Footballscience.net
Every coach would like to implement specific style of play.
The style of play can be (more or less) broken down in to offensive and defensive tactics. There are many tactical indicators that can be used to describe the (attacking) playing style of a football team, i.e. number of counter-attacks.
The counter-attack itself is quantified as attacks carried out after recovering the ball from defensive zones. Another often quantified tactical variable is called ‘Positional attacks’ and are defined by the indicator of the number of passes received by teammates in the opponent’s third.
However, combining these two variables on a respective low – high scales (horizontally and vertically) will give a better picture of a team’s style of play.
As a result, four main categories can be created: the “pressure” style favouring positional attacks (high number of balls received in opposition third and low number of counter-attacks), the “alternance” style (high number of balls received in opposition third and high number of counter-attacks), the “waiting” style with below-average values for the two offensive indicators, as well as the “projection” style favoring quick attacks (low amount of passes received in opposition third and high number of counter-attacks).
Teams (and even entire leagues) can then be categorised and below are data from 52 leagues with more than ten games played, and the last completed season for 23 additional ones.
The top left quadrant is made up of leagues whose teams have above-average statistics for passes received by teammates in the opponent’s third and below-average statistics for counter-attacks. They are characterised by an offensive style of play built on collective “pressure”. Four big-5 leagues fall into this category: the Premier League, the Liga, Serie A and the Ligue 1. Northern European leagues also tend to favour positional attacks over fast ones, as, outside Europe, do clubs from Australia, Brazil, Japan, South Korea and the USA.
Leagues whose teams have above-average statistics for both counter-attacks and passes received in the opposition third (top-right quadrant). They are characterised by an attacking style of play that alternates between positional and fast attacks. No big-5 league falls into this category. Belgian top flight, the Swiss first and second division, a number of Eastern European leagues (Hungary, Romania, Russia, Turkey, etc.), and only two non-European championships (Chile and South Africa).
The bottom left quadrant have below-average statistics for both counter-attacks and passes received in the opposition third. Their attacking playing style can thus be defined as a “waiting” one. Among these leagues are the top two German divisions, with, however counter-attacking values very close to the average, the Portuguese first and second division, as well as several non-European leagues (China, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, etc.).
Leagues with a “Projection” style of play (charactised through emphasis on quick attacks) are displayed in the bottom right quadrant. Their position is based on above-average statistics for counter-attacks and below-average statistics for passes received in the opposition third. Various Latin American leagues are included in this category, such as the top two Argentinean ones. The only European top division championships following a “projection” style are the Austrian, Croatian and Serbian ones.
The analysis at league level enabled to get a broader picture, however, the dominant style within a competition is not representative of all the participating clubs. The analysis by team according to the same method and categories formulated previously is thus particularly interesting in order to determine more precisely the attacking style of play of each club.
For example, “pressure” is the predominant attacking style in the Spanish Liga, but only eleven of the 20 teams fall into this category, including Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid. One team, Athletic Club, alternates positional and quick attacks, eight clubs fall into the “waiting” category, while none into the “projection” one.
In the English Premier League, nine out of 20 clubs fall into the “pressure” category, including all the dominant teams except Liverpool, which has an “alternance” attacking style of play, as does Leeds United. Nine clubs are in the “waiting” category, while, as in Spain, none are in the “projection” one. Of the 15 teams in the big-5 that favour a “projection” offensive style, eight are from the Bundesliga, four from Serie A and three from Ligue 1.
Reference:
https://football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/mr/mr84/en/
