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“Good, better, creative”: the influence of creativity on goal scoring in elite

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DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2018.1459153

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“Good, better, creative”: the influence of creativity

on goal scoring in elite soccer

Matthias Kempe & Daniel Memmert

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the influence of creativity on goal scoring in elite soccer, Journal of Sports Sciences, DOI:
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JOURNAL OF SPORTS SCIENCES, 2018
https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2018.1459153

“Good, better, creative”: the influence of creativity on goal scoring in elite soccer
Matthias Kempe and Daniel Memmert
Institute of Training and Computer Science in Sport, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, Germany

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

This study investigated the level of creativity of goals scored in football. Therefore, all goals in the Accepted 25 March 2018
Football FIFA World Cup 2010 and 2014, as well as the Football UEFA Euro 2016 were qualitatively
KEYWORDS
examined. Three Football experts evaluated the last eight actions before each goal using a creativity Creativity; match analysis;
scale ranging from 0 to 10 (0 = not creative, 10 = highly creative) of all goals scored via open play (311 individual performance;
goals in 153 matches). Level of creativity was revealed using an Analysis of Variance and the frquency of talent selection
high highly creative goals using a Kruskall- Wallis Test. The results showed that the closer the actions to
a goal, the more creative they were evaluated. Teams that advanced to the later rounds of the
tournament demonstrated greater creativity than teams that failed to do so. High creativity in the
last two actions before the actual shot on goal proved to be the best predictor for game success. In
conclusion, this study is the first one to show that creativity seems to be a factor for success in high
level football. Thereby it provides an empirical basis for the ongoing debate on the importance of
creativity training in football.

Introduction soccer, creativity (divergent tactical thinking) is understood to be

the surprising, original and flexible production of tactical and/or
To win at the highest stage in soccer, individual excellence of
motor response patterns (Memmert & Roth, 2007). Examples of
players and excellence in group performance is needed as the
such tactical patterns with divergent motor and cognitive solu-
margin between the top teams is close to zero. In many cases
tions could be no look passes, dribbling’s, or running routes to get
just one special moment or one set of actions can make the
somebody open for a pass.
difference between winning and losing as the last three mayor
The importance of the producing creative solution in team
international championships (World and European
sports has been emphasized by researchers and practitioners
Championship) were each decided by just one goal
in recent years (for a review, Memmert, 2015a). Next to meth-
(Clemente, 2012; Kempe, Vogelbein, & Nopp, 2016).
odological principles for training units (Memmert, 2015b) a
Especially in one on one situations attacking players are
Creativity Developmental Framework (CDF) has been develop
encouraged to use unpredictable and creative ways to beat
consisting of five incremental creative stages (beginner,
their opponent and create goal scoring opportunities (Duarte
explorer, illuminati, creator and genius) which combines
et al., 2012). To enable players to perform those creative
them in multidisciplinary training approaches to support the
actions, several studies on how to best train creativity in
coaches’ understanding of creativity development issues (Dos
soccer had been conducted in recent years (Dos Santos,
Santos et al., 2016). A recent survey with soccer trainers also
Memmert, Sampaio, & Leite, 2016; Rasmussen & Østergaard,
named creativity as an important attribute in regard to the
2016; Santos et al., 2018). Even cognitive parameters had been
player selection process (Leso, Dias, Ferreira, Gama, &
discussed to be beneficial for creativity of soccer players
Couceiro, 2017). Furthermore, creativity, measured via stan-
(Furley & Memmert, 2015). Despite all this research, there is
dard psychological assessments, was correlated with the num-
no empirical evidence that creativity is an actual factor for
ber of goals and assists that players had scored during two
success in elite soccer. By now the influence of creativity or
seasons after testing in a longitudinal study (Vestberg,
more precisely the level of creativity of the actions (soccer
Gustafson, Maurex, Ingvar, & Petrovic, 2012). Taken those
specific motor activities, see Table 1) leading to a goal has
evidence into account, a sufficient amount of research was
been not explored in official soccer matches yet. Therefore,
conducted to improve (tactical) creativity in children and
the present study investigates the level of creativity of each
younger adults (Cleland, 1994; Kovac, 1998; Memmert &
isolated goal of the Football FIFA World Cup 2010 and 2014
Roth, 2007). The results could demonstrate that creativity
and the Football UEFA Euro 2016 and to what extent this level
can be learned as well as trained and therefore influence
is related to success in these tournaments.
soccer coaching, especially at the youth level.
Creativity is commonly defined as “the ability to produce work
However, as Morris (2000) pointed out, it still remains
that is both novel (i.e., unexpected, original) and appropriate (i.e.,
unclear if and to what extent tactical creativity and creative
useful)” (Sternberg & Lubart, 2014, p. 3). Applying this definition to

