Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of high (HPBPT) and low percentage ball possession teams (LPBPT) on physical and technical-tactical performance indicators in the Chinese Football Super League (CSL). Eight physical performance indicators and 26 technical-tactical performance indicators from all 240 matches from season 2018 were analyzed, as well as three contextual variables (team strength, quality of opposition, and match location). Players were divided according to five positions: fullbacks, central defenders, wide midfielders, central midfielders, and attackers. A k-means cluster analysis was conducted to classify all match observations into two groups: HPBPT (n = 229) and LPBPT (n = 251). A mixed linear model was fitted with contextual variables as covariates. When significant interactions or main effects were detected, a post hoc comparison was used to compare physical and technical/tactical differences between HPBPT and LPBPT. Results showed that central defenders and fullbacks covered more high-intensity and sprint running distance in the high possession teams, while wide midfielders and forward covered more high-intensity and sprint running distance in the low possession teams. Meanwhile, players from high ball possession teams were strong in technical indicators, especially in attacking organization. These results may help coaches to understand current football development trends and develop suitable training plans and tests for elite football players.
Highlights
Possession in football is a basic and important performance indicator (Pollard and Reep, 1997)
Considering the great evolution of football play in this decade and ball possession as a representative indicator of the playing style, this study aims to analyze the impact of ball possession on physical and technical-tactical indicators in terms of playing position in the Chinese Super League (CSL)
The high-intensity distance in ball possession were higher in HPBPT than in low percentage ball possession teams (LPBPT) (p < 0.05)
Summary
Possession in football is a basic and important performance indicator (Pollard and Reep, 1997). Ball possession is a trending topic that is heatedly discussed because of the success of possession-play teams in the World Cup and European Champions league. There are traditionally two typical playing styles that are most commonly described: (a) direct play and (b) possession play (Bate, 1988; Hughes and Franks, 2005; Lago-Peñas and Dellal, 2010; Kempe et al, 2014). Common beliefs are that Spanish football styles involve possession play and English styles involve more direct play (Sarmento et al, 2013), but recent studies have found that mixed play strategies work during the match Jones et al (2004). Different playing styles are rooted in different football philosophies, and each playing style has led to great achievements in history and is still being discussed today (Hughes and Franks, 2005; Sarmento et al, 2013; Yi et al, 2019). Bloomfield et al (2005) found in three elite English clubs that “all were possession dominant, some already absorbed pressure and adopted a counterattacking strategy.” In addition, in 2018, World Cup teams that entered the top 16 mostly used mixed playing styles (Yi et al, 2019)
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