FORGET goalmouth scrambles, corners and free kicks. Last year鈥檚 football
World Cup in France was won and lost in zone 14, a region nestling in front of
the 鈥淒鈥� on the edge of the opposition鈥檚 penalty area.
Match analyses have revealed that action in this zone, sometimes called 鈥渢he
hole鈥�, made all the difference between success and failure. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the critical
area of the pitch for exploitation of any creative action, and the springboard
for true penetration of the defensive line,鈥� says Tom Reilly of the Research
Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences at Liverpool John Moores
University.
Reilly and his colleague Mark Williams compared patterns of play adopted by
鈥渟uccessful鈥� and 鈥渦nsuccessful鈥� teams in the competition using notational
analysis, a technique that records every manoeuvre by every player in a football
match (see 鈥淗ow to score goals and influence people鈥�, New 杏吧原创, 2
June 1990).
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The researchers analysed 24 matches played by the four
semifinalists鈥攖he Netherlands, Croatia, Brazil and the eventual winners,
France鈥攁nd 12 matches played by teams that failed to reach the second
stage of the competition. Dividing the pitch into 18 zones, they found
successful teams made an average of 25 successful passes from zone 14 in each
match. Unsuccessful teams made just 15 passes from the hole per match.
What鈥檚 more, the successful teams directed 70 per cent of their passes from
zone 14 forwards into the penalty area, compared with 64 per cent by
unsuccessful teams. Not surprisingly, each of the semifinalists had star players
who could mastermind penetrative moves from the hole. 鈥淶inedine Zidane of France
was probably the best exponent,鈥� says Reilly. Dennis Bergkamp excelled in the
hole for the Netherlands, as did Rivaldo for Brazil and Zvonomir Boban for
Croatia.
The other mark of success was a team鈥檚 ability to scythe through the
opposition with rapid sequences of two or more forward passes, uninterrupted by
sideways or backwards passes. The semifinalists averaged 94 of these flowing
forward moves per match, compared with 76 for the unsuccessful teams.
This fluent forward play, favoured by France and Croatia, contrasts with the
British habit of passing sideways and backwards. 鈥淭his holds possession, but as
an end in itself rather than as a means to split the defence,鈥� says Reilly.
Reilly and Williams will be presenting their results in Sydney later this
month at the fourth World Congress on Science and Football.
