Ball Possession of a Successful Team (Johor Darul Ta’zim FC) in Malaysia Super League 2015: A Case Study

Abstract

The ability to possess the ball during soccer matches is linked to success. The domination of Johor Darul Ta’zim FC (JDT FC) in recent years in the Malaysia Super League has impressed many. The aim of this study was to compare the performance between JDT FC and their opponents in Malaysia Super League 2015 season. Successful and unsuccessful passes, ball possession rates, attempt on goal, shot on target, and goals scored were selected as Performance Indicators (P.I) in this study. Twelve matches from Malaysia Super League (MSL) season 2015 were selected. Video of 12 matches was obtained from Media Prima Sdn. Bhd., www.youtube.com and live recordings. Longo Match 1.0 match analysis software was used for post-coding. Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z was used to analyses the differences while Spearman's rho correlation test was utilized to determine the correlation. Percentage of successful passes (p=0.034), ball possessions rate (p=0.000), and goal scored (p=0.002) were significantly difference between JDT FC and their opponents. There were also positive correlations between possessions and all variables except for unsuccessful passes. This study concludes that in Malaysian soccer matches, a high percentage of successful passes and high rate of ball possessions influence total shots in a soccer game.