Evaluating the use of the high press in the English Premier and Korean Leagues using Passes allowed Per Defensive Action (PPDA)

The “high press” is a collective team action which aims to reduce the opponent’s defensive players’ time and space when they have possession of the ball, typically in the opponent’s half of the pitch. To measure this effectively, player and ball movements need to be tracked, and a complex algorithm developed. However, Trainor (2014) developed a proxy measure, passes allowed per defensive action (PPDA) which could be calculated without recourse to x y coordinate data. Validity and reliability assessments of PPDA were conducted. PPDA values for all matches in the 2017/18 English Premier League (EPL) and the 2018 Korean League One (KL1) seasons were accessed through Opta Sportsdata. Teams with the lowest median PPDA over the whole season, suggested as high press teams, tended to finish highest in the league although the effect size was large for the EPL but small for the KL1. Low PPDA values were associated with positive attacking and defending outcomes in the EPL but not in the KL1. Individual team differences, most likely in playing style, accounted for large variations in PPDA values, consequently, more fine-grained analyses are required to better understand team playing strategy.