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

Rubén Maneiro, José Luís Losada, Claudio A. Casal and Antonio Ardá
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Rubén Maneiro: Department of Science of Physical Activity and Sport, Pontifical University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
José Luís Losada: Department of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology, University of Barcelona, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
Claudio A. Casal: Department of Science of Physical Activity and Sport, Catholic University of Valencia “San Vicente Mártir”, 46900 Valencia, Spain
Antonio Ardá: Department of Physical and Sport Education, University of A Coruña, 15172 A Coruña, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-14

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.

Keywords: performance analysis; observational methodology; women’s football; female soccer; decision trees; logistic regression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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