Players accelerate at about 6 m/s² up to about 5 m/s, and up to 7 m/s when sprinting or pressing. React time is 0.7 s. Ground passes travel at about 15 m/s, driven and lofted balls at 17–19 m/s. Before every pass the player weighs each option. He asks whether the ball will get there, using the same time-to-intercept model analysts use for pitch control (σ = 0.45 s), and how dangerous the receiving spot is. Longer passes miss their target more often. The opposition defends as a compact zonal block of about 27 m by 40 m that slides to the ball side. Their nearest man presses and curves his run to block the most dangerous pass. Back passes, square passes and balls to the touchline trigger a harder press. In positional play two midfielders dictate from behind the ball. The third, the free 8, supports the winger or arrives late in the box. Forwards drop into the pocket between the lines for passes that split two defenders. A team-mate makes a decoy run past the winger so he can go 1v1, defenders track those runs, and switches to the far side come only from midfield once the block is drawn over. The team counter-presses for 5 seconds. Direct play uses vertical passes, runs in behind, a short team and a four-man counter-press. The counter-attack defends as a block, wins the ball in midfield, then attacks with four or five men into the channels behind the full-backs, with no counter-press. Each run plays out slightly differently.

Your block is your without-ball shape, slid towards the ball and set at the height you choose. The nearest player presses once the ball is past your pressing line. He approaches from the side you choose so he shows the ball-carrier outside or inside, or he cuts off the most dangerous pass, while a team-mate covers that pass. A pressing trigger (a back or square pass, a ball to the touchline, a heavy touch or a pass to the keeper) lets the press start 10 m earlier, sends a second man to jump the nearest option, and makes tackles twice as likely. With an aggressive press the second man jumps on every pass. The back line can step up together to catch forwards offside, or drop when nobody is pressing the ball. Zonal players mark goal-side whoever enters their zone, and man-markers follow their man. The opponents build up short, mixed or long, and their quality decides how often they keep it under pressure. Each run plays out slightly differently.