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parthenon

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3 "What we've got here is a failure to communicate"
  1. In positional play, one of the key ways of pulling an opposing team's defensive structure out of shape, and thereby creating attacking opportunities, is to invite the opposition's press and then pass or move through them. Some players end up basing their whole style of play on this. Think of Sergio Busquets, who has spent basically his whole career holding onto the ball until the last possible moment before releasing it to the more creative players around him. Or think of Lewis Dunk and Brighton's other defenders who are drilled to effectively taunt the opposing attackers to press them so as to create the opportunity to break the opposition's first line of defence. FM has a couple of PPMs that suggest something similar to this. 'Stops play' sounds similar; however, it is always described as a player slowing down play to assess their passing options, which may have the side-effect of being closed down, but is not the purpose of it. 'Dwells on ball' might be slightly closer; however, similarly, this seems to be a more individualistic trait, suggesting a player who holds onto the ball for longer than they need to for more individual gain, rather than to draw the opposition out of position for the benefit of their team. There is therefore room for a PPM named something like 'Invites press' for those players who are especially skilled at drawing opponents close to them before beating those opponents with a combination of dribbling, passing, acceleration, or strength. Given that this is a skill that has to be learned, rather than an instruction that can simply be given, it makes sense to think of this as a PPM rather than a player instruction. It would also help clarify what 'Stops play' and 'Dwells on ball' actually mean by providing a third term that specifically deals with this skill of drawing the opponent in so as to pull the opposing team out of shape.
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