![]() At the 1994 FIFA World Cup, for example, the winning Brazil team scored the most goals from three or fewer passes, while the team to score from a move involving the most passes - the Republic of Ireland - were eliminated in the second round. Hughes and those who defend the tactic claim that time and time again, teams playing direct play have more success. Hughes became the head of coaching at the FA in the 1990s, and used this position to promote his theory of long ball, which followed on from the work of Reep. The long ball strategy has often been criticised as a method that has held back the England national football team. ![]() Reep also fails to distinguish statistically between three-pass moves that emerge from long balls and those that emerge from other sources such as attacking free kicks or successful tackles in the opponent's half. Furthermore, Reep's own statistics show that this trend becomes stronger at higher levels of football, indicating that moves with a greater number of passes become more effective amongst higher quality teams. Instead, the percentage of shots for which three-pass or fewer account is higher than the percentage of goals for which they account, implying that moves involving more passes have a higher ratio of success. Wilson notes that while Reep's statistics showed that a higher percentage of goals were scored in moves involving three passes, they also show that three pass moves account for a higher percentage of all shots. ![]() The 'three pass optimum', for example, comes in for particular criticism. Jonathan Wilson criticises Reep's statistical analysis as heavily flawed. The long-ball game is also advocated in such books The Winning Formula: The Football Association Soccer Skills and Tactics, by Charles Hughes, which demonstrates with statistics that a majority of goals are scored within 5 passes of the ball. 'Gulleys' refer to the optimum position between the corner flag and six yard box from which to make the final pass into the penalty box the '3-pass optimisation rule' emerges from the fact that a higher percentage of goals are scored in moves involving only three passes prior to the shot the '9 shots per goal' maxim, stating that on average, only one goal is scored for every nine shots and the 'twelve point three yard' position, which is the mean distance from the goal that all goals are scored. Reep developed a number of concepts describing effective long ball play. Reep documented his findings in various publications including match day programmes. Reep was an amateur statistician and analysed not only the number of passes that led to a goal, but also the field positions where those passes originated. The 'long ball theory' was first discussed by a retired RAF Wing Commander- Charles Reep-in the 1950s in England. Long-ball play is generally characterised by the relatively aimless nature of the kick upfield, with the ball simply being 'hoofed' high in the air towards the general location of the forwards, who, given the length of time the ball is in the air, will have time to arrive at the position where the ball will drop. Not all lengthy passes are considered long ball play, and long but precise passes towards a particular teammate may not fit the description. While often derided as either boring or primitive (in England it is often pejoratively referred to as hoofball), it can prove effective where players or weather conditions suit this style in particular, it is an effective counter-attacking style of play in which some defenders can be caught off-guard. ![]() The long ball technique is also a through pass from distance in an effort to get the ball by the defensive line and create a foot race between striker and defender. It is a technique that can be especially effective for a team with either fast or tall strikers. In Continental Europe the style is called kick and rush. Rather than arrive at the feet of the receiving attacking player, the attacker is expected to challenge the opposing defence in the air, with other attacking players and midfielders arriving to try and take possession of the ball if it breaks loose. In association football, a long ball is an attempt to move the ball a long distance down the field via one long aerial kick from either a goalkeeper or a defender directly to an attacking player, with the ball generally bypassing the midfield.
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