The PSG Kick-Off - A Tactical Trademark

High Pressing, high amount of success 

Paris Saint-Germain have just concluded a record-breaking campaign, winning the quadruple in their second season under manager Luis Enrique. The Parisians were simply unstoppable last season and would have been perfect if not for a Chelsea masterclass in the Club World Cup Final. 

There has been a lot of emphasis placed on PSG's success coming from their squad shifting from a group of starlet individuals to a well-rounded team with positional acumen and robust tactical roles, with PSG seemingly being another example of a club succeeding after selling their star player(s), a sporting phenomenon known as the Ewing Theory. 

Tactically, Enrique is someone who, throughout his time in management, has placed a level of importance on high pressing football, amplified through the use of his preferred formation of 4-3-3. The personification of the pressing aspect of Enrique's brand comes in the form of PSG's kick-off tactic.

The kick-off is a set piece and therefore should be treated as such. It serves as a chance to implement the taking team's chosen style, whether that be quickly moving the ball in an attempt to progress through the opposition's half or slowly drawing in the opposition by building play from deep inside their own half. Enrique's PSG deploy a rather unorthodox tactic, kicking the ball straight from the centre circle to the edge of their opposition's touchline, a piece of play that mimics what one may view during a rugby drop-kick. The kick is usually taken by central midfielder Vitinha, either by a direct kick from the Portuguese international or after an initial pass from forward Ousmane Dembélé. 

(Credit: DAZN)

Les-Rouge-et-Bleu had been utilising this tactic for the majority of the season; however, due to Ligue 1 not being viewed as frequently by foreign audiences, the rest of the footballing world did not take much notice. The tactic was truly registered by the wider footballing world as PSG started to progress in the Champions League, more specifically during the Round of 16 first and second leg, where the French Champions utilised the tactic against Liverpool, leaving both viewers and commentators confused. PSG continued to apply this tactic throughout the season, and by the time the Club World Cup began in June of this year, the 'PSG Kick-Off' was already a term coined. 

But why do PSG do this? What does it achieve? 

The kick forces the opposition team to take a throw-in from deep in their own territory. Meaning that instead of trying to attack a structured defence, PSG are able to scatter the opposition team and have their attackers fly forward to use their high pressing, energetic football to try and turn the ball over and transition into an attacking phase right in the opposition half. The tactic essentially boxes the opposition into a corner and forces them to try and play around the PSG attackers in a dangerous position.

Throw-ins often lead to an unpredictable outcome and have the ability to be slightly chaotic. Logistically, from a singular throw-in, the ball cannot go too far based on the force generated from a throw; therefore, there does not tend to be bespoke tactics for the throw-in, with the taker usually aiming to throw the ball to the teammate in the most amount of space and adaptively building from there. 

A 2021 study conducted by Joe Stone, Adam Smith and Anthony Barry of Sheffield Hallam University analysed the throw-ins of the 2018/19 Premier League season and found that 54% of throw-ins during that season resulted in possession being retained; therefore, teams lost possession from a throw-in 46% of the time. These results communicate the vulnerable position a team can be in from a throw-in. Pairing this vulnerability with the high-pressure pressing aggressive football played by PSG results in a dangerous defensive situation for opposing teams. 

While the tactic doesn't result in an immediate goal most of the time, it does help in tiring out and wearing down defences in the premature stages of the game, leading to early chances and early goals. This relentless press clearly has an effect on defences, as in the 42 competitive matches PSG played in the calendar year of 2025, the Parisians scored 19 goals within the first 20 minutes. 

While the tactic has been coined the 'PSG Kick-Off', PSG were not the first to utilise a tactic like this, with Watford using a similar 'kick and rush' kick-off model in the 80s under Graham Taylor and even more recently, Fenerbahçe using a similar advancement technique during the 2009/10 season under Christoph Daum. The reason why the tactic seems so fresh to the modern fan's eye is because of the evolution of tactics; managers in the modern game place a level of importance on possession-based methodical build-up play, rendering the prospect of effectively handing possession to the opposition as unthinkable. PSG having such success after breaking the mould serves as a reminder that uncommon tactics still have a place in the game.

Now that the tactic has gained notoriety amongst fans, it may be the case that PSG abandon it in favour of something else. Enrique himself made the point this year that "You've got to keep switching things up and evolving" as "teams will figure you out". If this is the case, it'll be interesting to see what Enrique implements next...