the body and which way to take the first touch.
The best receivers have already looked over their shoulder, so they know where the pressure is coming from before the ball reaches them. Their body is open to the field, which lets them play forward or away from the presser with the first touch.
Supporting players matter too: the angle they offer decides whether the receiver has an easy pass out of trouble or has to turn into pressure.
What to look for
- Where the nearest presser is before the ball arrives
- An open body shape that faces the field
- A first touch away from pressure
- A teammate offering an angle, not standing in a straight line
The common mistakeReceiving square-on without having looked, then turning into a presser you didn't see.
Worked plays
6 plays from Footy Eye's training pool, with the best read and why.
Play 1
- The situation
- Full-back, ball arriving on the touchline. Their winger closes from behind your shoulder; your centre-back has stepped into space. First touch?
- Best read
- First time back to the centre-back
- Why
- A defender arriving flat out behind your shoulder has decided for you: one touch back and his momentum removes him from the next three seconds, leaving a centre-back facing the pitch with the far side open. Turning out is where he’s shepherding you; the touchline defends for him and the throw is theirs.
- The other options
- Touch inside and drive into midfield The inside touch runs into their midfielder, with the winger on your back.
- Turn out and go down the line The winger pins you to the touchline, and it’s their throw.
- Clip it long into the channel Your winger chases it into the channel with his marker alongside.
Play 2
- The situation
- The centre-back plays into you and their ten arrives on your back before the ball. You can’t see over that shoulder.
- Best read
- Set it back first time, spin off
- Why
- You don’t turn into a picture you haven’t seen; the man behind you has, and that’s his advantage. Set it first time to a centre-back facing the pitch while you spin off a presser whose weight is forward, and the next ball finds you half-turned. Turning blind is how a turnover becomes a shot.
- The other options
- Take a touch and turn out of it You turn into their ten, and he takes it off you centrally.
- Shield it and wait for the foul He leans on you, and their other midfielder arrives to double up.
- Flick it round the corner The blind flick is cut out, and they break through the middle.
Play 3
- The situation
- Your full-back has time in midfield. You’re the eight ahead of him, a midfielder tight on your back, their line deep.
- Best read
- Arc away and back to receive facing forward
- Why
- Where you receive matters less than which way you are facing. Curving out and back means you arrive side-on, marker off your shoulder rather than through it, and your first touch goes forward. Running straight at the passer welds the marker to your spine, and there is nothing in behind to spin into.
- The other options
- Come straight at him and demand it You get it with the marker on your back, facing your own goal.
- Stand still and let it come to you Your marker steps round you and cuts out the pass.
- Spin in behind their back line Their deep line swallows the run, and the full-back has no pass.
Play 4
- The situation
- Your six is about to receive with his back to goal. Their midfielder is closing him over his right shoulder.
- Best read
- Get round his open side for the bounce
- Why
- A man facing his own goal can only play what he can already see, so appear on the side the presser is not. One bounce off you and the pressure is beaten with the ball going forward. The run in behind is a pass he physically cannot make with his back turned.
- The other options
- Run in behind, give him something forward He can’t see the run, and the presser arrives on his shoulder.
- Show on the same side as the presser Your angle runs through the presser, and he cuts out the pass.
- Hold your position and let him deal With no angle to play, he’s pressed from behind and loses it.
Play 5
- The situation
- Partner centre-back on the ball; their striker curves in to cut the pass between you. You’re flat with him, twenty yards away.
- Best read
- Drop deeper and wider, behind his run
- Why
- A curved press is aimed at the pass you can both see, so change the pass rather than gamble on it: deeper and wider bends the angle behind his run, where his momentum stops him getting back, and you receive facing the pitch. Holding flat sends the ball across the line he’s running to cut.
- The other options
- Hold flat and keep the width The pass goes across his run, and he steps in to intercept.
- Step into midfield as a forward option The pass into midfield crosses his run, and he cuts it out.
- Come short and shorten the pass The short pass arrives, but he’s on you before you can turn.
Play 6
- The situation
- You’re the six and the ball won’t come, however hard you ask. Their striker is arcing in to press your centre-back.
- Best read
- Take two steps sideways, out of his shadow
- Why
- You are not being ignored — you are invisible. Their striker’s body sits on the line between you and the ball, so that pass does not exist. Two steps sideways take you out of his cover shadow and the lane opens. Dropping deeper leaves you in the same shadow, further from goal.
- The other options
- Show harder and demand it to feet You shout louder, but he’s still in the lane and it never comes.
- Drop deeper, level with your centre-backs You drop into the same shadow, and your centre-back gets pressed.
- Spin and run in behind their midfield Your centre-back has no short pass left, and their striker is on him.
Train it
Short untimed sessions with the reasoning after every answer.
Train Receiving under pressureTest it
Ten plays, twenty seconds each, one Football IQ from 60 to 140.
Take the Football IQ TestShows up in
Related ideas
- The free manThe free man is the player the opponents can't mark at that moment, and finding him is the first job of every possession.
- Third-man runs and combinationsA third-man run is when player A passes to player B, who sets the ball first time to player C, who was moving while the first pass travelled.
- Switching playSwitching play is moving the ball quickly from one side of the pitch to the other to attack where the defence is thin.
- Half-spacesThe half-space is the vertical lane between the centre of the pitch and the wing, the channel between a full-back and a centre-back.
- Getting in behindGetting in behind means attacking the space between the opponents' last line of defenders and their goalkeeper.
- Pinning and decoy runsPinning is movement whose job is to hold a defender in place, or drag him away, so a teammate gets the space.
- Attacking the boxAttacking the box is how players move into the penalty area to meet a cross or cutback, and the zones they choose to attack.
- Breaking a set blockA set block is a defence that has had time to organise, with every player behind the ball, and breaking it takes patience rather than speed.
- Beating a high pressBreaking the first line means getting the ball past the opponents' front line of pressers while building from the back.
- Progressing through midfieldProgressing through midfield is moving the ball from the middle third into the final third, where chances are made.
- Creating chances in the final thirdCreating chances is turning possession near the opponents' box into a shot from a good position.