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The Game
Action Sequences
In the football world the highlight of the week, around which all other activities revolve, is the game. It is probably the unpredictability of the ninety minutes of controlled play that makes it so exciting. Although the rules are simple and the play readily understandable by 'experienced' spectators no one can be certain of what will happen next and the result is most certainly in doubt until the final whistle is blown
All activity is centred on the ball and the contact the players have with it. The game can be seen as a series of action sequences during which the ball is live. Each action sequence ends when the ball goes out of play or dead. The idea of a live and dead ball is useful in understanding the pattern of play, which begins with the kick-off.
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The Players
It is the great variability in the ball by ball action sequence which traps and holds the attention of the spectator. There is no way of telling when a player has the football whether s/he will:
Team managers, coaches, players, ex-players, sports writers and commentators as well as thousands of fans all try, after watching a match, to work out what makes a match a 'great game of football'.
Vast amounts of time and energy are expended on the 'post mortem' which boils down to a ball-by-ball analysis of the action sequences and patterns of play
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...1 978 World Cup
....The 1978 World Cup Match Argentina v France
....This Match is considered by many experts to be a near-perfect game of football. For this reason a written ....analysis of the match has been made and published. Some extracts from that analysis are given below.
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Dead Ball Moments
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Corner-Kicks
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Throw-Ins
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Free-Kicks
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Goal-Kicks
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Kick-Offs
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Penalty-Kicks
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Total
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Argentina
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.6
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14
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27
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17
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2
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1
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.67
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France
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.5
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15
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23
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.8
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3
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0
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.54
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Total
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11
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29
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50
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25
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5
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1
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121
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This means there were 600 different occasions when the Argentinean players had possession of the ball. For the French the total was 644.
Ultimately, however, the very best patterns of passing the ball become meaningless unless they build successfully to scoring a GOAL......which is, of course, THE BALL passing between the goal-posts and under the cross-bar in accordance with the Laws of the Game.
By the way, Argentina won the match 2-1.
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