Are Premier League clubs moving towards a tiki-taka approach? | Stats

Shots

A rough indicator of whether teams are being more patient in attack is the “Patience in Attack”  - # of pass attempts in the final third per shot taken (Shots on target + off target + blocked shots)

Shots Overall #s comparison Premier League 2011-12 vs. 2010-11

Findings:

• These numbers suggests that teams are definitely moving in the direction of attempting more  passes (2.68 more passes on an average in the final 3^rd) and are taking better shots (increased shooting accuracy and less blocked shots)

Shooting accuracy % change from Premier League 2010-11 to 2011-12 by club

Figure-3

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Findings:

• Stoke and Liverpool’s shooting accuracy are down big in 2011-12. This explains to a large extent their struggles to score goals last season despite a huge increase in possession in the final third.

“Patience in attack” % change from Premier League 2010-11 to 2011-12 by club

Figure-4

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Findings:

• Stoke has the highest % increase in the “patience in attack” metric from 6.48 pass attempts in the final 3^rd/shot taken to 11.72! – Yet they scored the least # of goals among all the 20 teams. Here are a few possible reasons.
  • Stoke took the lowest # of shots among all teams last season – low denominator
  • Their shooting accuracy is down 18% from 2010-11 to 2011-12.
  • It could also be because Stoke’s forwards and attackers are not good finishers with their feet and they have yet to adapt to the new style of play. 40% (14/35) of their goals last season came from headers.
  • The huge increase could also be indicator of “lack of creativity” to penetrate through the defensive pressure in the final third. Stoke might be passing a lot in the final third as they are unable to find their players in good positions to shoot.
• Average % increase in “patience in attack” is 40.57% indicates a more patient approach across the board.
• Huge increase even for lower level teams like Bolton, West Brom, Aston Villa and of course, Stoke.
• For teams like Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal the increase is not as high as that of others because they have been playing this type of football for a few years now.

Open field crosses % change from Premier League 2010-11 to 2011-12 by club

More passing in the final third and more patience in attack could also mean a decrease in the # of open play crosses. Crossing from open play is usually associated with a direct approach to attack. A lot has been written about the inefficiency of crossing as an attack strategy. A few people even lost their jobs. As teams get more patient in attack, the # of open play crosses is likely to go down.

Figure-5

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Findings:

• Total # of open field crosses are down by about 9% from 2010-11 to 2011-12.
• It is no surprise that Liverpool has seen the highest increase.
• Smaller and lower level teams known for a direct approach trying much fewer crosses in 2011-12 than in 2010-11.

Final word

• Premier League clubs are moving towards a strategy of attacking more patiently by passing the ball more in the final third.

The shift in strategy is across the board and not just at the top clubs. The trend of small and lower level clubs moving towards a more patient approach to attacking repeated throughout this analysis.

• However, this has not translated into more goals for all the teams due to a variety of reasons like poor finishing and poor usage of possession in the final third and strong defence of the opponents.

All of the stats from this article have been taken from the Opta Stats Centre at EPLIndex.com – Subscribe Now (Includes author privileges!) Check out our new Top Stats feature on the Stats Centre which allows you to compare all players in the league & read about new additions to the stats centre.