Game Intelligence: Out of Possession

By: Charles Myers

• March 2025

Evaluating Defensive Performance Beyond Traditional Metrics

The quality of a player’s defensive output has long been difficult to quantify. Duels, interceptions and tackles signal a player has had to make a challenge, but in data terms, they take place in a vacuum; providing no context for what else is taking place on the field.

What happens before a tackle is made? How do defenders apply pressure and control space, and how effective are they in doing so - individually or as part of a defensive unit?

Game Intelligence: Out of Possession solves this problem by capturing defensive On-Ball Engagements, Pressing Chains and outcomes with specificity and granularity.

Defensive On-Ball Engagements: Measuring “Pressure”

Until this point, teams have had to be creative in coming up with proxies to measure on-ball engagement, combining out-of-possession physical data with duels, interceptions and generic pressure metrics.

With Game Intelligence: Out of Possession, teams now have the datapoints to capture On-Ball Engagements in context, using accurate and meaningful football terminology:

Pressure: player applies direct pressure to the ball carrier.
Pressing: player applies direct pressure to the ball carrier as part of a pressing chain.
Recovery Press: player runs backwards to apply pressure to the ball carrier.
Counter Press: player applies pressure to the ball carrier within 3 seconds of a turnover.

Game Intelligence also recognises that ‘proximity’ does not necessarily mean ‘pressure’; distinguishing situations where the attacker is engaging the defender rather than the defender ‘applying pressure’, such as Jockeying or Holding Ground.

These classifications allow teams to evaluate a players’ defending beyond just “winning the ball”, offering deeper insight into decision-making, positioning, as well as situational and tactical awareness.

Pressing Chains: Capturing Defensive Cohesion

A key innovation in the Out of Possession dataset is the ability to analyse pressing as a collective team action. Individual pressure is one thing—but pressing happens within a team structure. SkillCorner can now detect Pressing Chains, where multiple players work together to trap opponents and force turnovers. These insights help clubs analyse team pressing intensity, identify players suited to leading or executing a sound collective pressing action and compare defensive styles across competitions.

Phases of Play: Adding Context to Defensive Actions

The phase of play is a vital context that influences how scouts and analysts assess a particular On-Ball Engagement. With SkillCorner’s new Phases of Play model, clubs can automatically classify individual defensive actions based on the team’s defensive setup:

High Block: Engaging the opposition in their own defensive third.
Mid Block: Average position of deepest three defensive players is within the middle third.
Low Block: Average position of deepest three defensive players is within the defensive third

This allows clubs to analyse defensive behavior in different game contexts - for example, how a centre-back engages high up the pitch vs. in a low block, or a centre-forward’s ability to lead a high press vs quickly retreat into defensive shape:

Physicality: Identifying Players Who Press with Intensity

Physicality is a crucial component of a player’s ability to apply pressure and affect the opposition.

The speed of an On-Ball Engagement will have a direct impact on the decision-making of the ball carrier; again, proximity does not necessarily mean pressure.

Pressing systems are also often reliant on players’ ability to sustain an On-Ball Engagement over longer distances, maintaining the level of pressure on the opposition to force a mistake or stop them progressing the ball.

Game Intelligence: Out of Possession captures the speed and distance covered during an On-Ball Engagement, as well as a player’s ability to apply multiple Consecutive On-Ball Engagements, so you can identify dynamic athletes who really impact the game with their pressing.

Quality & Effectiveness of On-Ball Engagements

With so much emphasis in defending now on controlling space and limiting the opposition, we’ve also introduced new measures of quality and effectiveness to reflect that.

Our new Expected Possession Value (EPV) model provides a greater understanding of danger and threat:

Reduces Possession Danger: player reduces the danger of the opposition’s possession in a dangerous attacking situation.
Stops Possession Danger: player performs a direct action (such as a tackle, interception or block) that disrupts the attacking sequence.

The new On-Ball Engagement metrics also reward a player for affecting the opponent’s attacking play:

Forced Backward: player forces the ball carrier to carry or pass back towards their own goal.
Line Break Prevention: player prevents the ball-carrier from attempting a pass to a line-breaking passing option

We’ve also created metrics that penalise a player whose on-ball engagement has been unsuccessful, or led to a negative outcome:

Beaten by Movement: attacker makes an off ball movement and beats the marking defender before receiving the ball.
Beaten by Possession: player is outplayed by the player in possession whilst on the ball.

Unlock Out of Possession Insights

Game Intelligence: Out of Possession is now available to clubs, leagues and federations looking to gain a deeper insight into defensive performance.

Interested in learning more?