CONTACT Matthias Kempe kempe.matthias@yahoo.com Matthias Kempe Institute of Training and Computer Science in Sport, German Sport University
Cologne, Am Sportpark Müngersdorf 6, 50933 Köln, Germany
© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
2 M. KEMPE AND D. MEMMERT

Table 1. Variables obtained via MATHBALL as basis for the creativity rating. importance of the goal and performance in the group stages
Variable Name Description of the tournaments (Sarmento et al., 2014). We assume that
PS Pass An intentional played ball from one player to successful teams are more creative when scoring a goal and
another have a greater relative contribution of highly creative actions
HE Header Activity of a player in which he consciously
plays the ball actively with his head to score goals.
SH Shoot Any goal attempt
BC ball reception and A maximum of two controlled touches of the
ball carrying ball
AO Taking advantage Creation of play-in possibilities or free spaces Methods
of openings through movement
CR Cross A pass from a wide position into a specific The present research fully complies with the highest standard of
area in front of the goa ethics and participant protection which followed the guidelines
DR Dribbling An attempt by a player to beat an opponent in stated in the Declaration of Helsinki (2013) and was approved by
possession of the ball
IC Interception A player intentionally intercepts a pass by the ethics committee of the German Sport University.
moving into the line of the intended ball
FO Foul Any infringement that is penalised as foul play
by a referee
HI Hit Ball touches of a player that occur Data collection
involuntarily and without any recognizable
purpose or intention A total of 166 official games of the FIFA World Cup 2010, FIFA
TA Tackle A tackle is awarded if a player wins the ball World Cup 2014, and the UEFA Euro 2016 were monitored and
from another player who is in possession recorded via the official broadcasting signal. Thirteen games
CL Clearance A defensive action where a player kicks the
ball away from his own goal with no had to be excluded because no goal was scored within regular
intended recipient of the ball or extra time. Matches analysed using the “MathBall”-notation
software (Algorithma Ltd., 2009, www.mathball.com). The soft-
ware enables to mark desired variables (Table 1) within the
motor actions are related to actual game outcome. Using video footage per mouse click and in advance automated type
Small-Sided Games (Torrents et al., 2016) showed that the out offensive actions. With the help of this software tool,
level of creativity is pronounced in specific game situations different standard game-related statistics for passing, shoot-
and leads to favorable situations which are beneficial for game ing, ball control, and ball possession were recorded and video
performance. However, no research so far has evaluated tac- clips of all goals scored in regular and extra time were cut in
tical creativity in real elite soccer matches and its’ relation to preparation to assess creativity. Of the 424 goals scored in the
actual game performance and game outcome (winning, tying, 153 games, all 311 goals scored via open play were assessed
or losing). for their level of creativity. Furthermore, each goal was classi-
The proposal of this approach is to evaluate if and how fied due to their importance in the game (Table 2).
creativity is linked to actual game performance by evaluating
the set of actions that led to a goal during games from the
European and World Cup championships. Creativity assessment
The most reliable key performance indicator in soccer is
goal scoring (Delgado-Bordonau, Domenech-Monforte, In order to assess the role of creativity in goal scoring, the last
Guzmán, & Méndez-Villanueva, 2013; Sarmento et al., 2014). eight actions of the chain of actions leading to a goal were
The evaluation of creativity in team sports is mostly con- categorised and rated (action eight directly resulted in a goal).
ducted via expert ratings (for an overview, Memmert, 2013; Creativity rating of each action was completed via an estab-
Morris, 2000). In order to standardize the evaluation proce- lished approach previously used in game test situations
dure, Memmert and Roth (2007) used specific game-test situa- (Cleland, 1994; Memmert, 2010). The tactical behaviors in on-
tions in which each action of a player is rated based on a and of-the-ball-movements as well as motor actions like drib-
judgment sheet resulting in a creativity score for each player. bling, crossing, passing, or ball transport were assessed by three
This test scenario was later adapted to soccer (Memmert, raters using four different scales respectively (1 to 10, cf. in
2010), creating a valid evaluation tool. To measure the level depth Memmert & Roth, 2007). A rating of one is seen as
of creativity the creativity performance rating by Memmert marginal creative (“Way below average”) and a rating of ten as
and Roth (2007) was adapted for this study. Using this highly creative (“Way above average”). All three raters were
adapted version creativity of the last eight actions leading to soccer experts (UEFA A-License or UEFA Pro-License) and were
a goal were assessed during the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World trained to work with the scale (see Memmert & Roth, 2007, for
Cup and the European Championship 2016. The last eight more details). At a minimum of .89, .90 and .92 respectively, the
actions were studied following Hughes and Franks (2005),
who showed that 84% of goals were scored after just 4 passes Table 2. Description of importance of a goal.
and over 95% of analyzed goals were scored within a max- Level of goal
imum of just 8 passes. It was expected that creativity would importance Description
vary during the action sequence with a steady increase of 1 Every goal that leads to equalisation or to one goal
creativity scores towards the goal. Further, it was investigated difference
2 Every goal that leads to two goal difference
if creativity (in goal scoring) is a factor for team success by 3 Every goal that leads to a minimum difference of
comparing the numbers of creative goal scoring with three goals
 JOURNAL OF SPORTS SCIENCES 3

