Euro 2008: Fitness and Statistics Are Key

in the hours since the end of the Vienna final, Spain’s victory has rightly been lauded as a victory for playing the game in the right way. 

It will come as no surprise to many who keep a keen eye on tactics, but Euro 2008 seemed to cast another nail in the coffin of playing two up front. The only team to start the quarterfinal stage with two strikers was Spain. By the middle of the semifinal they had reverted to just a lone striker thanks to the injury to David Villa. 

As a result, most teams are now playing five in midfield, and the key to success is having players that can cover the most ground.

In the final last night, Xavi, today voted as player of the tournament, ran more than any other player (11,446 m). Alongside the Barcelona midfielder, Marcos Senna (10,036 m), Andres Iniesta (9,595 m), and Cesc Fabregas (8,006 m), who was only on the pitch for 63 minutes, were also key to the Spanish victory.

The bottom line is that “tiki-taka” (the Spanish phrase for short, quick passing) is a fine way of playing, but it rests upon movement. The Spanish midfield, three of whom were groomed at Barcelona, seem to understand this to a tee.

Luis Aragones managed his midfield perfectly during Euro 2008. After an exhausting season, Fabregas was played sparingly, whilst he took off both Xavi and Iniesta at various times during the tournament.

The importance of fitness was proved by many of the surprise packages of the tournament. Russia were undoubtedly aided by the fact that their league season started in March. Turkey’s numerous suspensions and injuries gave their team a freshness that aided their run to the semifinals.

Numerous players also illustrated how crucial a spell of rest during the domestic campaign proved during the extra three-week tournament in June.

Top goalscorer David Villa missed months of last season due to injury, as did Ruud van Nistelrooy, who was so impressive for the Dutch. Michael Ballack is yet more proof that a period of rest early in the previous domestic campaign aided one of the key players of the tournament at the end of a long, arduous season.

Four players from Bayern Munich provide excellent examples of how fitness and stamina played a key role in Austria and Switzerland. Luca Toni and Franck Ribery came off the back of excellent domestic seasons and failed to make an impact. The much-hyped Toni was laughably poor.

Whereas Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger were not so prominent for Bayern, and as a result were key players for Jogi Low’s side, showing fitness and energy in all the games they played.

The importance of fitness is a somewhat obvious factor, but this is now being combined with a move to more American style statistics in the European game. Thanks to the good people at Euro2008statistics.com, we have been privy to the statistical data just 10 minutes after every game. And the worldwide coverage of Euro 2008 has been punctured with detailed statistical analysis appearing on screens throughout the tournament.

Some may argue that statistics don’t provide the complete picture. Zlatan Ibrahimovic hardly ran against Greece in Sweden’s opening match, but yet he produced the match-winning moment with a strike of genius. But the lazy Inter Milan striker seems to be the exception to the rule and Castrol, who set up a Euro2008 statistics website, must agree.

Football is not the only sport going through a statistics revolution. The baseball book “Moneyball” can arguably claim to have opened up a whole new era of sports analysis. Above all, the case of Billy Beane in the above mentioned book proves that even teams with small resources can punch above their weight, which for fans of the Premier League should be welcomed.

So what does this mean for modern football? Following Manchester United’s Premier League and Champions League triumphs with no recognised out-and-out striker, Euro 2008 confirmed that the two-striker system is on its death bed.

With most matches now featuring half the outfield players in midfield, this area is being dominated by the team that can run the most, both with and without the ball.

Almost all the key players during the tournament in Austria and Switzerland showed huge amounts of energy (Bosingwa, Lahm, Pepe, Zhirkov, Altintop, Modric, Senna, Xavi, Ballack, Fabregas, Iniesta, Podolski, Sneijder, Arshavin, and Villa to name just a few). 

Michael Ballack again proves to be the leading example. The final was the first match he had played in where he had not ran the most of any player on the field. Against Portugal he covered 12,000 m in the game, which is the equivalent of going from one goal to the other every 45 seconds.

Now, if the key to performance is fitness, then statistics will become more and more important in the modern game. Greece’s win in 2004 left a bitter taste in the mouth—their defensive style of play was not a victory for the beautiful game.

Spain in 2008 have proved just how important accurate passing can be, but also how fitness, and as a result statistics, will be the key to winning future international tournaments.

This article was originally published on 101 Great Goals.