Tactx Thanks a lot, it makes sense. As a point of reference and based on your experience, at what age would the sliding scale typically start to tip more towards tactics?

Hi, at 24'30'', Simon talks about the importance of playing 1v1 with back pressure. I absolutely understand it, but I also come from a football culture where it's not necessarily encouraged. Maybe these are concepts I didn't understand well, but I've been really inspired by Joan Vila, and then of course Pep or Xavi, and I've heard countless times the importance of "jugar de cara", not turning with the ball but trying to set the ball for a teammate that is facing the game. So would you prioritize skills over game understanding at first (ie let's first develop this "dribbling with back pressure" skill, and then only later let's learn when it is and when it's not a good idea to use it as opposed to setting the ball)? In other words: if as part of your game model you want your players to prioritize setting the ball with 1 or 2 touches for a player facing the game, how do you work on a skill that you recognize as important but which is not 100% coherent with the game model? Thanks a lot!

Hi, thanks! There seems to be an issue with the link though. 

It's a brilliant analysis. It's possible to buy the full Miguel Molina video for a decent price. Would you recommend it on top of this article, or would it be mostly redundant? 

Great practice. One thing I like to do regarding the Link player in a practice like this is to put conditions on them. Let's say the oranges are playing out in their defensive half, so the Link player is "orange" for now and so that's a 5v6 (+GK). If the blue team gains the ball back, they can either retain or risk as you mention in the video, but if they decide to risk, the Link player stays with the orange team and must defend (counterpress). To gain the Link player back, the blue team must decide to retain and therefore go back to their own half. 

I like this because it seems more realistic to me. In a typical 11v11 game, playing out against a high press is a 6v7(+GK). If the pressing team get the ball back, they don't magically get an extra player to switch to a 7v6(+GK), they have to attack with a minus one. Except if you want to create extra stress on the defending transition during the practice. 

Anyway, I would love your feedback on this idea. Thanks a lot!