The 2012 UEFA Euros start this week.

It is helpful to review previous Euros and International Tournaments together as the number of games played in any single tournament may not provide a sample which is representative. Looking at the Euros from 2008, along with the FIFA World Cup of 2006 and 2010, certain trends become apparent with regard to the first goal scored. In 2008, the team scoring the first goal had a 76% chance of winning the game and an 88% chance of avoiding losing.

How did this compare with other tournaments and what were the characteristics of these ‘first goals’?

In 2008, The Official UEFA Technical Report noted that:

• 50% of all goals came from Crosses or Cut backs
• Half of the EURO 2008 goals from open play were the result of a fast break/counter-attack
• Only 5% of goals came from long range shots
   

The Official UEFA Technical Report of the 2008 Euros

What implications are there for coaches?

• Can you establish if there are similar trends to these in the competitions and tournaments in which your team plays?
• Does your team’s style reflect the need to take the initiative and score the first goal?
• Does the time you devote in your team practice to attacking and defending set plays reflect the special importance of set plays in scoring (or conceding) the first goal ?
• What is your team’s efficiency in ‘transition’ when your team gain and lose possession of the ball?
• What % of first goals and all goals do you score (and concede) within 20 seconds of possession changing?
• In Open Play - Is your attacking team organization arranged to maximize the value of counter attacks, dribbling, turning and attacks from the flanks? Do you recognize the need to minimize these risks in how your team defends?

Ominously Germany scored first and won every game in their Qualifying Group and was the only team not to fall behind in any game during the Euro 2012 Qualifiers. According to Castrol Index (http://www.castrolfootball.com), Germany scored more goals from quick counter-attacks than any other team in the qualifying groups for the 2012 Euros.

As Joachim Low, the German National Coach, recently remarked to www.fifa.com, 

“We have developed a good mix of passing and running, ball-winning, and fast counter-attacks. We are not like Barcelona in keeping possession for very long. I tell my team, ‘If we win the ball, I want to see it in the goal in eight seconds’. That's my philosophy.”

Every team at the 2012 Euros will have a backup team of Analysts to provide data and video to support the coaching staff and players. So what are the benefits of using performance evaluation?

Here are two videos to answer that question.

The first from England Manager Roy Hodgson (filmed when he was Manager at West Bromwich Albion FC)

The second from Gavin Fleg the Head of Performance Analysis at Premier League Champions, Manchester City FC

Chris Carling is the Performance Analyst for FC Lille who in 2011 won the French League and Cup double. He outlines his belief in the benefits of performance evaluation in this video.

It is also worth noting that studies by the Norwegian Sports Science Institute reported the work of Francis and Miller (1991) where they found that experienced soccer coaches were not able – unaided – to remember more than 40% the critical actions from a game.

There is also a very good article from the NSCAA Soccer Journal (November/December 2010) on the value of performance evaluation here.

The English League Managers Association (LMA) at the beginning of 2012 launched an online education course in conjunction with Prozone Sports on ‘Performance Evaluation.’ Since this course was launched at the beginning of 2012 over 200 coaches and managers from across the world have enrolled.

Focusing on improving how coaches evaluate players and teams the course highlights good practice in English, French, Dutch and Turkish clubs with over 300 Video Interview clips from 15 respected experts including LMA Managers, Youth Academies Directors and respected Performance Analysts.

For further details of the course click here and for details of the discount available to NSCAA members click here.

John Pascarella, Coach, of Sporting Kansas City recently completed the course and wrote the following:

"The course information is outstanding.  It gives coaches some ideas on how to take your own style of play and then create KPI's that apply to that given style.  The benchmarks/statistics give us an idea of what to shoot for in relation to high level teams. It has created some thought and ideas about what we want to do here in KC with the help of our IT/analysis people and the first step is generating some league-wide statistics to use as our benchmarks.”

To read what other coaches felt about this course please click here.

In next week’s article related to the 2012 Euros we will look at the Team Playing styles, different Playing Philosophies and how to develop Performance Indicators from different playing style. This article and the upcoming 2012 Euro articles on www.NSCAA.com are provided by LMA in conjunction with their partnership with NSCAA. Get more coaching education information from NSCAA at www.NSCAA.com/education. 

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