One thing that has been evident this season is Raith Rovers’ resilience.
Just two defeats in 15 matches across all competitions to start the season have them second in the Scottish Championship.
Behind that impressive start is a lot of effective pressing.
Attention was on Stark’s Park a week past Saturday when Raith hosted league leaders Dundee United.
Even in that 1-1 draw with United, Ian Murray’s side were a danger on the break, looking to win the ball as high up as possible.
Pressing high
One first-half chance came about when Dylan Easton harried Liam Grimshaw and forced United to concede a throw, which then led to an opportunity.
Easton presses Grimshaw:
Lewis Vaughan’s opener was from a quick counter-attack after the ball was won using a high defensive line.
The image below shows Tony Watt receiving the ball during a Dundee United attack, with Euan Murray stepping out and the other three defenders holding a high line.
One of the three goals in their most recent victory bore similarities, with the third in Saturday’s win over Montrose also coming after the ball was won on halfway.
Mullin’s goal:
Rovers come out well on a number of related metrics.
They top the charts in the Championship when it comes to the number of pressures and the number of aggressive actions.
‘Aggressive actions’ are defined by StatsBomb as “tackles, pressure events and fouls recorded within two seconds of an opposition ball receipt”.
Rovers are also No2 in Scotland’s second tier for pressures and counter-pressures in the opposition half – a ‘counter-pressure’ is defined as “pressures exerted within five seconds of a turnover”.
All comparisons are made on a per-90-minute basis since different teams in the Championship have played a different number of matches.
Raith Rovers’ standouts
Unsurprisingly, Sam Stanton tops the Raith Rovers charts for pressures and aggressive actions.
The tireless midfielder has excelled whether further forward or in the holding role and also scores well when it comes to pressure and counter-pressures in the opposition half.
Fellow midfielders Scott Brown and Shaun Byrne also do well on these metrics.
As well as that, captain Brown is top of the list when it comes to counter-pressures and Byrne for pressure regains – defined as “times a player’s team won the ball back within five seconds of the player pressuring an opponent”.
Rovers were more of a possession-based team last season.
Now they are more direct and more aggressive at winning the ball back, with their midfield at the heart of it.
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