The modern tactical revolution of the past decade started in Southwest and Central Europe, in Germany and Spain, but eventually reached all four corners of the globe. However, this renaissance has not been restricted to the confines of top-flight football.
For a long time, English football was doused with the sickly charm of ‘Route-One’ which had become ingrained into the culture and poisoned people’s minds into believing the game should be played in the air as a risk-averse remedy to the nerve-wracking experience of watching players keep it on the deck for as long as possible.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t long before coaches caught on to the joys and benefits of building out from the back as Barcelona conquered Europe and the world, but the easy-on-the-eye, careless style of La Blaugrana came to a harrowing end in 2013 when the Catalan giants drew Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-finals. History looks back on that two-legged tie as the day ‘Tiki-Taka’ died, with the German machine coming away unscathed 7-0 on aggregate before lifting the crown at Wembley.
Throughout the last ten years or so, the two methods have become intertwined into a package deal that many would describe as ‘modern football’. With perilous playing out from the back came intense high-pressing as a natural antidote and these systems have trickled their way down the pyramid to form a rich tapestry of styles. No league exemplifies this better than the current edition of England’s third tier.
League One has retained the same nostalgic pragmatism from days gone by through the likes of the rough-and-tumble Stevenage and Cheltenham Town, while also possessing more progressive teams who build through the thirds and look to get results in a modernly acceptable manner. Even if many now look down on teams who play a more direct and physical style, it’s important to note that styles make fights. Imagine how mundane the beautiful game would be if everyone played the same way — something the Premier League has suffered from in recent seasons.
Regardless, the overwhelming majority, if not all teams in League One, have adopted some version of high pressing. Again, this comes naturally as a counteragent for building out from the back, but certain sides do it better than others, and the results may be surprising. Using contemporary data from Opta Analyst, The Real EFL created a data visualisation displaying the number of pressures committed by a team in League One this season and how many led to goals to showcase how efficient each team is from these scenarios.
Stevenage have recorded the most pressures in League One across the 2023/24 campaign, followed by Reading, Blackpool and Portsmouth. However, Steve Evans’ side are one of the least successful pressing teams in the division regarding goals from turnover situations. Neil Critchley’s Tangerines are the most successful, with nine of their 236 total pressures ending in a goal which is roughly 4%.
Surprisingly, Peterborough United have registered the fifth-lowest total for pressures in League One in the current campaign, but according to Opta’s data, Darren Ferguson’s men have the highest number of shot-ending pressures in the third tier, meaning the Posh are still dangerous from counterattacking situations.
And finally, Wigan Athletic have the lowest total pressures out of all teams, with only 139. Merely one of these pressures has ended in a goal, although this is still better than Charlton Athletic, Port Vale and Fleetwood Town who have all failed to score a single goal from high-pressing situations. The Latics are a bit of an outlier in modern football. Normally, when a team likes to have the lion’s share of possession and build out from the back, they also press extremely high. This isn’t the case for Wigan. As per Opta, only Peterborough average more passes per possession than Shaun Maloney’s team, while the Greater Manchester club enjoy 52% of the ball per game, according to FBref, proving they are a side who like to keep hold of the ball, yet are not so keen to chase after it.
Once more, League One is showcasing its unpredictability and eccentricity. There is no set formula for success. Certain teams use high pressing to their advantage, such as Blackpool, Barnsley and Bristol Rovers, whereas others are more cautiously efficient, like Peterborough and Bolton Wanderers. Seeing such diversity in styles adds yet another layer of allurement to the division, proving why it is arguably the most tactically variable tier in English football.
