Possession Zone as a Performance Indicator in Football. The Game of the Best Teams

Abstract

Possession time in football has been widely discussed in research but few studies have analyzed the importance of the field area in which possession occurs. The objective of this study was to identify the existence of significant differences in the field zone of ball possession between successful and unsuccessful teams and to acknowledge if the match status modulates the possession model. To this end, 2,284 attacks were analyzed corresponding to the matches in the final phase of the UEFA Euro 2016 France, recording possession time and field zone in which possession occurred. Video recordings of matches were analyzed and coded post-event using notational analysis. We have found that successful offensive game patterns are different from unsuccessful ones. Specifically, field zone in which major possession occurs changes significantly between successful and unsuccessful teams (x2 = 15.72, p < 0.05) and through Welch’s T significant differences were detected in possession time between successful and unsuccessful teams (H = 24.289, p < 0.001). The former are characterized by longer possession times, preferably in the middle offensive zone, on the other hand, unsuccessful teams have shorter possession times and preferably on the middle defensive zone. Logistic regression also allowed us to identify that greater possession in the middle offensive zone is a good indicator of success in the offensive game, allowing us to predict a greater chance of victory in the match. Specifically, every time the teams achieve possession in the middle offensive zone, the chance of winning the match will increase 1.72 times and, the probability of winning the match making longer possessions in the middle offensive zone is 44.25%. Applying the Kruskal–Wallis test we have also been able to verify how match status modulates the teams possession time, specifically, when teams are winning they have longer possessions x2 = 92.628, p = 0.011. Results obtained are expected to help gain more knowledge about successful offensive game models, as well as performance factors of the offensive phase, which will allow teams to optimize their training process and performance during the match.

Comparative advantage as a success factor in football clubs: Evidence from the English Premier League (EPL)

“…Similar findings, but for different leagues, can be found from other studies (Lago-Peñas & Dellal , 2010;Armatas, Zaggelidis, Skoufas, Papadopoulou, & Fragkos, 2009;GÖRAL, 2015;Kempe, Vogelbein, Memmert, & Nopp, 2014;Aquino, Garganta, Manechini, Bedo, & Puggina, 2017). Moreover, for possession to be effective, it must happen closer to your opponent's goal; otherwise, an increase in possession is totally ineffective (Casal, Maneiro, Ardá, Marí, & Losada, 2017).…”

The Specificity of Observational Studies in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences: Moving Forward in Mixed Methods Research and Proposals for Achieving Quantitative and Qualitative Symmetry

“…Numerous examples have been described in the literature, particularly in recent years, and have been applied to a wide range of sporting contexts, including motor skill analysis (Castañer et al, 2009), physical activity (Castañer et al, 2016b), middle- and long-distance races (Aragón et al, 2015, 2017), basketball (Fernández et al, 2009), soccer (Jonsson et al, 2006; Castañer et al, 2016a, 2017a; Casal et al, 2017; Diana et al, 2017), judo (Gutiérrez-Santiago et al, 2011), hockey (Hernández-Mendo and Anguera, 2002), futsal (Lapresa et al, 2013b), and kinesics (Castañer et al, 2013). Ad-hoc instruments have been shown to be equally effective in amateur (Arana et al, 2013) and elite (Barreira et al, 2014) sport.…”

The Influence of Match Status on Ball Possession in High Performance Women’s Football

“…Taking the variable "ball possession" in isolation, preliminary studies have shown that the best teams maintained a higher percentage of ball possession during the matches, and that their game pattern was more stable (Lago-Peñas and Dellal, 2010). In addition, the local teams have more possession than the visiting teams (Lago and Martín, 2007), and the ball possession time is greater in the first part in the successful teams (Casal et al, 2017). In addition, the local teams have more ball possession than the visiting teams (Lago and Martín, 2007), and the ball possession time is greater in the first half of the match in successful teams (Casal et al, 2017).…”

“…In addition, the local teams have more possession than the visiting teams (Lago and Martín, 2007), and the ball possession time is greater in the first part in the successful teams (Casal et al, 2017). In addition, the local teams have more ball possession than the visiting teams (Lago and Martín, 2007), and the ball possession time is greater in the first half of the match in successful teams (Casal et al, 2017). It has also been found that successful teams have significantly longer ball possessions than unsuccessful ones (Jones et al, 2004), and that the former maintain this ball possession in the mid-offensive zone, while the unsuccessful ones kept it in the middle defensive zone.…”