When you play the ball over the top and through, rarely does the defending team have the discipline to wait once they regain possession, nor does the rest of their team move back. Making it easier to immediately counter press.

       

This is not a risky pass and a good place to lose the ball. The chance you will lose possession is high, but the advantages you gain from playing this pass frequently normally outweigh the negatives.

Knowing where to lose the ball is a skill. This is a good place to lose the ball because if you win the race to the ball, your center-forward is in on goal, one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

       

The defending team’s (white team’s) back line sprints back in an attempt to get to the ball before the attacking center-forward to quickly defend against that first pass over the top, while their first and second lines jog back.

If the defending team wins the race to the ball, the space between their back line and second line is large, making it easier for the attacking team (blue team) to counter-press. 

If this is a match where the blue team is maintaining a lot of possession, what are the chances they will be impatient? Most inferior teams, or teams that prefer to counter, would then immediately want to play forward. They wouldn’t have the patience to wait for their midfielders to get back.

It is easier for the attacking team to counter-press because the team attempting to play out from the back has fewer options. Their impatience will further limit their options. They win the race to the ball, and then the distance between the back line and the midfielders is large. They will have to play back to the goalkeeper or through the wings to get out of their half.

If the team counter-pressing wins the ball, they can take advantage of that space between the large space between the opposition’s back line and second line.

For all those reasons, it is worth it to lose possession a few times a half to stretch the opposition’s defensive shape.