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Haven’t really looked into it Scott.
Just going off Google’s displayBut you’re absolutely correct, we need to be very careful interpreting all those possession %’s.
Here is some detail on how Opta figures out its possession.
http://www.optasports.com/news-area/blog-a-ball-possessed.aspx
Here is the statistical information from Opta. You can dig around on it and see more detailed information on where the passes were made.
http://www.fourfourtwo.com/statszone/4-2013/matches/731822/summary#tabs-wrapper-anchor
Scott, so true on how misleading the possession stat was for that match. When they showed 51% to 49% I was thinking, “Are we watching the same match?!?!”
The US midfield put soooooo much pressure on the defense and Howard because they could not hold onto the ball for any extended amount of time. I don’t expect the US to dominate a game through possession or dictate a game against an opponent like Belgium or Germany, but you HAVE to be able to keep the ball for a little bit just to let the defense and GK come up for air and breath for a bit.
I kept saying we need to hold the ball longer. The way that game was going we should have passed it around in our half for as long as Belgium would sit back. Simple movement and holding the ball would have given everyone some time to rest on the ball and would have forced Belgium to stretch instead of sitting in their half and waiting to apply pressure.
The real tragedy is the few times we did that we immediately lost the ball in transition at midfield and then Belgium sliced through our line. No “tranquilo” in the center means increased pressure on the back four to stop counters anywhere Belgium decided to attack. And the US with “more possession” allowed Lalas to open his idiot mouth and babble about possession like he knew something.
I kept wondering if he felt like a school kid sitting next to Martinez. There’s someone who’s soccer knowledge oozes from every pore. (I doubt it. Lalas strikes me as someone who thinks his shit don’t stink.)
Thanks Devin, that is exactly what I needed. This all started because some apologist was telling me we woulda/should/coulda/nearly beat Belgium, and deservedly so, because the FIFA.com stats showed we outpossessed them.
I told him he was out of his mind, but after watching the first half, my analysis supported the stats. The US did indeed complete about 183 passes to 153 (some guess work was required when the camera cut away from the action). It is amazing how differenta game looks upon a second viewing, especially with the primary lens changed from fan to coach. Through both lenses we were still significantly outplayed.
Looks like the old saying is true: There are Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics
Not all possession is created equal
I am eagerly and patiently awaiting the next 3four3 blog article. I wonder if it will focus on the WC winner, a specific strategy employed by a manager or how a special player came to the fore to lead their team. Or maybe the article will discuss the misnomer that the US had a successful World Cup. A 1-1-2 record and being jostled around the field in 3 of the games does not engender me with any feeling that we have improved. The notion by some of how the US imposed our will at certain points in the games against Belgium or Germany is a fallacy. Those two teams were completely content to defend and what is even more disheartending to me is that after the Germany goal, when the Germans were likely completely content to sit on a 1 goal lead, we STILL could not find, keep and/or retain the ball. I am at a total loss for what I saw from the USMNT. Yes we played decent against the disembodied and dis-spirited Portuguese. I saw moments of individual brilliance (Dempsey goal against Ghana) and bravery ( Bradley running for miles and miles) and stellar play from individuals ( Howard and I have to say by J. Jones who I tend to think is emblematic for what is wrong with the game stateside) but generally I think the National team’s play was dreck by comparison to the Mexicans or Costa Ricans. We are still light years away.
TRANQUILO. No kidding Andrew. How many times I saw us finally get the ball, string together one or two passes than, opps there goes the long ball turnover- lets rush rush rush. Damn it was awful. To be honest I am completely despondent and aggravated that this 3four3 line of thinking has lifted the veil from my eyes. I wish sometimes I would have taken the blue pill. I used to be a lemming. I used to live in the Matrix happily ignorant to the truth. I used to think success was measured by holding the Germans to a 0-1 loss. I used to think our athleticism and heart and courage and bravery was what set us apart. Now those qualities are the albatross I want to sling into the ocean. TO HELL WITH COURAGE AND BRAVERY. I want sophistication. and style. I want to keep the damn ball. not be in such a God Damn rush all the time. I want to not be totally outclassed by european and south american and african nations then be told what I just saw was success. NO. IT WAS NOT. Now I have to be part of the solution and with that comes responsibility — even if that means I only affect the lens through which my children or players view and experience the game.
Scott. Your quote “Not all possession is created equal”. Love it. Going to use it.
As I tell my teams. “You’ll hear the other coach yell at his team to possess the ball. Well if it were just that easy, we could have saved ourselves all the work we did learning how to do it.”
Germany, wow. I have them winning the tournament playing Argentina. Just didn’t expect the match to go the way it did against Brazil.
@Andrew M
“I kept wondering if he felt like a school kid sitting next to Martinez. There’s someone who’s soccer knowledge oozes from every pore. (I doubt it. Lalas strikes me as someone who thinks his shit don’t stink.”
I think Alexi doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. He’s a victim of the same soccer environment as most of us
Add arrogance on top of that, and it’s a bad combination. If you actually think you know everything: you lose the capacity to learn anything.
He is not a soccer expert, he just plays one on TV.
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