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Study about ball recovery zones and its influence on defense/attack transition in soccer.

This study analyzed defense/attack transitions of Atlético Madrid soccer team across two seasons to identify patterns. The majority of ball recoveries and first passes occurred in midfield. Most transitions involved 1-3 players and 1-3 passes. Atlético Madrid tended to switch sides after recovery more in 2016/2017 compared to 2015/2016. The study concludes Atlético Madrid practices a vertical style through the midfield to transition quickly into attack.

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Study about ball recovery zones and its influence on defense/attack transition in soccer. Defense/attack transition João Sousa & Henrique Soares
Defense/attack transition 2 Study about ball recovery zones and its influence on defense/attack transition in soccer. Abstract Being soccer one of the most difficult sports to analyze due to the complexity of the play, it has been dificult to find some scientific evidence studying this phenomenon (defense/attack transition). For that reason we thought to be pertinent developing a study aiming to find some evidence and consistent results about defense/attack transition. For that porpuse we aimed to study and characterize the defense/attack transition of Club Atlético Madrid. Its vital to specify that our attention was concern only to counter and fast attacks. For the realization of our study, we analyzed six senior football games from Club Atlético de Madrid, referring to the season 2015/16 (3 games) and also 2016/2017 (3 games), which were taken 91 sequences of defense- attack transitions, to conduct a review. In this way, were collected 6 recordings of televised games, having as adversaries the same teams in the two different seasons, which are: Football Club Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona and Valencia Football Club. To acomplishe our goal, we analyzed existing connections between players during and after the ball recovery, including the number of passes and number of players involved in its defensive, middle and offensive zone and the privileged side, as a way to check for game trends for the offensive transition (defense- attack). We also intend to identify the areas of the pitch most requested to recover the ball and posteriorly conduct the play. Keywords: analysis,team performance,offensive transition,observation.
Defense/attack transition 3 Introduction Soccer is one of the most popular team sports world-wide. Soccer is also one of the most difficult sports to analyze quantitatively due to the complexity of the play and to the nearly uninterrupted flow of the ball during the match. Unlike baseball or basketball, for which there is mutch more of statistical performance data detailing how each player contributes to the final result, and in soccer it is not trivial to define quantitative measures of an individual’s contribution (Duch J, Waitzman JS & Amaral LAN , 2010). Certain types of behavior of teams, especially during the offensive transition, appear to be linked to collective tactical efficiency within the sport. Therefore it can be said that, considering the transition as fundamental to the offensive phase, central variables for assessing the quality of transition defense-attack are the places and forms of recovery of the ball. (Santos, R.; Moraes, E. & Costa, I. , 2015) Its considered offensive transition all technical, tactical and strategic actions developed since a team recovers the ball in play and try to explore the collective reorganization in the opposing team, for optimal progression of the ball and conclusion.(Sanjurjo, C , Lopez, J. & Suarez, T. ,2015) Thus, it is understood that the location and the type of action are important parameters for observation and identification of behavioral patterns of the teams during the offensive phase. To be able to identify locations where there are certain actions, it is necessary the delimitation of sectors in the field. Still, parameters to identify the type of action to recover the ball are essential for the observation and analysis during the transition (Santos, R.; Moraes, E. & Costa, I. ,2015). For instance, an analysis of how goals are scored can reveal critical factors that will help determine the most appropriate attacking strategy, briefly to obtain winning formula (Mitrotasios, M. & Armatas, V. ,2014). Some studies were conducted on the goals achieved at the World Championships, and concluded that an efficient and effective offensive game is related to the ball recovery next to the
