Spotlight on technical trends

UEFA's technical department has issued its report on the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League - a document which is designed to help technicians by identifying trends and supplying important data on events in last season's edition of European football's blue-riband club competition.

Key issues
The UEFA Champions League technical report offers talking points on key issues, analyses the present and lays the foundations for further enhancement of the club competition which is hailed by the critics as the best in the world. This season's report has also been given the valuable input of some of Europe's most respected coaching figures - and, as usual, contains a wealth of important and interesting statistics.

Concentrating on Europe
The report looks at the final in Istanbul between AC Milan and Liverpool FC, as the climax of another exciting UEFA Champions League season. It suggests that 'concentration' was a vital ingredient in the search for European glory in 2006/07. "The two teams who made it all the way to Athens had, long since, been way off the pace in their domestic championships and were, arguably, able to focus exclusively on their European objective.

Decisive factors
"The 2006/07 campaign certainly underlined the importance of total dedication, alertness, motivation and hunger," the report adds. "In a period of equality at the summit of European football, such qualities can be the decisive factors."

More goals
Goals were on the increase in 2006/07 - 309 were scored in comparison with the all-time low of 285 in 2006. The UEFA Champions League report shows how those goals were scored - from set-plays or open play. In many cases, it was clear that talented players made the difference in breaking open sophisticated, deep-lying defensive blocks.

Big-match finishers
"Once again, the UEFA Champions League was a showcase for spectacular, ingenious and well-constructed goals," writes UEFA technical director Andy Roxburgh in the report. "With the tendency towards deeper defending, and the speed and tenacity of those who play at the back, the demands on attacking players have undoubtedly increased. It is little wonder therefore that big-match finishers, such as Kaká, Didier Drogba, Ronaldinho, Wayne Rooney, etc. are prized by their clubs. It is players of this quality that set club football's benchmark and give the UEFA Champions League its global appeal."

Technical topics
The report examines technical topics - these include the importance of a team's shape to its success, the universal use of a midfield holding player or a lone striker, tactical flexibility, the impact of fast breaks and counterattacks, efforts to counter these fast breakouts, and the deployment of deep-lying defensive blocks. The impact of high-quality coaching is also seen as a key factor in a team's success.

Fascinating read
Talking points put forward in the report include the quality of pitches and the influence this may have on technique and attacking fluency, the importance and timing of substitutions, and the relevance of ball possession. With a host of statistics on each club, its players and how the team played, and culminating in the stars who made the Team of the Tournament and the best goals - the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League technical report is a fascinating read for technicians, as well as aficianados of European club football at its supreme best.

Click here to read the UEFA Champions League Technical Report for 2006/07 in English, French or German