How does match status affects the passing sequences of top-level European soccer teams?

Paulo Paixão, Jaime Sampaio, Carlos H. Almeida and Ricardo Duarte

International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 2015, vol. 15, issue 1, 229-240

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of match status (winning, losing or drawing) on the length of passing sequences of top-level soccer teams. A total of 20 matches of the knockout phase of the 2008-2009 UEFA Champions League were analysed. The sample consisted of 222 passing sequences leading to shooting opportunities performed by the four semi-finalists teams (FC Barcelona, Manchester United FC, Chelsea FC and Arsenal FC). These passing sequences were selected to reflect how each team tended to break the balance with the opposing teams to reach the goal (symmetry-breaking process). The passing sequences were measured by the number of passes performed until the shot and their respective durations, according to the match status. Results revealed that teams used preferentially long passing sequences when they were losing or drawing, and short passing sequences when they were winning. Besides, these top-level European teams tended to differently adapt the length of their passing sequences according to the evolving score-line, which suggests the existence of a team’s signature of play.

Date: 2015
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/24748668.2015.11868789 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:rpanxx:v:15:y:2015:i:1:p:229-240

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RPAN20

DOI: 10.1080/24748668.2015.11868789

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport is currently edited by Peter O'Donoghue

More articles in International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().