Thoughts on Charlie Francis and soccer

[no23]

@Race_Radio

Uruguay actually ran in total 336.72km without the ball (almost a massive 100km more than Spain), jeez. But Spain ousted them in Total distance covered (767.39km).

Keen to note that the teams that underperformed so badly at the World Cup, Italy, France, Nigeria topped the table for Distance covered not in possession (km) of the ball. POOR WORKRATE off the ball.

Seems to me the teams working on speed as opposed to stamina (workrate) are going the wrong way (according to the stats) for success at the World cup, although Spain were 5th (Top speed) with Mexico & Greece top 2.

Which proves one massive point. You don’t have to be blazing fast to be successful in soccer.

Again, be careful assessing that data.

Most of the teams that went out early obviously only played poor teams, in poor matches.
Secondly does poor stats show poor fitness or poor skill levels?
Do you need to work harder against poorer teams?

How do you know that the team who ran less with (or without) the ball had poorer fitness.

I.e. The biggest question not answered there is % possession.

There are many, many ways to interpret the data.