Influence of High Pressing on Pass Sequences

As part of my graduate level Quantitative Research Methods class, I was tasked with a final project in which I utilized methods taught throughout the course. This analysis was inspired by the head coach of a university soccer team I was working with at the time who told the team that most goals are scored within five passes. Through that conversation, I became interested on the reason for goals being scored within five passes, and I hypothesized that a majority of goals scored within five passes of winning the ball would be a result of high pressing, counter-pressing, or otherwise winning the ball higher up the field. Using HUDL Statsbomb's data on the Meiji Yasuda J1 2024 League (Japan) and Python, I analyzed the relationship between pressing intensity and the number of shots a team has that follow a low number of passes as well as the effect that winning the ball higher up the field had on the number of passes a team made before taking a shot. I found that higher pressing intensity correlated with more shots that follow a low number of passes (as well as more shots in general) and the first action of a possession sequence being located higher up the field correlated with less passes in possession sequences that end with a shot.

​(See the slide deck for details.)