The magic of football is usually encapsulated in scoring goals, but most great magicians require an assistant somewhere along the line. Spectators appreciate the magic, but coaches know every detail of how the trick is performed and encourage their players to constantly add to their box of tricks. After an entertaining competition, Game Insights Analyst Si Houston looks back on what we can learn from the assists…

72% of the tournament’s 87 open-play goals were assisted. What does this mean? Well, quite simply it means that most goals require the goal scorer to have a successful connection with a teammate, and the teammate assisting the goal needs to technically execute a skilful pass to turn a dangerous situation into a lethal one.

Is this the case across every level of the game?

While goal scorers in the senior game are often generously gifted by another player, we don’t always see this in every age group…

When looking at case studies from boy’s academy football, we observed that less than half of goals from under 9s are assisted, and this steadily rises as the age groups do. Reasons for these differences could include increased focus on individual brilliance and staying with the ball at younger age groups, or older players being more technically capable of playing successful passes to set up teammates.

While sharing the ball may not be a priority in front of goal for younger players, it’s clear that this becomes a more important skill to expose players to as they progress through their developmental journeys. Luke Saunders (Game Insights Analyst) and Suey Smith (Youth Coach Developer) discuss the difference in age groups in the clip below…

Are all assists the same? 

The best in the world were competing at this year’s Euros so it’s no surprise we saw a wide range of methods to set up the moments that decide games. Take a look below where assists occurred on the pitch…

When we combine this insight with which positions are providing the assist we get some interesting findings…

Assists from Midfielders

Midfielders were responsible for assisting 38% of the open play goals and the graphic below illustrates where their final passes were played from…

A key area that stands out from the location of assists by midfielders is the space just outside the 18-yard box. Let’s take a closer look at these below…

What do you notice? All three assists in this area look similar. Of course, the opposition may be set up in different ways, but the images show us that there are commonalities in what is required of midfielders when in this specific position.

Let’s step a little further back and look at assists from midfielders that came just slightly deeper on the pitch…

These assists would be included within our set of core moves  as they feature a straight pass with a diagonal run, or a diagonal pass with a straight run. When the scenario changes, we see a vastly different assists. That tells us that space matters -  wherever our players are operating in possession will pose very different opportunities and our ability as coaches to recognise this is key.

Assists from Strikers 

Strikers assisted 16% of all the open play goals at the tournament, and the graphic below shows where those assists happened…

The assists from strikers all occurred in central positions on the pitch. Let’s see what assists from inside the 18-yard box looked like…

These assists required the striker to have their back to play and intelligently find the right teammates with the right weight of pass, all while under high levels of pressure from their opponents.

And what about the key zone just outside the 18-yard box?

These assists from strikers on the edge of the 18-yard box create goals with defence-splitting passes in tight areas. Just like what we’ve seen from midfielders, strikers are required to showcase a range of different skills depending on where they are on the pitch and the picture they see in front of them.

What does this mean for coaching?

• Playing players in multiple positions. The roles we ask our players to take up within games is integral to developing a ‘360 ability’. Players should be encouraged to attempt different types of passes from different positions and to learn every trick in the book.
• Individualising practice. Consider how you can frequently place certain players in scenarios they’ll face within games. If sessions look like the game it’ll get the best out of your players and stretch them in equal measure.
• Use the key capabilities as your compass. Timing, technique, deception, movement, scanning and positioning are all important for creating goals. Use them to observe what’s happening and as a guide for delivering technical information to players.
• Consider the two player core moves and three player core moves when setting up practices that focus on positive combinations between your players.