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Insight - The F.A. Coaches Association Journal20

Analysis of Goalkeepers Distributionin Youth Academy Football James Morton and Michael Court

The primary function of match analysis is to provide the coach withinformation about team or individual performances. In this way, boththe coach and the players receive valuable feedback about previousperformances and so are provided with detailed information on aspectsof play that may need to be improved upon.

Although an abundant amount of research has been conducted onoutfield players, analysis concerning goalkeepers has generally beenlimited. Recently, Williams and colleagues (1999) analysed goalkeeperdistribution patterns across 40 F.A. Premier League games played inthe 1997/98 season. They concluded that the clearance was the mostfrequently employed distribution and that typically goalkeepers are inpossession of the ball for periods of less than 2 seconds. It has also beenshown by Hughes (1990) that long distributions, such as goal kicks, leadto and produce the most goal-coring opportunities.

In Football Academies, more emphasis should be placed on the technicaldevelopment of each individual player rather then the actual outcomeof a game. In order for players to develop technically it is essential foroutfield players to be in contact with the ball as often as possible so as toincrease the total number of touches per game. In this way key technicalaspects of the game such as first touch, control and passing are likely toimprove. Whilst in the modern game the goalkeepers distribution canserve as one of the most effective tools in producing goal scoring moves,more importantly for Football Academies this can also be the beginningof a passing sequence which requires outfield players to perform a rangeof technical skills. For these reasons the distribution of a goalkeeper is animportant factor in contributing to the overall development of outfieldplayers.

The aims of the present study were:

(a) to determine what types of goalkeeping distributions are successfuland unsuccessful in relation to maintaining possession, and

(b) to determine which type of distribution produces the highest numberof consecutive passing sequences.

Results should provide detailed information concerning which type of

distribution is most likely to result in an opportunity for outfield playersto gain and retain possession of the ball. This information could then beused to increase the range of technical skills required of players duringmatch situations.

Methodology

Nine F.A. Premier League Football Academy games were analysed acrossthree age groups (U12, U14 and U15). Three games were analysed withinage group. Each game was of the same duration. The games wererecorded using a Panasonic video camera. The camera was placed nearthe half way line and above ground level. At a later date the games werereplayed on a television monitor for analysis. In this preliminary studyspecific instructions given to goalkeepers with regard to the tactics of theteam or the environmental conditions were not made available. A totalof nine games were considered an adequate sample from which validgeneralisable conclusions could be made.

A specific hand based notation system was designed for analysing each game.When analysing the goalkeepers distribution the area from which the ballwas distributed and the area to where the ball was projected were recorded.In order for this to be noted the pitch was coded as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Coded diagram of the pitch for analysis.

Direction of play

L1 L2 L3

C1 C2 C3

R1 R2 R3

Distributions were analysed to determine whether they were successfulor unsuccessful. A distribution was deemed to be successful if the ballwas received by a teammate and was deemed unsuccessful if it was notreceived by a teammate. If the ball was miscontrolled by a teammate

and possession lost, the distribution was still regarded as being successfulas it was not the distribution that was at fault but rather the control of the receiving player. The number of resulting passes from each successfuldistribution and the locations of possession loss were recorded.

The following types of goalkeepers distribution were analysed: Long overarm throw Long pass Short overarm throw Short pass Underarm throw Long free kick Long goal kick Short free kick Short goal kick Clearance Drop kick

A distribution was deemed to be long if it reached the middle orattacking third of the pitch. A distribution was deemed to be short if it was distributed solely into the defending third. It was important todistinguish between a pass and a clearance. A clearance referred to thegoalkeeper distributing the ball due to pressure imposed by an opponent.A pass referred to the goalkeeper distributing the ball when he was underno pressure from an opponent and actually looked up with the intentionpassing the ball to a team mate.

ResultsAge Group U-12 U-14 U-15

No. Successful 11.3(58.5%)

13.6(50.6%)

9.6(50.0%)

No. Unsuccessful 8.0(41.5%)

13.3(49.4%)

9.6(50.0%)

Total 19.3(100%)

27(100%)

19.3(100%)

Table 1 Mean number of successful and unsuccessful goalkeeper distributions per match across each age group. Percentages are presented in parenthesis

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Figure 2 Average number of successful and unsuccessful goalkeeper distributions per game

Figure 4 Average passes per game produced following each type of distributionfor the U12s

Figure 3 Percentage success rate of each distribution type.

Figure 5 Average passes per game produced following each type of distributionfor the U14s.

Figure 6 Average passes per game produced following each type of distributionfor the U15s.

Figure 7 Percentage success rate of delivering the ball to specific areas of the pitch.

