Abstract
The aim of this paper was to study the combined effects of tactical and contextual dimensions on achieving offensive performance in open play possessions from Spanish “La Liga” soccer matches. 1860 team possessions from 20 random matches were evaluated by means of multidimensional observation. Multilevel regression models were constructed to predict the probability to achieve offensive performance according to the tactical and contextual dimensions registered in each possession. Performing penetrative actions after recovering the ball (OR = 1.497; 95% CI: 1.022–2.192; P < 0.05), and progressing by fast attacks (OR = 3.588; 95% CI: 2.045–6.294; p < 0.001) or counterattacks (OR = 7.097; 95% CI: 3.530–14.269; P < 0.001) was more effective to create scoring opportunities than performing a non-penetrative action and progressing by combinative attack, respectively. Also, progressing by long possessions (OR = 5.057; 95% CI: 2.406–10.627; p < 0.001) was more effective than progressing by short possessions to create scoring opportunities. As for contextual dimensions, multivariate analyses showed how playing at home and against high-ranked opponents registered more likelihood of achieving offensive penetration, although no associations were found in the production of scoring opportunities. Tactical dimensions as initial penetration, type of attack and possession length played an important role on achieving offensive penetration and goal scoring opportunities in Spanish Soccer “La Liga”.
Highlights
The style of play in soccer is the characteristic playing pattern demonstrated by a team during games and it shows players and ball movements, interaction of players, as well as elements of speed, time and space (Hewitt et al, 2016)
Each style of play is relatively stable during different games or tactical situations, it has been shown how contextual variables as venue, quality of opposition and match status influence the use of styles of play in soccer match play
The analysis of playing styles is arising in recent years (Gómez et al, 2018; Yang et al, 2018), but there are still very few studies that describe the effectiveness of playing tactics to produce offensive performance in professional soccer
Summary
The style of play in soccer is the characteristic playing pattern demonstrated by a team during games and it shows players and ball movements, interaction of players, as well as elements of speed, time and space (Hewitt et al, 2016). The different cultural, historical and social factors of each country make different the way of understanding soccer and implementing styles of play in each regional competition (Sarmento et al, 2013) In this sense, Spanish La Liga (SLL) seems to have a more “possession-based” style of play in comparison to English Premier League or Italian Serie A (Sarmento et al, 2013; Mitrotasios et al, 2019). According to our knowledge, no study up to date has analyzed the effectiveness of playing tactics to achieve offensive performance in this competition Contextual variables such as match location, match status and quality of opposition have been shown to influence the tactical performance and success of teams during competition (Fernandez-Navarro et al, 2018). Very few studies have evaluated how the contextual factors can affect the offensive effectiveness
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