Identification of Explanatory Variables in Possession of the Ball in High-Performance Women’s Football

Abstract

Women’s football is a phenomenon that is experiencing an unstoppable increase in recent years. The objective of this study was to analyze how ball possessions are performed in high-performance women’s football. For this, the 52 matches played by all the national teams participating in the Women’s World Cup 2015 were analyzed. A total of 3740 ball possessions were examined. Using the “move outcome” variable as a reference criterion, a statistically significant relationship was found between possessions that ended in success and possessions that have failed. Specifically, the successful possessions were those that were made in the offensive zone, with a clear intention to progress towards the rival goal, with a low number of passes, and made in the second half of the matches. The results of the logistic regression showed that the proposed model is statistically significant, with an acceptable explanatory capacity. Finally, the results of the decision tree evidence the success of those possessions aiming at a quick completion, with very few passes and the offensive zone as a priority area for the possession.

Deciphering the offensive process in women's elite football: A multivariate study

“…Regarding performance and offensive effectiveness, Iván‐Baragaño et al 11 analyzed the offensive phase in the FIFA Women's World Cup 2019 and proposed a predictive offensive success model based on ball possession in the attacking midfield zone with the tactical intention of progressing toward the rival goal, results which were also supported by other similar studies 12,13 ; on the contrary, the study carried out by Ibáñez et al 14 concluded that scoring the first goal of the match can mean victory in over 80% of cases in women's football if the team is well positioned in the ranking 3 …”

“…This instrument is well suited to the object of study and has been used in similar investigations. [10][11][12] Altmann's 26 advice on molar and molecular fit of behaviors and categories has been followed. To achieve this balance, each behavior unit conforms to the rule of the three Ds: delimitable (identifiable by themselves, presenting their own identity); denominable (the adornment of a name allows its distinction); and definable (it maintains the basis for its operation in the subsequent evaluation) (delimitable, denominable, and definable).…”

“…This result has been previously compared both in men's football in general, 45 and also in relation to the partial result in particular, 23 as well as in women's football. 12 In general, the best teams have the ball in the offensive zone, close to the rival goal, with the aim of seeking a finish.…”

Posesión de balón en fútbol femenino: el juego de las mejores selecciones (Ball possession in women´s football: the game of the best teams)

“…Este hecho puede justificarse por dos motivos. En primer lugar, algunos estudios han demostrado que la posesión de balón en campo propio no es favorable a la hora de conseguir el éxito ofensivo, tanto el fútbol femenino (Iván-Baragaño, et al, 2021;Maneiro, et al, 2021) como en fútbol masculino (Casal, et al, 2017) y, por otro lado, el hecho de mantener la posesión de balón durante menos tiempo en campo propio, puede dificultar las recuperaciones del equipo rival en zonas del terreno de juego asociadas a una mayor probabilidad de obtener éxito ofensivo (Tenga, et al, 2010;Iván-Baragaño, et al, 2021). De la misma forma, se observaron diferencias en el tiempo total de posesión.…”

“…Scanlan et al (2020) analizaron qué criterios determinaban la consecución de oportunidades de gol, encontrando que las posesiones de balón que daban comienzo mediante un robo a una interceptación, finalizaban en mayor medida en una oportunidad de gol. Por otro lado, un estudio presentado por Maneiro et al (2021) demostró que existía una asociación significativa entre el éxito ofensivo en las posesiones de balón y los criterios: i) temporalidad: se observó una mayor probabilidad de que las acciones ofensivas finalizaran con éxito en las segundas partes (p<.001); ii) intención inicial ofensiva: las posesiones que daban comienzo mediante una intención de progresar rápidamente finalizaron con éxito en mayor medida (p<.001); iii) tiempo de posesión (p<.001) y iv) número de pases (p<.001).…”