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0Successful Unsuccessful

ShortLong

A v e r a g e d i s t r i b u t i o n s p e r g a m e

Outcome of distribution

100

80

60

40

20

0

P e r c e n t a g e s u c c e s s r a t e

Distribution type

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

A v e r a g e p a s s e s p r o

d u c e

d

Distribution type

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

A v e r a g e p a s s e s p r o

d u c e

d

Distribution type

3.5

3

2.5

2

1.5

1

0.5

0

A v e r a g e p a s s e s p r o

d u c e

d

Distribution type

Direction of play

75% 53% 100%

100% 35% 67%

100% 55% 33%

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Discussion

The aims of the present study were to(a) determine which type of goalkeepingdistribution was the better in maintainingpossession of the ball and (b) determine whichtype of distribution produced the highestnumber of consecutive passing sequences. By

achieving these aims it was hoped that coacheswould gain information with regard to whattypes of distribution were most beneficial fordeveloping the technical ability of outfieldplayers.

Although the average number of successfullong and short distributions per game wassimilar, short distributions had a higher successrate than long distributions. Altogether,95.5% of all short distributions were deemedsuccessful compared with 39.1% of long

distributions. In terms of specific distributiontypes, the long goal kick was found to be themost unsuccessful. Of the total 44 long goalkicks recorded, 75% were unsuccessful. Themost successful kicking distribution was thatof the short pass. Of the total 19 short passesrecorded, all were successfully received by anoutfield player.

The 100% success rate of the underarm throwsuggested this was the best way of distributingthe ball when possession was to be retained. The

long and short overarm throws were also shownto be effective techniques for distributing theball with success rates of 81.25% and 83.3%respectively.

In relation to the average number of passesproduced per game by each type of distribution,the most successful was that of the short passwhich produced an average of 4.33 passes forthe U14s and more impressively 8.33 passesfor the U12s. However, in the U15s it was thelonger distributions such as the goal kick and

drop kick that tended to produce the mostpasses. These results may reflect the advancedphysical and technical development of playersin the U15 age group that enables them to dealwith these distributions better than playersin the U12 and U14 age groups. In the U12sand U14s these long distributions were mostineffective for producing consecutive passingsequences. It is important to note that theU15 goalkeepers displayed a smaller range of distribution types than those of the U12s andU14s. For example, the U15 goalkeepers werenot observed to perform long overarm throws,short goal kicks, long passes or long free kicks.

Figure 7 illustrates that distributions to C1were always successfully received by a fellowteammate. It is worth noting that across thenine games analysed, only six distributions weredelivered to this particular area. In the same waythe percentage success rates for the attackingthird do not accurately reflect the actualpatterns of the game as L3, C3 and R3 received

only 1, 6 and 3 distributions respectively. It ismore impressive to focus on the high successrates of areas such as L1 and R1 as these areasreceived more distributions and so give a morerealistic example. For example, of the 12 and 36distributions delivered to L1 and R1 respectively75% and 100% were successful.

In summary, short distributions such as passesand throws (both underarm and overarm) aremore successful than long distributions forboth maintaining possession and producing

consecutive passing sequences. Shortdistributions that result in longer consecutivepassing sequences are therefore more likely toresult in improvements in players technicalability. Although implications for coachesare outlined below, they should be awareof the specific value of such distributionsand encourage them to be utilised whereappropriate. Finally, it is important tohighlight that, although long distributions didnot contribute to retaining possession across

the U12 and U14 age groups analysed in thecurrent study, clearly they are important forgoalkeepers to practice due to the successfuloutcomes, which have been shown at older agegroups.

Coaching Implications

With a view towards retaining possessionand developing technical ability across U12and U14 age groups, goalkeepers should beencouraged to distribute the ball over shortdistances where a 95.5% success rate wasobserved.

Short distributions to be encouragedinclude all throwing distributions and theshort pass, as 80% of such distributionswere found to be successful.

The throwing distributions and the shortpass tended to produce the highest numberof consecutive passes and are likely to beof the most benefit for outfield playerstechnical development. Longer distribu-tions will move the ball into the attackingthird quickly, but they will generally notproduce as many passes and possession will

often be lost. For retaining possession and developing

technical ability across U12 and U14 agegroups, goalkeepers should be discour-aged from distributing the ball over longdistances where only a 39.1% success ratewas observed.

The least successful distribution type wasthe long goal kick as a mere 1 in 4 attemptswas successful. When the aim of the team isto retain possession of the ball and develop

technical ability, this type of distributionshould be avoided.

For retaining possession, the ball should bedistributed mainly to the full back areas(L1 and R1 see Figure 1), as over 75% of distributions delivered here were successful.Distributions to the central midfield areashould be avoided as only 35% of distribu-tions were found to be successful.

Further Reading

Williams, M, Lee, D and Reilly, T (1999) AQuantitative Analysis of Matches Played inthe 1991-2 and 1997-8 Seasons (a supplementto Insight , Issue 4, Volume 2, The FootballAssociation.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank EvertonFootball Club for assistance in data collectionand in the preparation of this article

James Morton is a student on the BSc (Hons)

Science and Football at Liverpool John Moores University.

Dr Michael Court provides sport science support to Everton Football club whilst serving as a Post Doctoral Research Fellow at the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University.