Ball possession in football is very important, but I believe it is not everything and should not be as overrated as it sometimes is.
For me what’s important is what a team can do when they have the ball. It’s more important to win the game than how many times you’ve had the ball on your feet. But if you can manage both, the ball and goals to win a game, then it’s great.
In fact that’s what we want to see in football, teams that can use the ball to perfection while entertaining and winning the game. It doesn’t always happen that way, but when it does, it softens the heart of even the most hardened football supporters.
Orlando Pirates’ last two games speak to what I’m talking about.
On Saturday the Buccaneers hosted Mamelodi Sundowns at the Orlando Stadium in the first leg of the MTN8 semifinal and Pirates had just 42% of the ball. But I’m sure the majority of those who watched the game agree that, despite the match ending in a disappointing 0-0 draw, Bucs were the better team because they created clear-cut chances and were accurate in three out of 11 of their openings.
The Brazilians, on the other hand, had 58% possession, but not a single shot was on target out of their nine attempts on goal. This was a rare scenario for Sundowns — a team that has dominated SA football in the last five seasons.
Fast forward to Tuesday night in Polokwane where the same Bucs team was hosted by Sekhukhune United in a DStv Premiership clash that many expected Jose Riveiro’s team to win, given their performance at the weekend against Sundowns.
This time it was Pirates who had the bulk of possession (59%) but Sekhukhune won the match because they slotted in two of their six shots on goal. The visitors couldn’t find the net in two shots on target out of 12 that they had on goal.
For now it’s just Sundowns who have the consistency and the ability to use the ball effectively in most of their games.
This shows us the importance of not just having the ball, but having it in areas where you can hurt your opponent and the ability to keep it inside your opponent’s danger area. Many SA professional clubs can claim the ability to keep possession, but the area they most lack is the ability to use it effectively.
That’s why I say ball possession can be very overrated. It is overrated when teams like Pirates and Sundowns couldn’t use it to punish their opposition.
What happened to Pirates is quite normal in a PSL match. A team that has possession doesn’t always win the match and the reason is they tend to keep it for the sake of keeping it, meaning in wrong areas, or even waste chances when they have it in the right areas.
Take for instance that Sundowns, in their quest to win a sixth successive league title this season, have already lost two matches out of nine.
In those two games, against TS Galaxy who beat the Brazilians 1-0 in Pretoria and SuperSport United who beat them 2-1 in the Tshwane derby, Sundowns had over 70% possession and created the most chances.
Against Galaxy, Sundowns were caught on the break and the visitors won the match despite having just 29% of the ball and only three shots on target out of nine. Sundowns had a whopping 19 shots but only four on target and lost.
A win like that can be seen as lucky because Galaxy clearly came with a plan to counterattack and not worry about having the ball. It works sometimes but it’s not a tactic that can be used all the time. It is perhaps understandable for a team to give possession to Sundowns because no matter where they play, home or away, they have the players to keep the ball.
SuperSport coach Gavin Hunt did exactly the same as Galaxy when they met Sundowns in the league. He gave Sundowns 76% of the ball but his team made sure that they scored at least two of the six chances they had on target.
The SuperSport/Sundowns was one of the better and more open games we’ve seen this season because Hunt’s team had 15 shots on goal, while Sundowns had 23 overall and seven on target. The fans in the stands never had time to close their eyes because it was action galore on both sides of the field.
But for teams like Pirates to have any chance of catching Sundowns, they should aim to not just keep the ball but use it where they can make their opponents pay. That’s what Sundowns have.
Chippa United, for instance, tried to do what Galaxy did in their bid to beat Sundowns without having the ball. Chippa’s strategy backfired when Sundowns managed to score a winner, via Peter Shalulile, right at the death.
Playing with 10 men and looking like the game was going to end in a 0-0 draw, Shalulile, the PSL’s top player last season, pounced and scored the winner for the Brazilians.
Sundowns deserved that victory because they had 77% of the ball and seven shots out of 17 on target, while Chippa had just one shot on target out of four.
After that match, club owner Chippa Mpengesi felt compelled to relieve Daine Klate of his duties as head coach — a bad assessment because Mpengesi didn’t see the need to do the same when Klate’s plan worked against Pirates a few weeks before.
Early in the season Chippa beat Pirates 1-0 in Orlando and in that game they only had 32% of the ball and only two shots on target out of four. Pirates had everything but were awful when it came to shooting accuracy with only one out 16 shots they took saved by the Chippa goalkeeper.
The same happened for Pirates in the game against Sekhukhune. They had the ball but just didn’t know how to use where it mattered most.
And that’s not just our professional clubs. We see it in our national team, resulting in Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos forever questioning PSL standards.
That low standard starts with teams like Pirates who lack consistency and an ability to use the ball effectively. The day most of our clubs, let’s say at least eight out 16, improve on that maybe even Broos will be impressed with the PSL.
For now it’s just Sundowns who have the consistency and the ability to use the ball effectively in most of their games. You’ll be wasting your money if you bet on the rest doing the same.
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