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Analysis: 2009 UEFA European U21 Championship
This summer saw Prozone team up once again with the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) to analyse team and player performance at the 2009 UEFA European U21 Championship in Sweden. Together, we’ve analysed key areas of performance and benchmarked this summer’s tournament against previous championships. A summary of the analysis is provided below…
Attacking Analysis
Over the course of the championships 38 goals were scored, an average of 2.53 a game. Interestingly this figure is much higher than at the Euro 2008, with the senior competition producing a mere 0.7 goals per team per game. This could suggest that the U’19 competition was more ‘open’ or that goal scoring opportunities are harder to come by at senior level.
Throughout the championship there were a total of 376 shots at goal, with 124 (32.9%) on target. With 72, Italy had the most shots at goal, but their low conversion rate meant that these chances lead to just 4 goals. The graph below displays the total shots at goal in relation to the goals for each competing team.
Graph 1: Attacking Analysis
Unsurprisingly perhaps, the teams with the highest conversion rate progressed further in the competition; England, Sweden and eventual winners Germany.
Passing Analysis
Spain averaged the greatest number of passes per game with 429 followed by beaten finalists England with 355. Interestingly though, Germany had the second lowest average with just 315 passes per game. This possibly indicates a more direct approach and more efficient and effective use of possession.
Graph 2 illustrates the passing frequency and success rates in comparison with previous tournaments and the trend in improved passing success from U’19s to Senior level becomes apparent.
Graph 2: Passing Analysis
The players are still young and inexperienced enough to be making regular mistakes, which results in very entertaining viewing for the neutral. The games were closer to youth football than full international football, and it’s very interesting to see how the Prozone stats compare.
Jim Hicks, Senior Executive Head of Coaching - PFA
This summer Prozone have analysed the 2009 UEFA European Championship at both U19 and U21 level, the FIFA Confederations Cup, the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the Toulon Tournament with further analysis is available upon request.
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