inter-judge reliability coefficient as a measure of creativity was Results

above the crucial limit of 0.80 (intraclass correlation coefficient).
Descriptive results indicate that the level of creativity increases
the closer the action is to the goal, with action Nr. 7 (the assist)
possessing the highest mean value for creativity (Figure 1).
Data analysis This increase in creativity is further shown by the significant
main effect action (F (1,7) = 266.28, p < .001, Eta2 = .564). The
All teams were divided into four success groups according to
between-subject factor success group was also significant (F
their performance during each tournament (see Table 3).
(1,3) = 2. 79, p < .05, Eta2 = .039). There was no significant
Means and standard deviations are given as descriptive statis-
effect on the importance of goal neither for the interaction
tics (Table 4). The assumption of normality distribution as a
action x success group nor for the interaction action x impor-
prerequisite for an ANOVA analysis was investigated using the
tance of goal. Post-hoc analysis of the repeated measure factor
Kolmogorov-Smirnov test with Lillefors correction and analysis
action revealed no significant differences between Action 1, 2
of homogeneity was also done using the Levene test.
and 3 and between Action 6, 7, and 8. However, it did show
Normality distribution could not be established in all depen-
significant differences between the first three actions and the
dent variables. However, since n ≥ 30, using the Central Limit
last three, as well as differences for action 4 and 5 for each of
Theorem we assumed the assumption of normality (Akritas &
the other actions. Furthermore, post-hoc analysis on the
Papadatos, 2004). As homogeneity was not found in all cases,
between-subject factor success group did show a significant
a post-hoc analysis of the ANOVA was done using Dunnett´s
difference between SG 1 and SG 3.
T3. All analyses were executed in IBM® SPSS Statistics for
Fifty-two percent of all goals scored in the group stage of
Windows, version 25.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY) and the statis-
the three championships could be categorized as highly crea-
tical significance was set at p-value < .05.
tive. A Kruskal-Wallis test to differentiate between the frequen-
Differences in the creativity rating of the eight actions
cies of highly and less creative goals showed a significant
leading to a goal were compared by success groups with a
effect on the factor success group (H (3) = 8.313, p < .05). In
4 (success groups) x 8 (action) analysis of variance with
addition post- hoc analysis yielded a significant difference only
repeated measures on the last factor and importance of the
between-subject group 1 and 3 (see Figure 2). An additional
goal as a covariate. This analysis has been done for all goals
Kruskal-Wallis test for the importance of goal as a between
in the group stage to not over-represent the more successful
subject factor was not significant.
teams in the analysed sample. To further evaluate the impor-
tance of creativity on team success goals were grouped into
two categories. Goals with one of their actions rated eight or
higher are seen as highly creative, goals without one action Discussion
rated eight or higher are seen as normal or less creative goals Tactically creative solutions are of outstanding relevance to
based on the scheme of Memmert and Roth (2007). success in high performance sports (Memmert, 2013) and a
Differences in the frequencies of highly creative and less component of talent development and selection systems
creative goals of the success groups were analysed using a (Williams, 2013). In soccer, for example, the midfield players
Kruskal-Wallis test. A second Kruskal-Wallis test was per- have the responsibility of controlling the build-up play with
formed with the importance of the goal as the between-
subject factor.

