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Published on: June 10, 2025
In- and Out-of-Possession Running and Technical-Tactical Performance in Soccer
Norbert Banoocy1, Daniel López-López1, Domingo Jesús Ramos-Campo2
1Universidade da Coruña.
Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport
|June 17, 2026
Summary
Team performance in football is linked to running metrics. Higher in-possession (IP) total distance correlated with better attacking performance, while defensive success involved lower out-of-possession (OP) distance and more high-speed defensive actions.
Area of Science:
- Sports Science
- Football Analytics
- Performance Analysis
Background:
- Understanding the relationship between player running metrics and team performance is crucial for tactical development.
- Existing research often analyzes running data in isolation, lacking a composite view of attacking and defensive capabilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To derive composite indices for attacking and defensive team performance.
- To quantify the association between in-possession (IP) and out-of-possession (OP) running metrics and these performance indices.
- To assess contextual effects, such as match location, on these relationships.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 1,346 team-match observations from the Danish Superliga using Second Spectrum tracking and Wyscout event data.
- Principal component analysis to generate Attacking and Defensive Performance Indices.
- Linear mixed-effects models and XGBoost with SHAP to test associations and assess feature importance.
Main Results:
- In-possession (IP) total distance was the strongest correlate of attacking performance.
- Out-of-possession (OP) total distance was negatively associated with both attacking and defensive indices.
- Defensive performance was positively linked to OP high-speed running and IP high-intensity runs, but negatively to IP sprint distance and OP total distance.
- A significant interaction showed higher OP sprint distance related to lower defensive performance primarily in away matches.
Conclusions:
- Team performance is strongly influenced by phase-specific running behaviors.
- Movement volume during possession is a key indicator of attacking output.
- Defensive performance is characterized by reduced out-of-possession workload and increased high-speed defensive activity.
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