A performance indicator is a collective or combination of action variables that aim to describe Team France’s performance in the 2018 FIFA World Cup and it should relay to their successful performance that leads them to win this competition. Using this description, it is important to further explain the action variables, which we have then categorized into the technical and tactical limitations [1][2], which will be discussed separately.
In a football game, it is not about scoring a goal. Passing accuracy is an important performance indicator in a soccer match as it does not only retain the team’s possession but also leads to scoring a goal while it restricts the opponent’s possession and scoring opportunity.
Passing of the ball from an individual player to the other; moving the ball from left to right, or even up and down the playing pitch is also important. Apart from retaining the team’s possession of the ball, it will eventually fatigue the oppose team player and reduce their focus in defence which will be an advantage for the stronger team, like France to attack whenever there is any opportunity to strike a goal.
These are various types of passes in football which is categorized based on the distance of the passes. However, successful team able to execute a wider variety of passes as a tool to create shots, making less predictable to shoot more frequently. The purpose of making short passes is to be able to control the ball easily by keeping the ball low. While long passes are commonly used to switch play to the other part of the field whose teammates currently unmarked by the opponent team.
The flowchart shows the types of passing and we will be focusing on the complete passes of the game for this analysis. We will also be looking at the on-target shots which resulted in their success in attaining the goals in this competition.
Figure 1. Flowchart of performance indicators
Notational analysis software (Dartfish and Kinovia) was used to highlight the performance indicators of Team France. Quantitative information collected was tabulated by Microsoft Excel worksheet and data was reported in percentage. Thereafter, referring to the performance indicators mentioned were evaluated in the video clips created. This would allow the head analyst to decide which successful indicators to be best implemented.
The performance indicators highlighted were the number of goal attempts; out of which how many were on-target shots. Also, the complete passes for short, medium and long passes. [3]
The data recorded during the Final match between France and Croatia, and it clearly shows that the number of goal attempts made by Team Croatia is double of Team France. Nevertheless, the on-target shots are not showing a similar pattern. This illustrates that despite having a greater number of attacks, it does not guarantee a higher conversion of goals. Team France, on the other hand, has the least number of goal attempts however able to attain a higher conversion of goals.
Team France’s on-target goal attempts and number of goals scored is higher in terms of percentage compared to Team Croatia contributing to the variance of 57% and 43% respectively.
The number of short, medium and long passes made by Team France in the 2018 World Cup competition. They made the least number of long passes throughout the games which shows the team’s organization in their positioning on the field hence do not require much of long passes. This is also proven from the number of medium passes made by the team which allows them to cover the in-between spaces between the opponent players better. The team also made thrice as much short passes compared to long passes which clearly demonstrate their controlling skill of the ball.
In addition, the number of complete passes shown below further iterates their skills and accuracy in passing.
Referring the last match video between France and Croatia, on the 1st goal, a foul was made by Team Croatia at the 17mins into the 1st half of the game. As this happened outside the 18-yard box, Antonio Griezmann was assigned to take the freekick for Team France. A good delivery by him which causes the defender from Team Croatia to mis-head the ball back to his own net which meant an own goal for Team Croatia.
Team France had another goal opportunity however this time it was a corner kick. Cross came in but the ball deflects out of the field of play. Referee were doubtful of the incident hence looked back at the VAR (video assistant referee) to have a better understanding of the incident. This was then concluded that a handball was made by one of the defenders from Team Croatia. A goal was then scored by Griezmann in the 37th min when the ball that he kicked landed at the bottom left side of the goalpost.
Pogba had an advantage at the 58th min when he made a shot outside the 18-yard for the team’s third goal. His first attempt was deflected by the defender from Team Croatia. However, Pogba managed to pick up the rebound ball and took his 2nd shot. The ball landed beautifully at the left side of the goal and the goalkeeper from Team Croatia not being able to save the ball.
The 4th goal was made during the 64th mins when Mbappe received the ball from his teammate. Having a very good first touch using his right leg, Mbappe managed to control the ball towards the mouth of the goal. Without any second thoughts, Mbappe take the shot outside the 18-yard box and scored a goal. It was a poor closing down from Team Croatia which allows Mbappe to take the shot without any opponent putting pressure to him.
From that final match, an example of a complete long pass was the good distribution given by Team France’s goalkeeper to his teammates positioned on the right wing. This allows the ball to skip the defensive third and procced straight to midfield third.
An example of a complete medium pass is during the 64th min, right before Mbappe scored the 4th goal for Team France. Mbappe received a mid-pass range from his teammate on the left side of the pitch at the midfield 3rd zone area. This clearly shows that with this mid-pass range, it allows the player to skip 4 opponent players with that 1 pass and managed to convert it into a goal.
An example of a complete short pass occurred during the 58th mins of the game; right before Pogba scored his goal which was made from the penalty box. With the ball nearer to the goal mouth, a player from Team France played the ball out of the penalty area since there were 6-7 Croatia player inside the penalty box trying to defend the goal. By luring the defenders away from Pogba, this gave an opportunity for him to score a goal.
Another example of a complete short pass was made at the right side of the field at the attacking 3rd. France is not afraid to make short passes even though they are less than 5m from each other and they played one-touch football with precise. With this, player able to make a first touch away from the defender from Team Croatia and create an angle for himself to take an on-target shot towards the goal.
Team France do have a good attacking force which we have gathered earlier in this report (Figure 4). Despite the lower shot attempts, France took their chances by taking each shot seriously. Here we able to summarize that despite making lower number of attacks, the team is still able to win the match. Goal attempts may lead to goals but on-target shots will give a greater goal conversion.
The high conversion in the team’s goals attempts shows the team’s strength in attacking their opponent, which enables them to lead the ball in our defences third.
In order to put what we have concluded into practice, we will begin improving our team’s movement and positioning on the field, and also building up our defence to evade any opportunity for the opponent team scoring a goal. With this, we will be able to eliminate medium passes and if we were to meet France in our future matches, they will have to make an immediate change of game plan.
We will have to ensure that our team is well-prepared in whichever game situation; regardless 1v1 or 2v1 situations, as this allows our team to have a better advantage in both situations.
Ultimately, it is crucial that the results after these propositions being carried out are analyzed periodically to keep improving our team’s performance for the future matches.
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