The high press definitely works when we do it properly. The problem is that we either don’t do it or just do it half-heartedly. Yes, Ronaldo doesn’t press and it’s probably unfair to expect him to at 36, but the 3 behind him should be coached to press in a block, with one midfielder and the full back on the side of the play backing them up. It’s basic, and when you analyse City, Liverpool and Bayern, the 3 best pressing sides in the world, it’s how they all do it. Football is a difficult game, but pressing is one of the easier components to coach.
Also, pressing isn’t solely down to fitness, as I’ve seen people blame in this thread. If it was, we’d be an amazing pressing team! Think back to 2019 when we kept running out of steam during Ole’s first season, which Ole promised to fix in the summer. Either he didn’t actually fix it, or more likely, he simply still does not know how coach a team to press functionally.
Still, when we do try to press high, we definitely get better results than when we sit back. I’m sure we all admired the way we got at city at their place last year and completely dominated them and how we pressed Leipzig, and won 5-0. Either way, both tactics are better than the one we’ve seemingly employed this season, which is that one of Sancho, Bruno or Mason goes to press, no one backs him up, we get cut through right down the middle and the opposition score. It’s happened time and time again, such as against Villarreal, Everton and Leicester, and we’ve shown no inclination that we are able to fix it.