A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF PLAYING STYLES CONT

ANALYSIS OF THE SLOW BUILD-UP (POSSESSION) GAME

Possession football may be described as the retention of the ball often accompanied by a number of consecutive passes being made. The value of possession play is to manoeuvre opposing players out of their positions and to break their concentration with a series of accurate passes that repeatedly change the direction of pay. In a total contradiction of previous findings M. Hughes found that the successful teams in the 1986 World Cup played more possession type football. Hughes has also reported that winning teams passed the ball more when attacking, particularly out of defence and in the final third.

Carling comparing playing styles between top level Italian and English teams found generally that the highly successful Italian teams played a more possession type game. Carling also through analysing the French national team in 1995 reported that long passes often led to the French team losing possession. Also, successful attacks (leading to a shot) were generally slower and involved a more controlled buildup. Fig 3 shows a goal scored by Liverpool and how a slow buildup is used to good effect.

An analysis of 1994 World Cup winners Brazil showed that this team created the most scoring opportunities through keeping possession the longest, using many runs with the ball and a playing low number of long passes. Analysis of long passes has shown that the likely result of such a pass is a player being caught offside. A longer pass requires more skill and is more difficult than a shorter one. Also, supposedly as the height of the final pass increases (long passes are often played in the air) the chance of a shot decreases possibly demonstrating the need for controlled passes along the ground.

Olsen a fervent supporter of direct football does mention however, that 20% of goals do come from multi-pass movements showing this type of football cannot be ignored. As well, analysis from the English Premier League reports that teams dominating possession will have more attempts at goal. Finally, set-plays involving a greater number of passes supposedly increase the likelihood of scoring a goal.

CONCLUSION

The above review confirms the contradictions that exist in football analysis. Evidence exists to support both a direct type of play and a possession type game although the direct game is generally favoured through statistical analysis. Different teams have had varying levels of success whatever the style of play utilised.

However, soccer match analysis has shown its importance for the coach and player by providing useful statistical information on game performance. One could say that at the end of the day it is down to the coach to define the team's playing style in order to make best use of the abilities and knowledge of the players at his disposal.

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