Best Possession/footballing teams?

[Deco 20]

You don't think Valencia and Bilbao are possession teams? Bayern are better at it than Arsenal too

Well, Athletic were a possession team at times during the last season, but before that they were the most "British" team in Spain. As for Valencia, they can when they want to, but having Banega would help

 

[BrianSwan]

Looking through the stats, English teams now have far more passes per game than Spanish teams and are far more accurate with them.

 

[La Furia]

The great Valencia team of Cuper and Benitez was definitely not a posession team. Under Emery they were at times depending on the opposition and if Banega was healthy. Under Pellegrino it looks like there is a further emphasis on posession.

Most teams in Spain are counter attackers right now. I guess a notable exception is Rayo.

Recently? And this coming from a student of Football?

Looking at horizontal passes individually, sure, but as a whole? Ultimately, if you have the ball the opposition isn't a threat and you are in control of making things happen, it's very simple.

I'm pretty sure he was being snarky. But it's true you aren't going to build around horizontal passes, but it's better to pass horizontally than lose the ball in traffic, at least to me.

 

[JimmyGuitarist]

The great Valencia team of Cuper and Benitez was definitely not a posession team. Under Emery they were at times depending on the opposition and if Banega was healthy. Under Pellegrino it looks like there is a further emphasis on posession.

Most teams in Spain are counter attackers right now. I guess a notable exception is Rayo.



I'm pretty sure he was being snarky. But it's true you aren't going to build around horizontal passes, but it's better to pass horizontally than lose the ball in traffic, at least to me.

If he thinks that, then he doesn't understand the style at all.

 

[La Furia]

If he thinks that, then he doesn't understand the style at all.

I think it's more a case of every attack-centric coach sick of being compared to Barca or Spain than any real analysis.

 

[Ketoth]

Arsenal does not play possession football anymore. We used to, but that stopped 3 years ago.
We play attacking football now. Obviously we keep the ball more than most teams, but we play a pass and move brand of football and quickly make chances, not passing it around the midfield for the purpose of keeping the ball.
We play exciting, attacking football. Not boring possession football, which i judge to be more defensive than attacking.

 

[La Furia]

"Attacking football" includes positive posession based football, fast paced linear football, individualistic dribble-centric football, even some counter attacking systems that might be patient while waiting for an opening but go for broke when it arrives.

"Attacking football" essentially means "not defensive", and it's very relative. Typically postive sides will control possession more than not, but there's no magic formula.

 

[JimmyGuitarist]

Arsenal does not play possession football anymore. We used to, but that stopped 3 years ago.
We play attacking football now. Obviously we keep the ball more than most teams, but we play a pass and move brand of football and quickly make chances, not passing it around the midfield for the purpose of keeping the ball.
We play exciting, attacking football. Not boring possession football, which i judge to be more defensive than attacking.

I think I've said it already, but possession football is the most attacking football. One passing error in the build-up to a shot can result in an easy counterattack for the opponent because of how open the possession team is, with everyone in attacking positions. It's not attacking in the same sense of Reading lugging it into the box or Chelsea shooting from the half way line, it's proactive attacking. It depends how you look at it. It's defensive in the sense that you constantly attack to defend.
And Arsenal do still play a possession game, they're just not as good at it compared to 3 years a go. In my opinion, they're a more defensive team now. Without the ball, they sit deep in two banks of 4 & wait.

You don't think Valencia and Bilbao are possession teams? Bayern are better at it than Arsenal too

Unfortunately, I don't think Valencia will see as possession under Pellegrino, although saying that, they wern't particularly possession based under Emery.
All of Marcelo Bielsa's sides have been possession based & Bilbao definitely try but it's easier said than done. They averaged 57% last season, so I'd put them in the bracket of a practising possession side.

 

[Jenks]

I don't understand some people's judgement of possession football being defensive. It's the most attacking football possible.

How can you possibly call a system in which retaining possession is often prioritized over attacking, the "most attacking football possible"? Possession to not equate to attacking. You move the ball around until there is a gap for you to exploit, that is as much reactive as it is proactive, perhaps more so. This isn't a criticism of the system, but to suggest that it's the most attacking style of football is just ridiculous.

 

[JimmyGuitarist]

How can you possibly call a system in which retaining possession is often prioritized over attacking, the "most attacking football possible"? Possession to not equate to attacking. You move the ball around until there is a gap for you to exploit, that is as much reactive as it is proactive, perhaps more so. This isn't a criticism of the system, but to suggest that it's the most attacking style of football is just ridiculous.

I'm basing mine on something Iniesta said: "The truth is that when you have a team that always attacks, and you attack against closed defences that leave no space, of course it's not as attractive as an open match between two teams that want to win".

And what do you mean "You move the ball around until there is a gap for you to exploit, that is as much reactive as it is proactive"? I don't understand how that's reactive at all.

 

[oz187]

You move the ball around until there is a gap for you to exploit, that is as much reactive as it is proactive, perhaps more so.

No, it's not waiting for a lucky gap. It's proactively moving the ball around combined with movement off the ball to try to create a gap.

 

[Jenks]

I never said anything about luck. Those gaps are however largely dependent on mistakes from the opposition, even if you did pressure them into them with your ball movement. If a team could maintain perfect positioning, Barca would find them nigh on impossible to penetrate. Fortunately, such teams don't exist.

 

[La Furia]

How can you possibly call a system in which retaining possession is often prioritized over attacking, the "most attacking football possible"? Possession to not equate to attacking. You move the ball around until there is a gap for you to exploit, that is as much reactive as it is proactive, perhaps more so. This isn't a criticism of the system, but to suggest that it's the most attacking style of football is just ridiculous.

It depends, Barca plays a somewhat high risk version of it since they have the players who can get through traffic. For Barca pressing is just as important as passing, since they do risk losing the ball.

On the other hand at times Spain plays a much more conservative, slow temp version of it, at least when Villa is out. They were more aggressive under Aragones.

Just as the beloved English (and Basque) boot and run could be both aggressive and defensive.

 

[JimmyGuitarist]

It depends, Barca plays a somewhat high risk version of it since they have the players who can get through traffic. For Barca pressing is just as important as passing, since they do risk losing the ball.

On the other hand at times Spain plays a much more conservative, slow temp version of it, at least when Villa is out. They were more aggressive under Aragones.

Just as the beloved English (and Basque) boot and run could be both aggressive and defensive.

I don't think so. In my opinion, Spain can't play it forward as much because they play with Busquets & Alonso. Barca are just as, if not more, conservative in keeping possession. They do what they have to do to keep possession, even if it means picking the, apparently, boring route. I don't like the word conservative really though. In my opinion, it's there opponent defending deep with 10 players behind the ball being conservative. They could come up & try to win the ball to attack, like Bilbao, who had the highest possession stat against Barca last season; 44%.

 

[Beast]

I'd rather see 20 clear cut chances or end to end stuff than 500 boring passes. Most people (outside this forum) do too.

I agree with that , Barca do make me feel asleep in some games (Spain the same if not more )

I prefer a risky approach all the way

How can you possibly call a system in which retaining possession is often prioritized over attacking, the "most attacking football possible"? Possession to not equate to attacking. You move the ball around until there is a gap for you to exploit, that is as much reactive as it is proactive, perhaps more so. This isn't a criticism of the system, but to suggest that it's the most attacking style of football is just ridiculous.

agree ...