Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of match location, the quality of the opposition and match status on possession in a professional football team. To that end 27 matches from the 2005-2006 season of the Spanish Football League were examined using a computerized game analysis system. The games were divided into episodes of play according to the evolution of the score. The results of linear regression analysis showed that overall ball possession and the percentage of minutes that the team under observation had the ball in every area of the pitch (defensive 1/3, middle 1/3 and attack 1/3) were conditioned by the situation variables analyzed, either independently or interactively. The combination of these variables and their interactions can be used to build models that estimate ball possession in football. The findings highlight the need for coaches and researchers to take into account the potential independent and interactive effects of match location, the quality of the opposition and the match status on possession for assessing the performance of teams and players.