How do teams build-up from the back?

Analyzing the types of passes attempted as teams begin to build-up attacks

Author

Tom Harrison
March 13, 2025

Data from Golstats. Photo from Fútbol Total.

Thought: Event data can help in the process of analyzing a team’s tactical approach, exploring general trends, before looking at the details through video analysis.

Football is chaotic, and it can be very difficult for head coaches to exercise aspectos of control on a match. Therefore, many coaches decide to focus on general principles or on specific game moments in training. Deep build-up, and goal kicks, are example of moments that a coach can have greater control over, working on structures, rotations, passing options and combinations.

For that reason, deep build-up (for and against) is one of the most trained and analyzed game phase in pre-match preparation. An analytical report can help in the process of preparing build-ups, before connecting graphics to video clips.

A good starting point is an analysis of the types of passes attempted from goal kicks. The graphic shows a simple concept, what percentage of goal kicks from each team aren’t long.

Tijuana stand-out for their commitment to playing out from the back, as 73% of their goal kicks have been short or medium passes. This was a key part of Juan Carlos Osorio’s style, and we’ll see if Xolos’ next head coach changes this idea. Cruz Azul rank second, with 60%, and following is a group of sides with similar percentages. Seven teams have shown a mixed idea, with around 50% of their goal kicks hit long.

Puebla have been the most direct team in their build-up, with more than 90% of their goal kicks going long. This is a drastic change in style from Pablo Guede, who attempted to play out from the back more frequently with Morelia, Tijuana and Necaxa, Guede has shown more pragmatism with Puebla’s limited squad. Mazatlán and Querétaro are the next most direct teams from their goal kicks.

The next stage of the analysis will visualize where team attempt more passes towards in their build-up. Using the zones from Golstats (16 zones, 4×4), I’ve filtered passes from the centre of the first quarter of the pitch (the blue rectangle), and created a heat map to see the most frequent end locations of the passes, per team.

A green zone = More passes towards the zone vs league average

A red zone = Fewer passes towards the zone vs league average

The teams have been ordered by their directness in build-up, taking into account the percentage of passes that end in the opponents half, and goes from least direct to most. I’ve also normalized the number of passes to remove any impact of a team having had more build-ups this season. Blank (or white) zones mean the team has attempted fewer than two passes per match towards that area.

We can observe differences in ideas within the sides that build-up with more patience. Tijuana, the team with fewest long balls attempted, have tried to create verticality from the first quarter of the pitch, with more passes towards the centre of the second quarter.

For example, in this match against Pumas. Xolos’ full-back is open, but midfielder Frank Boya drops to open a passing lane, so that Tijuana can progress centrally.

After attracting a press in the centre of the pitch, Xolos can continue to progress out wide.

Monterrey don’t show a clear trend, mixing their types of passes, whilst San Luis often play out short towards the wings. San Luis have been less effective in their build-up this season, and making too many passes towards the flanks in their first quarter seems to be a part of their problems. Out wide, the touchline becomes an extra defender, and therefore it’s easier to press and limit passing options.

Here’s an example from the second minute against Juárez. San Luis’ right-back is positioned out wide, very close to his centre-back, creating an easy passing option.

But with their pressure, Juárez can easily cut off any options to progress the ball, and San Luis end-up having to play a long pass/clearance.

América look to move the ball forwards towards the left more often, with Álvaro Fidalgo, or a clipped pass to the left-back, whilst Cruz Azul frequently maintain possession inside of their penalty area. Following Martín Anselmi’s arrival, La Máquina have been patient in deep areas, at times waiting on the ball, trying to attract an opposing press before exploiting space in-behind.

Here, Kevin Mier plays short to Willer Ditta, who waits for Tijuana to jump.

Ditta returns the ball to Mier, who’s key to their build-up. Mier is the best Liga MX goalkeeper at playing long passes and retaining possession under pressure. He’s able to find teammate with precise chipped passes when the opposition press.

Giakoumakis receives the pass and has support in-front, allowing Cruz Azul to attack Tijuana’s back-line in a 3vs3 situation.

Within the most direct teams, Puebla and León attempt more long balls to towards their strikers, in the centre of the pitch. Jhonder Cádiz and Ricardo Marín rank first and second for aerial duels contested between number nines this season, but their efficiency has differed greatly. Whilst Cádiz has won 63% of his aerial duels, Marín’s success rate is only 36%. Finding the right types of players for a play style is crucial, and Cádiz’s ability to win duels and hold-up the ball under pressure has been a key part of León’s success.

Querétaro and Mazatlán have played without a natural striker in a few games this season, and have also given minutes to forwards from the U23 squad. Therefore, Benjamín Mora and Víctor Manuel Vucetich have adapted their direct football, playing more passes towards the wings. Adonis Preciado, Querétaro’s left-winger, has won twice as many aerial duels as any other attacking midfielder this season, whilst Mazatlán often look for a winger or wing-back Brayan Colula.

Thank you for reading, if you’d like to contact me regarding any questions, comments or to consult my services, you can contact me on:

También, se puede leer este artículo en Español- https://cambiodejuego.beehiiv.com/