Many people have been saying this for years, yet many managers like Sarri, Pep and Wenger would get very mad if they had lost the ball. Fans have been arguing about the possession nature being useful or not. Well, it shows that the winners in big tournaments recently do not play very possession football indeed.

Euros Portgual 2016- 11th at 51.5%
CL Real Madrid 16/17- 9th at 53.5%
EL Manchester United 16/17- 7th at 55%
CL Real Madrid 17/18- 5th at 55.8%
EL Atletico Madrid 17/18- 31th at 49.2%
World cup France 2018- 18th at 49.6%

But what do you guys think, is possesion in big tournaments important

Possession is not important. Possession in dangerous areas is. If your possession lets you into dangerous areas very often, it is effective. If it does not, it is not.

Not a complex equation.

if you use possession to play football ur good, if you use it for useless backpassing and sideways passing ur fukd

the upside:

• possession is only good if all the off the ball movements are all perfect in harmony. possession is also used for defence AKA playing "dog chasing cat" to tire down the opposition. can be used for def and offence at the same time.

• once, it's working can be used to dominate for a very long time spain and barca.

• beautiful to see and creates many chances.

the downside:

• not all squads in the world are suited for possession. try implementing pep's philosophy with the burnley's squad, the team will be relegated. therefore not all players are more effective on the ball. players like ronaldo, salah, aubameyang are not the best dribblers and passers but their talent is better used to caught the opposition off guard in transition using PACE.

• there is no tolerance to mistake because getting caught out once is all it takes to be left behind. if koscielny and senderos had been starting for barcelona in 2010-2011, they would concede more goals than messi could've scored.

• expensive, yes clubs have to spend money to invest, creative players that are insanely good on the ball is as expensive as your whole neighbourhood, xavi, iniesta, de bruyne, eriksen, coutinho etc. and don't forget your sweeperkeeper.

I think possession can be important, but its not what will win you a competition. Other style can be more important if implemented better.

From playing and coaching, if played smart and positive, possession style will still win most games. Of course you have a number of factors, so it is not the end all be all, but I really think a strong mix of "positive" possession, to go with quick counters, looking to do deep switches (Which can be considered long ball by some), it adds up to more success than not.

The key are the players you have though. You MUST have a strong backline and keeper or you wont beat the odds as often. You also must have a strong team mentality to be focused for defense when you do not have the ball, and to stay disciplined positionally when you do.

Positive possession in my book is moving the ball forward to take chances. You should be able to drop it back and to the side when needed, but not for the sake of just keeping the ball.

My favorite formation to this day is a 3-5-2. You play a positive possession game and invert the center mids to how you want your team to push or defend, then work the wings to open up space. With the right players, it is so good!!!!!!

Possession is just one of the important factors to influence the result, not everything.

@DarthFooty Very interesting. Good to have some professional opinion on the matter.

Possession in the right way is important

Man United under LVG had a lot of possession in the back but nothing up front.

Most better teams have higher possession, but top class teams know what to do with the possession

Just looking at the overall percentages at the end of a game doesn't tell the whole story. It is normal for winning teams who are in a winning position to sit back in the last 10-15 or even 20 minutes to keep hold of what they have. That has a lot of impact on the overall percentage of possession. It would be more wise to break the games down
by every 15 minutes.

Secondly. Portugal and Ath. Madrid were and are not possession based teams. Portugal's game vs France in the final was very much Attrition based, relying on counter attacks. But this was certainly not their tactic in the games building up to the final. Looking at just one game out of a whole tournament doesn't exactly offer an overall picture of a team.

The rule of the game has never changed when looking at it face value. If you have the ball, the opponent can't hurt you. The more you have the ball, the more tired the opposition will become. But not even Barcelona are their very best tried to keep possession for every single minute of every match.

it depends on what you do with the ball when you have possession. Barca was sometimes extremely boring to watch when they were maximizing possession. But if you play smart with posession then it is deadly. That is why you need smart players like Xavi Iniesta De Bruyne etc for it to be gold.

agree with tuan-jinn

For me I agree that possesion is important.. But only if used in the right way.. Moving the ball around in the opposition half and with forward passing...not passing it around backwards and sideways on your own half all the time!

The reason in games as significant as these finals teams have had less possession is because both the teams in the final are very good and therefore can hold on to possession well for sustained periods of time.. Meaning neither side has been able to hold on to it for a lot longer than the other as both teams have the quality to play with possession!