Gegenpressing (counter-pressing): how to get it right

Pressing in the seconds that follow losing the ball: why it works, where the pressing players position themselves, and when it's better to drop back instead.

Thibaud C. · Fitness coach · Last updated: September 26, 2026

Counter-pressing means pressing the opposition immediately after losing the ball, within the first few seconds, to win it back high up the pitch.

Why it often works

At the moment the opposition wins the ball, they are badly oriented and not yet organised. By pressing straight away, in numbers, you can often win it back very quickly — sometimes close to their goal.

How to position it properly (the detail that changes everything)

When you lose the ball, a team has two options: counter-press or drop back. If you choose the first, everything hinges on positioning. Done well, counter-pressing isn't everyone charging at the ball, it's closing the exits while one player attacks the carrier.

• The closest player attacks the carrier immediately, to stop him lifting his head and playing forward.
• The others shut the short passing lanes around him (the easy options), instead of everyone running at the ball.
• Angle the press: shut the inside to push the carrier towards the touchline, where he has fewer options and the ball is easier to win back.

On what condition?

• You need to be numerous and close to the ball at the moment you lose it.
• Otherwise, counter-pressing leaves space behind: it's better to drop back.

That condition actually depends on what you do before losing the ball. A team stretched across the full width will never be able to counter-press: at the moment of the loss, there's nobody around the carrier. That's why teams who counter-press well attack while staying relatively grouped, and deliberately keep two or three players behind the ball.

What happens when it fails

You have to be honest with your players: a failed counter-press is more dangerous than dropping back. Four players gone to press and bypassed with one pass means four players out of the game and a defence exposed. That is exactly how high-pressing teams concede.

Hence the importance of the second half of the instruction, the one people often forget to give: those who aren't pressing drop back at the same time. Counter-pressing isn't "everyone goes", it's "the closest go, the others drop".

The cue to give your players

One sentence is enough, and it holds up in a match: "the three closest to the ball press immediately, everyone else drops". Its advantage is that it's checkable — a player always knows whether he's one of the three closest — and it settles the fate of those far away at the same time.

Add a short time limit to it, in the order of five seconds: if the ball isn't won back, you stop and reset. Without that limit, your players chase the ball until they're empty, and the block never re-forms.