Defense/attack transition 4 opposing goal, and a quick transition defense / attack (Gréhaigne, J., Bouthier, D. & David, B. ,1997). Hughes and Franks (2005) showed that in the 1990 and 1994 World Cup tournaments 84% and 80% of goals respectively came from possessions of four or less passes. The same autors also concluded that the number of conclusions with long pass was significant, showing its importance. On the other hand, Benjamin (1968) showed that approximately 80% of goals scored were the result of a short sequence of three or less passes. (Mitrotasios, M. & Armatas, V. ,2014) In view of the foregoing, this study aimed to characterize the transition defense / attack of a football team. To this, we analyzed existing connections between players during and after the ball recovery, including the number of passes and number of players involved in its defensive, middle and offensive zone and the privileged side aisles, as a way to check for game trends for the offensive transition (defense-attack). We also intend to identify the areas of the pitch most requested to recover the ball and posteriorly conduct the play. . Methods For the realization of our study, we analyzed six senior football games from Club Atlético de Madrid, referring to the season 2015/16 (3 games) and also 2016/2017 (3 games), which were taken 91 sequences of defense-attack transitions, to conduct a review. In this way, were collected 6 recordings of televised games, having as adversaries the same teams in the two different seasons, which are: Football Club Bayen Munich, FC Barcelona and Valencia Football Club. Our data collection was performed using the 1.0 LongoMatch video analysis software according to the following criteria: 1. ball recovery / defense- attack transition. 2. Ball Recovery Sector (defensive, midfield, offensive); 3. Ball Recovery Side (Left Wing, Center, Right Wing); 4. If the 1st pass is short / long; 5. The sector of the 1st pass (defensive, midfield, offensive); 6.
Defense/attack transition 5 The side of the 1st pass (Left wing, Center, Right Wing) 7. If there is variation in the side on transition play; 8. If it is a goal or not; 9. The number of players included in the transition (1-3, 4- 7, 8-11); 10. The number of passes performed in the transition (1-3; 4-7; 8-11). All variables were observed, achieved and characterized through the division of the field as in figure 1. I. Figure1: Soccer field divided by: sectors (defensive, midfield, offensive) and side/corridor (right wing, center and left wing)
Defense/attack transition 6 Results and discussion II. Figure2: Descriptive table about the observed variables. Legend: Def- Defensive, Mid-Midfield; Off- Offensive; Right W- Right Wing; Left W- Left Wing; III. Figure3: Observed variables on defense/attack transition(Effect size). Season Recovery Sector Recovery Side 1st pass 1st pass Sector 1ºpass Side Nº Players Nº passes Change of side Goal 2016/ 2017 Def 17(33%) Right W 14(27%) Short 40(77%) Def 6(12%) Right W 12(23%) 1-3 33(71%) 1-3 37(63%) Yes 33(63%) Yes 2(4%)Mid 34(65%) Center 24(46%) Mid 43(83%) Center 29(56%) 4-7 15(23%) 4-7 14(34%)Long 12(23%) No 19(37%) No 50(96%) Off 1(2%) Left W 14(27%) Off 3 (5%) Left W 9 (21%) 8-11 3 (6%) 8-11 1 (3%) 2015/ 2016 Def 9 (23%) Right W 11(28%) Short 30(77%) Def 7 (18%) Right W 6 (20%) 1-3 23(55%) 1-3 24(62%) Yes 11(29%) Yes 3 (8%) Mid 25(64%) Center 18(46%) Mid 26(67%) Center 25(64%) 4-7 10(26%) 4-7 11(28%)Long 9 (23%) No 28(71%) No 36(91%)Off 5 (13%) Left W 10(26%) Off 6 (15%) Left W 8 (16%) 8-11 6 (19%) 8-11 4 (10%)
Defense/attack transition 7 IV: Figure 4: Observed variables on defense/attack transition(Effect size). Through the table (Figure 2) we can analyze how Club Atlético de Madrid managed to build several defense-attack transitions. Thus, in both seasons the Spanish team recovered more balls in the midfield sector, with values 65% (2016/2017) and 64% (2015/2016). As for the recovery side, the central one was evident in the two seasons, being the same value for the different seasons (46%). After these two variables, we analyzed how the 1st pass is performed after the recovery and in both seasons was the short pass that was most evident. It is clear that the sector where the 1st pass was made for the most times (in average, 83% in the 2016/2017 season and 67% in the 2015/2016 season), it was in the midfield. Thus, the number of players who performed the most transitions was centered on the interval of 1-3 at different seasons. Given this, the Madrilena team scored more goals by defense/attack transition in the 2015/2016 season (3 goals in 3 games) than the other season (2 goals in 3 games).
