If I am starting fresh with a team and trying to get an understanding of how they’ll play, I’ll focus on the buildup first. Fix the buildup, and then work from there. You shouldn’t have to worry every time your team gets the ball.

Once the buildup is fixed and the foundation is laid, work on all the other parts.

As Pep Guardiola said, “my job is to take you to the final third, and your job is to finish.” He can give instructions to beat a certain press, but what happens in the final third is up to the players. It is an unpredictable phase because the players have to be spontaneous and react.

My focus changes with the times, depending on how each team plays. If a team is more positional, possession-based, and playing to feet, as most teams are, passing out from the back is a necessity. When teams kick the ball long, as most teams did before, or if they are more relational, the focus shifts to technique and how those advanced players around the ball react.

You could defend perfectly, but if you play to feet out from the back, and it is not working properly, it does not matter; you won’t be able to score. If you can’t score, you can’t win. You have no other recourse but to fix it.