NOBODY presses like St Mirren. Here's how they do it

The most consistent team outside the top two have built an identity not on star players but the way they terrorise opponents all over the pitch

Adam Clery writes about football tactics for Nutmeg every month. But he writes about football tactics ALL THE TIME on 87 Minutes (subscribe below). And his videos about football tactics are some of the best football content on the internet and you should check them out, too.

Not to show you how the (lorne) sausage is made, but I can rarely take full credit for the concepts of these columns. Having to pay as much attention to what’s going on at Leverkusen and Levante as I have to do Livingston, the nuances of The Best League In The World™ and its playing exports are quite often flagged up to me by the great men of Nutmeg.

Some of them are pretty easy sells — “Scott McTominay has become a cult-like figure in Naples”, “Lewis Ferguson is going to spray a bottle of ginger all over the Coppa Italia like he’s just won a grand prix” — but others… less so.

“You’re not going to believe how good St Mirren are high pressing” elicited an audible “...ok?” from me in a way that scrunched up my face exactly like you’re imagining it did. But hey, credit it to them, because after some thorough investigation it turns out there’s a fascinating tactical development to be unearthed there.