Thread by @BeGriffis

Analyzing all #BarclaysWSL teams' 1st pass after their kickoffs from 18/19 to 20/21

🔑 Takeaway: Some teams do have different tactics overall &/or for different game states

🧵 is alphabetical, so starting with @ArsenalWFC

Always more long & less accurate passes when losing!

For @AVWFCOfficial there's just the one season.

Ignore winning game states since there were only 2... but they exclusively played very long balls up the pitch when drawing, but were more conservative while losing (with some long balls as well, but not just long passes)

#AVFC

Now @BCFCWomen

Small sample again for winning game states. But they also changed their tactics over these 3 seasons, opting for more long passes across them. But not much of a pattern when breaking down by game state. Usually a lil less accurate when drawing tho

#BCFC #BCFCW

.@BHAFCWomen

Brighton are fun because they typically have the same avg distance on drawing/losing states, but their completion % was always lower when drawing before 20/21, then it was the same.

Interesting, as the locations as well were similar.

#BHAFC

.@bristolcitywfc

I struggle to find any pattern to Bristol City's kickoffs. Have to ignore winning since it's such a small sample, but drawing/losing are always fairly similar length, accuracy, & rough locations as well.

#BristolCityWomen

For @ChelseaFCW we have a good sample size of all 3 game states in 2 seasons

They also changed their tactics up drastically from 18/19 to 19/20 & 20/21. From lateral to almost exclusively long boots up the field! Less than 67% accuracy for all kickoffs in 19/20 & 20/21 lol

#CFC

.@EvertonWomen

If you take anything away from this thread... it's that Everton target the left flank right after kickoff 😂

But they have a trend: they did this almost exclusively when drawing, yet less often when losing...

Important to note for opponents

#EFC @COYB

Now @LiverpoolFCW

Like their local neighbors Everton, Liverpool also targeted the left side, and also more so when drawing than losing....... Something in the water in the city?

Very interesting to see though, the difference between the 2 game states.

.@ManCityWomen

3 different tactics over these 3 years it looks like. 19/20 was extremely consistent, and then 18/19 was more back/lateral, 20/21 more forwards.

The 2 recent seasons, City typically passed it shorter & more accurately when drawing than winning/losing

#ManCity

.@ManUtdWomen

Certainly changed tactics between these 2 seasons, aiming more frequently for their own half in 20/21 than 19/20.

Hard to see a distinct pattern among different game states, however.

#MUWomen

Now @ReadingFCWomen

Not a great sample size when winning, but for the 2 seasons they had kickoffs while winning they were consistently pretty short & accurate, espcially compared to drawing/losing.

Drawing/losing were fairly similar to each other too

#REAWomen #Reading

.@SpursWomen

Usually more aggressive & risky long passes while drawing than while in a losing state. Sadly for this supporter, only 3 kickoffs came when winning so can't see much there.

But a distinct pattern when drawing that is sometimes bucked when losing

#COYS #THFC

.@westhamwomen

Fairly consistent in all 3 game states overall, but overall drawing passes tended to go towards the flanks in their own half, except that changed 20/21. Losing passes in 20/21 were then much less risky & shorter than drawing on avg, so the pattern flipped!

Finally, Yeovil Town's season where they ended with -3 points after earning 7 and being docked 10.

Can't see any patterns. Really looks like both when drawing and losing, their passes were typically back & safe, but had the odd long ball in them.

Overall, my thoughts are:

1) There's not a league-wide trend, which makes sense

2) Some teams have distinctly different tactics overall, regardless of game state. These can change with seasons too

3) Some teams do exhibit tactical differences depending on game states

It looks like there's certainly some value in analyzing opponents' passing tendency directly after their kickoffs. Some teams are very consistent in what they do, either depending on the game state or just in general, regardless of game state.

I said yesterday after my Barcelona analysis that I wanted to dive deeper into a league. And the results here definitely make me think there's some real possibility here.

The biggest omission I think I have so far is that I just look at location, length, accuracy...

... And I think that's good enough to see there's something going on with some teams, but not enough.

For further work I'd love to dive deeper into what happens AFTER these passes. More than the pass itself, is there a specific tactical goal with these?

But I think that needs to be limited to just a couple teams, at least for the WSL, that have a decent sample size of all 3 states of winning/drawing/losing.

Ignoring winning or losing because there's not enough data gives less insight 😅

And here's my initial post from yesterday, looking just at 5 Barcelona seasons

TL;DR

When analyzing 3 seasons of a league, it looks like teams have distinctly different passing tactics at their kickoffs, some even have different tactics when in different game states of winning, drawing, or losing.

Hopefully this is just the start of a deeper dive from me