Pressing
Does pressing harder actually win us games?
Press intensity (PPDA), regains, and the honest answer on whether intensity has tracked results here.
What this tells us
No proof yet that pressing harder wins games
On a match-by-match basis, how hard we press barely moves the result (r = +0.13, n=38 · not significant). Across managers the harder-pressing bosses have won a little more, but with only seven of them that is a hint, not evidence. The more useful question is what the press produces — regains high up the pitch, and what happens after them.
14.3
PPDA
lower = harder press
36
Def-line height
higher = further up
16
Tackles / game
9
Interceptions / g
2.4
Big ch. conceded
per game
63
3rd entries against
per game
Does pressing harder win games?
Each dot is a match (38) · further right = harder press · green win · gold draw · red loss.
r = +0.13
press vs points won · n=38 · not significant
Outcome
At match level there's no real link — how hard Aberdeen press on a given day barely moves points won. The pressing story shows up across a season, not game to game (see managers below).
From press to goals — where we win the ball
Where the move began, for the 15 goals that came from a tracked passing move (2025–26) — penalties, corners, set-pieces and solo/rebound goals aren't included.
40%
of goals begin by winning the ball in the opposition half
27% started in the attacking third (of these tracked-move goals).
Goals by where the move was won
Click a bar to list the goals behind it.
Among these goals, the ball was often won high and the shot came quickly — the press producing chances (a description of these goals, not proof the press causes them).
Whose approach wins? — press vs points by manager
All-time. Each dot a manager (5+ games), size = games. Jimmy Thelin highlighted.
r = +0.47
press vs points/game · n=7 · not significant
games managed
No trend line drawn — far too few managers to fit one. Dots below ~10 games (Robinson, Warnock) are near-meaningless on their own.
Thelin's read: across 58 games he pressed at 13.9 PPDA (4th-hardest of 7 managers) for 1.34 points a game. The harder-pressing tenures happen to have won slightly more (r=0.47), but with only 7 managers — two of them under 10 games — this is a hint, not evidence, and they differ in squad, era and opponents.
Press intensity vs points — five seasons
PPDA (grey, lower = harder press) and points-per-game (red). Are the pressing seasons the winning ones?
13.9
1.08
21–22
14.4
1.50
22–23
12.7
1.26
23–24
12.8
1.39
24–25
14.3
1.05
25–26
Explore next
38 matches · 2025–26 · data: WhoScored + FotMob · updated 17 May 2026 · PPDA = opponent passes allowed per defensive action (lower = more intense) — a proxy, also shaped by how the opponent plays. Associations aren't controlled for opponent, game state or squad · how the numbers work · glossary