He knew that teams scored once every nine shots; and he knew that a vast portion of goals scored came from regains in and around the opposition’s penalty area. And so he concluded, sweepingly and without doubt, that teams were – statistically speaking – better off if they spent less time trying to string together passes and more time moving the ball quickly and efficiently into their opponents’ box. And so the efficiency of the long-ball game – minimum input and maximum output – was confirmed.