Table 3. Categorization of success.

Number of Success
Round teams Group
Quarterfinal 24 SG 1
Second round 24 SG 2
3rd in Group stage, but not qualified to the 18 SG 3
second round as one of the best 3rd
placed teams (Euro 2016)
4th in Group stage 22 SG 4

Table 4. Means and standard deviations for action of the goal scoring sequence.
Mean ± standard deviation
Total number of highly
Variable Group stage Final round creative actions (rating ≥ 8)
Action 1 1.84 ± 2.11 1.60 ± 1.86 3
Action 2 1.94 ± 2.15 2.00 ± 1.94 5
Action 3 2.35 ± 2.13 2.47 ± 2.62 8
Action 4 3.04 ± 2.47 2.47 ± 2.12 15
Action 5 3.43 ± 2.55 2.97 ± 2.47 19
Action 6 4.47 ± 2.68 4.23 ± 2.66 41
Action 7 5.27 ± 2.46 4.60 ± 2.60 49 Figure 1. Mean values and standard deviations of creativity ratings for actions
Action 8 5.04 ± 2.22 4.71 ± 2.46 32 leading up to a goal.
4 M. KEMPE AND D. MEMMERT

goals, the most reliable key performance indicator in soccer

(Delgado-Bordonau et al., 2013; Sarmento et al., 2014), of three
of the four major soccer events held from 2010 to 2016 with
an established creative performance rating we could demon-
strate that successful teams used more highly creative actions
to score goals. This finding is of great importance to the
scientific community as it provides empirical evidence that
creativity is a decisive factor for success in soccer. Our findings
further support the implications of Duarte and colleagues
(2012) that creative solutions are especially important for
attacking players as the last three actions before a goal
yielded the highest creativity scores. In addition, it can be
Figure 2. Total number of higly creative goals (creativity rating >7; HC) and less implied that training of creative behavior should not only be
or normal creative (creativity rating <8; LC) for each success group (SG).
implemented in youth but also in the training regimes of
professional soccer players.
As tactical creativity can be increased via training, there are
smart tactical, original, and unexpected choices. Similarly, already some instruction materials to integrate creativity train-
playmakers in handball and basketball are able to initialize ing approaches into youth soccer coaching (Memmert, 2015a).
the closing option of their teammates with creative solutions. Most of those approach use differential learning as the key to
Our results indicate that creativity differs within the implement a beneficial environment to improve creative deci-
sequence of actions that lead to a goal and between success- sion making (Rasmussen & Østergaard, 2016; Santos et al.,
ful and less successful teams. Within the last eight actions that 2018). They further advocate using drills and game situation
lead to a goal a steady increase of creativity was determined. that provide players with several possible solutions and a high
The last three actions before a goal, the “hockey”-assist, the frequency of such situations. Additionally, coaches should
assist, and the actual shot on goal, proved to be significantly provide a culture that encourages players to use creative
more creative than the previous ones. The assist had the solution although they might not always work.
highest mean creativity score of all actions, scoring slightly Besides using “typical” soccer training, research also sug-
above the mean of the creativity scale. This also indicates that gests cognitive training programs as an additional approach
highly creative actions are quite seldom. Overall just 172 of to enhance creative decision making (De Dreu, Nijstad, Baas,
1819 (9.5%) recorded actions were rated as an above average Wolsink, & Roskes, 2012; Vestberg et al., 2012). Especially,
or highly creative which means that they were rated 8 or working memory training paradigms are broadly discussed
higher on the creativity scale. However, 46% of all scored as beneficial for elite soccer players (Furley & Memmert, 2015).
goals in the three tournaments included at least one highly To sum up, it is still seen as one of the top research
creative action. The most successful teams did even show a questions how to implement those approaches into day to
proportion of 63% “highly” creative goals. Analysing the mean day training of proficient players (Dos Santos et al., 2016).
creativity ratings and the distribution of highly creative goals Therefore, this recent study might provide some more statis-
both showed significant differences between success groups tical evidence to encourage coaches to also use these
revealing that more successful teams were more creative approaches in the highest level of soccer.
when scoring a goal and scored more highly creative goals.
Given this results, tactical creativity seems to be a crucial
Disclosure statement
factor for team success not just in small sided games
(Torrents et al., 2016) and in children (Cleland, 1994; Kovac, No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
1998; Memmert & Roth, 2007) but in the highest competitions
in soccer. This assumption is in line with the findings by References
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