TITLE:
Team Play in Football: How Science Supports F. C. Barcelona’s Training Strategy
AUTHORS:
Philippe Chassy
KEYWORDS:
Passing; Expertise; Football; Team Play; Self-Organisation
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.4 No.9A,
September
9,
2013
ABSTRACT:
The paper applies the theory of
self-organising systems to sport. The central hypothesis is that team play,
implemented as passing in football, is the central factor generating
performance. Data from the 2013 European Champions League were used to show
that passing speed and precision predict domination (possession), shooting
opportunities and performance. By using principal component analysis, the
article offers a formula to estimate the team play of any team considering its
passing speed, passing precision and ability to score. The compound measure
accounts for about 42% of the variance in performance. The impact of this
research on the training of football players is discussed.