Defense/attack transition 8 Thus, we conclude that Club Atlético Madrid carries out most of its defense-attack transitions by the middle part of the pitch, thus opting for a more vertical game. Through Figure 3 and 4, we can better visualize the differences between the different seasons, being statisticaly pertinent to refer the facts the althought in the both seasons this team share the same style of play , in 2016/2017 we can highlight the fact that existis even more recoverys and conductions of the play by center part of the field, more plays with one to three players and using between one and three passes. It is also notable that the this team in 2016/2017 performed more corridor(or side) variations 63% than in the previous season, with 71% of the negative value. This particular result can make us think, because in our point of view from one season to another the manager maybe adopted a little different style of play, trying to after the ball recovery, rapidly put the ball out of the pressure, and for consequence the best solution could be change sides quickly. It´s important to clarify that in Figure 3 there is not any evidence about recovery balls in the offensive sector and 1st pass to defensive and 1st pass to offensive sector because the data we collected was not enough to produce error bars about those variables. In figure 4 the same problem ocurred about number of passes and players (8-11). All these results can be seen at figure 2. Comparing our study with others, it is clear that ours results oppose those of Hughes and Franks (2005), since they showed us that it was through the long pass that the teams effectively performed the offensive transitions , and our study allowed us to verify that the most of transitions were performed through the short pass. On the other hand Benjamin (1968) according to Mitrotasios, M. & Armatas, V.(2014), showed us that approximately 80% of goals scored were the result of a short sequence of three or less passes, and we can confirm trought our study that the most changes created to score (by defense/attack transition) are by short sequence of passes, in this case one to three passes.
Defense/attack transition 9 Conclusions In short, our study showed that the Madrid team did not differentiate very much from their offensive transition style, since it was the mid-sector and the central side (or corridor) proved to be the most intended path for the team to reach the goal, confirming that Colchonera team tries to practice a vertical game in order to try to score. We also conclude that their defense/attack transitions are very quick, using the most times one to three players and between one and three passes, looking to explore the collective reorganization in rival defense. This study prompts the trainer/observer/reader to verify how defense/attack transitions are performed and also to notice how a soccer team may act using this style of play.
Defense/attack transition 10 References Duch J, Waitzman JS, Amaral LAN (2010) Quantifying the Performance of Individual Players in a Team Activity. PLoS ONE 5(6): e10937. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010937. Hughes, M., & Franks, I. (2005). Analysis of passing sequences, shots and goals in soccer. Journal of Sports Sciences. 23(5): 509-514. Jean-Francis Grehaigne , Daniel Bouthier & Bernard David (1997) Dynamic system analysis of opponent relationships in collective actions in soccer, Journal of Sports Sciences, 15:2, 137-149, DOI: 10.1080/026404197367416. Lago-Peñas, C. & Dellal, A. (2010) Ball Possession Strategies in Elite Soccer According to the Evolution of the Match-Score: the Influence of Situational Variables. Journal of Human Kinetics volume 25 2010, 93-100 Section III – Sport, Physical Education & Recreation. Mitrotasios, M. & Armatas, V.(2014) Analysis of Goal Scoring Patterns in the 2012 European Football Championship. The Sport Journal, Referred Sports Journal, Published by the United States Sports Academy. Sanjurjo, C , Lopez, J. & Suarez, T. (2015) Análisis de los factores de rendimiento de las transiciones ofensivas en el fútbol de alto nivel. Revista de Psicología del Deporte 2015. Vol. 24, núm. 1, pp. 103-110. Santos, R.; Moraes, E. & Costa, I. (2015) Análise de padrões de transição ofensiva da Seleção Espanhola de Futebol na Copa do Mundo FIFA® 2010. Rev Bras Educ Fís Esporte, (São Paulo) 2015 Jan-Mar; 29(1):119-26.