The Off-Ball Movement Patterns on Attack Effectiveness

Abstract

Modern football increasingly emphasizes that attacking success is not determined solely by ball possession, but by players’ tactical intelligence in creating and exploiting space through off-the-ball movement. Static possession often struggles to break down compact defensive structures, making coordinated movement patterns a crucial factor in attacking effectiveness. This study aimed to analyze the influence of off-the-ball movement patterns on attacking effectiveness using a case study of the first half of the PSIS Semarang versus Persela Lamongan match in the 2025/26 Pegadaian Championship. This research employed a descriptive quantitative method using notational analysis based on video observation. The independent variables consisted of six off-the-ball movement patterns: overlapping, underlapping, diagonal run, cut-in, blind-side run, and support movement. The dependent variable was attacking effectiveness, measured through chances created, shots on target, Expected Goals (xG), and goals scored. The findings recorded 50 off-the-ball movement actions that generated 14 chances, 8 shots on target, cumulative xG of 1.35, and 1 goal. Support movement was the most dominant pattern with 15 occurrences but contributed the lowest xG value (0.12), indicating its primary function in maintaining possession stability. In contrast, diagonal runs emerged as the most effective scoring pattern with 12 occurrences contributing 1 goal, while blind-side runs produced the highest chance quality with xG of 0.45 from only 5 occurrences. It can be concluded that attacking effectiveness has a positive relationship with the diversity and synchronization of penetrative movement patterns. Offensive success depends not merely on movement frequency, but on coordinated timing between the ball-giver and the space-taker in disrupting defensive organization.