As we have already explained in previous articles of this blog, among the tasks of a Scouter or Analyst we can find a wide range of possibilities and responsibilities in the Analysis of the Game in competition that have no limit while reaching our implication, imagination and technological resources .

This is then a work area that is growing more and more strongly, due to the great impact that has on the performance of the team in competition having controlled as much as possible all the game factors that directly influence the outcome of a match.

The analyst, in addition to knowing about what aspects should focus on each of the phases and moments of the game, as we have commented on other occasions, to keep the truly relevant information and then transform it into concrete actions / decisions, It must also be able to analyze with determination the Set Pieces, since in terms of performance, they are situations that can affect very directly in the outcome of a match, and therefore can involve a very important variation of points throughout the season.

To be aware of this, we turn to a couple of resources.

1. Study of the points obtained with a stopped ball + differential goals in La Liga during the 2017/18 season. Source: @FutbolAvanzado.

2. Percentage of goals for the stopped ball in the 2018 World Cup in Russia (42% of total goals) + Comparison with other official competitions. Source: El Mundo

With these two examples, we become aware of the importance of mastering this type of action in both attack and defense.

Organization of the players, preferred pitcher, type of pitch, occupation of the area, dominance of the air game, mastery of the second plays, rehearsed plays … are some of the examples of stimuli on which we put the focus on the ABP in the MBP methodology to obtain reports on how the opponent attacks or defends these actions, and therefore have the rigorous ability to decide how we are going to defend them or how we are going to attack them in this type of situation.

Example of two image captures of 2 Liverpool actions in open and closed corner kick. Source: Specialist Course in Scouting and Online Game Analysis – MBP.