Why "Goals Scored" Is Still the Most Important Statistic in Football

Former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has revolutionised modern football, effectively reinstating the belief in the importance of keeping the ball at all costs.

Total football with Johan Neeskens and Johan Cruyff, pass-and-move and tiki-taka football with Xavi and Andres Iniesta.

No, he didn't invent possession football, the technique "resting in possession" or the six-man midfield formation, but what he did do is bring it back into "fashion," so to speak.

He used these tactics, styles and techniques to achieve borderline unprecedented success, showing the world exactly how effective his methods were.

Since Barcelona passed Manchester United off the pitch in the 2009 UEFA Champions League final, the English Premier League have come to know and fear the tiki-taka style of football.

So much so it invaded the league, as Brendan Rodgers' Swansea City team employed the most free-flowing football in England last season.

The World Cup in 2010 also saw international teams take on possession football in a big way, with Dunga's Brazil and Vicente del Bosque's teams, amongst others, look to retain the ball first, attack second.

Possession is king

So modern football is all about possession, right? I mean, that's how to win things—just look at Spain's success over the last six years, Barcelona's successes over the last four years, or even Swansea's ridiculous 11th place finish in the 2011/2012 Premier League.

International football, too, has become almost exclusively possession-based in its nature, with only England, Republic of Ireland and Greece entering the European Championships in 2012 not fussed about looking after the ball.

That's an astounding 13 out of 16 teams focused on controlling the game through keeping the ball. True, some teams focused on it far more (Spain) than others did (Croatia), but the game plan was there to see.

Spain's demolition of Ireland saw La Furia Roja retain the ball for 75.9 percent of the game, leaving The Boys In Green with just 24.1 percent themselves. Xavi set a new record in that match, as he made 127 successful passes to set a new, insurmountably high standard for others to follow.

The semifinals at Euro 2012 consisted of four possession-hungry teams—Spain, Italy, Germany and Portugal—and this appears to have set a standard, perhaps a blueprint for success.

Not so much

I'm willing to argue that, despite the recent successes of the tiki-taka style and teams who utilise it, football is about scoring goals, always will be, and this fact should never be forgotten.

It sounds obvious doesn't it? Goals win games. Well it might not be to some people any more, as del Bosque oversaw five poor performances from his Spanish side this summer, only to turn it on during the final.

Arsene Wenger was incredibly critical of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and co.—a surprise considering Wenger himself is a connoseur of possession football:

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"They have betrayed their philosophy and turned it into something more negative. Originally they wanted possession in order to attack and win the game; now it seems to be first and foremost a way not to lose"

"

Strong, but not particularly inaccurate words. Barcelona found out the hard way what the word "clinical" means, as for all their chances, close misses and possession, Chelsea bettered them by scoring when it mattered the most in their UEFA Champions League semifinal.

Chelsea then went on to basically surrender the ball in the final too, so Bayern Munich were left incredibly frustrated when Didier Drogba popped up and scored a goal out of the blue.

Del Bosque's Spain were taken all the way to penalties by Portugal in the Euro 2012semifinal—a game which saw the two teams appear even in ability due to Spain's lack of urgency in attack. They only really came to life in extra time, but why wait so long? why risk it?

Scoring is king

Scoring is the name of the game. It's all good having the ball, but you have to do something with it. That all seems quite obvious, but at one point during the European Championships, it didn't look like the Spanish were aware they had to score to win the game.

Barcelona have been heavily criticised in the past for not having a "Plan B", and whether or not that's justified, the fact remains that they don't step up the tempo or change their style when things get tight at the end of games.

It's a risky move to try and win 1-0 every game, and although Liverpool of the 1980's and Jose Mourinho's Chelsea placed great importance on it, Manchester City beating Manchester United to the title on goal difference last season is a valuable lesson learnt.

Statistics courtesy of FourFourTwo Stats Zone

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