The typical Premier League side has almost 200 fresh opportunities every game to do something with the ball. Most of the time, whoever has it tries to pass it. The single most common action players perform are passes in all shapes and sizes: short, long, with the head or the foot, crosses, goal kicks, flick-ons, lay-offs – passes account for well over 80 per cent of events on the pitch. The next largest categories of ball events, at 2 per cent or less each, are things like shots, goals, free kicks, dribbles and saves. Possession, boiled down, is delivering the ball to a teammate. Possession is
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