Where do PSL teams send their goalkicks?
From Route One or building from the back - we look at all 16 teams..
The basics of football will never change - score more goals than the opponent, win key games, and get the most points. But there are marginal gains to be won in set-pieces, like free kicks and corners. Even the most mundane events like throw-ins have attracted specialist coaches hired to help add extra goals or points to a team. Goal kicks are another area whose importance, especially in build-up, has risen over the years, as goal kick rules and tactics have evolved. Inspired by Opta, the question we sought to ask was: Where do PSL teams send/play their goal-kicks?
Is everyone building from the back?
In the last few years, playing out from the back has grown in popularity when restarting play from a goal kick. Some consider it innovative in terms of creating extra space for the team in possession, potentially leading to better chances higher up the pitch. Others consider it risky and avoidable, but risk alone should not be a deterrent if the reward is high. Like many things in football, the context is important. It’s worth emphasising that there is no blanket right & wrong approach. Teams must consider many factors before going one route or the other. As earlier indicated, the type of players on the team will determine who you want at the base during goal-kicks. Some goalkeepers (think Ronwen Williams and Onana abroad) play like outfielders, with unusual passing ability & calmness in possession. Some keepers are extremely accurate with long balls but still need the right target receiving balls & likely winning many duels. Can the target bring others in? Is he available at the moment, or is he injured? More than that, the type of players involved in the next phase is also important.
Pitch conditions also play a factor - PSL pitches can range from 1st world to 3rd world (in one federation). On better turf, playing from the back may reduce the risks of giving away possession in dangerous areas. The opposition factor should also be considered - playing from the back against a high-energy & high-pressing team while your defenders are uncomfortable in possession is a high-risk, and low-reward exercise. One thing is certain - all teams have a different approach to goal-kicks.
The visual below shows four zones where PSL goal-kicks end up (correct before the midweek games):
short (within their box)
long (straight into the opposition half)
medium right (own half to the right)
medium left (own half to the left)
Some teams (and coaches) stick to strongly held beliefs about playing from the back or going long. Others are more flexible and can adapt to the situation at hand. SuperSport United (76%), Marumo Gallants (59%), Royal AM (55%), and Sekhukhune United (50%) are the only teams who have seen more than half their goal-kicks go long. For SuperSport, the risk-averse trend is clear - 3 in 4 goal-kicks are going long, with next to none being played in the box (sometimes 0% is rounded off from 0.4%).
Orlando Pirates (83%) strategy seems to rely a lot on playing out from the back - so far. Eight of 10 goal-kicks are taken in their box, with one going long & one retained in their half. Sundowns (68%), TS Galaxy (64%), and to a lesser extent Chiefs (59%), also prefer to keep it short. Stellies, Arrows& AmaZulu are somewhat balanced.
What’s next?
When this draft was sent to a PSL coach before publishing, his immediate question was “What happens to the second phase/ball?”. Future analysis will dig into this, and also look at the volume and the different lengths of goal-kicks, the split between the keeper and outfielder taking kicks. With time (and more games & data), we will able to see correlations with chance creation, goals, and more. Subscribers can expect more of these questions asked and answered this season - newsletters will range from simple questions to more complex Sloan-level analyses.
Some of this content first appeared in an article HERE.