Evaluating the Game

From DCFanguide

To enjoy a soccer game is to be totally immersed in the ebb and flow of attack and counter for ninety minutes. It isn't an exact science in determining who has the upper hand at any moment. In fact, it is a well known soccer cliche that the best team for eighty-nine minutes can lose to a team that was better only for a few seconds. Still, there are ways of watching the game and determining if your team is playing well. Unlike baseball, football, or basketball where there are frequent individual encounters that one can use to determine progress, soccer is about assessing the big picture. Here are some questions to ask while watching a game...

• Possession One of the few stats that people will discuss in soccer is possession. Of course, you have to have the ball in order to score, but there are other benefits. If you are passing the ball around and making your opponents chase you, then they should tire out before you do. In general, the team that seems to have the ball more often is playing better, but that doesn't mean it is inevitable they'll win. Instead, use the sense of who has had more possession as a starting point for assessing the game.
• Purpose When your team has possession, how confident do they look? Are players making snappy passes, running by defenders, or pushing against the opposing defense? Or are they indecisive over the ball, consistently passing it backwards, and generally being hesitant about attacking the opposition. When the defense takes the ball away, are they able to keep control or do they just clear it out of danger (but back into the other team's possession)? How a team handles their possession will tell you whether they are creating a good environment for them to score.
• Space In general, a player who has the ball has an advantage if there aren't many people around him, especially as you move closer to the opponent's goal. When a player gets the ball, how long does he have until a defender is harassing him. Is it only one defender, or do several swarm him? If players get a ball in space, they tend to be more productive. On the opposite end, if players don't seem to have much space, then the defense is probably doing its job.
• Shots You need to shoot to score. Does a team finish its possession with shots that force a keeper to make a save, or does the ball dribble over the goal line for a goal-kick? If a team is pressing the opposition's keeper into moving around, then that team has the edge.