Possession has always been at the centre of how we talk about football. But not all possession is the same.
A sideways pass in build-up, the same pass in established possession, and the same pass in transition all tell a different story. If we throw all of that into one “in possession” bucket, we miss the nuances that actually define a your game plan.
With this release, we’re making those differences visible in MyGamePlan.
What’s new: Phases of play as a filter
You can now filter and drill into any action by the phase of play it occurs in.
Every event in the game is automatically assigned to exactly one of the following phases:
- Build-up
- Established possession
- Transition
- Counter attack
- Set play
Crucially, these phases are derived using only event data. This means the filters are available for all teams in your environment – including opponents and teams without tracking data.
So you can now answer questions like:
How efficient are we at turning establishedpossession into opportunities?
Which players actually drive our counterattacks after we win the ball?
Which opponent player makes the most runs in offensive transition?
Why it matters: Not all possession is equal
Most analysis splits the game into “in possession” and “out of possession”. That’s useful, but it hides a lot of detail:
- Playing out from the back under pressure is not the same as circulating the ball in the attacking half.
- A direct counter after winning the ball deep is not the same as a slow attack from established possession.
By adding phases of play as a filter, you can now measure what happens and when it happens in the sequence – and evaluate your ideas in the specific parts of the game where they are meant to work.
How we define phases of play
We split possessions into phases using clear football logic, backed by event-data rules.
Build-up
- Football definition: Controlled possession in the defensive half used to move the ball into midfield.
- Data definition: Controlled possession in your own half. The phase ends when the ball crosses the halfway line. A sequence can have multiple build-up phases if the team plays back into their own half.
Established possession
- Football definition: Controlled possession in the attacking half focused on circulating the ball and creating openings.
- Data definition: Controlled possession in the attacking half. The phase ends when the team loses the ball (transition) or plays back into their defensive half (build-up).
Transition
- Football definition: The phase after winning the ball until safe possession is secured.
- Data definition: Triggered every time possession changes. The phase ends when the same team has two consecutive possessing actions (pass, dribble, carry, …) by different players. The next phase can be build-up, established possession or counter attack, depending on what happens.
Counter attack
- Football definition: A quick attack immediately after regaining possession in the defending half.
- Data definition: Triggered when all three conditions are met:
- Possession is gained in the defensive half
- The team reaches the final third within 15 seconds (20 seconds if the regain is in the first third)
- A follow-up possessing action occurs in the final third within 5 seconds (unless the first event in the final third is a shot)
Set play
- Football definition: The phase following a set-piece, such as a free kick, corner or throw-in.
- Data definition: Begins with a set-piece event. Ends when the same team has two consecutive possessing actions by different players.
All of this logic runs in the background. In the platform, you simply select “Phase of play” as another filter on your trackers.
This phases of play update is another step towards making MyGamePlan the most context-aware, customisable analysis platform in football – where your metrics reflect not just what happened, but when and how it happened in the flow of the game.
You can start using phases of play today on any trackers in your environment.
