The latest examples of teams winning despite having only 30% possession include PSG 0-1 Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 (5 Mar) and Nottingham Forrest 1-0 Manchester City (8 Mar).

For Liverpool, ceding that much possession to a pacey PSG side was probably a conscious tactical choice made specifically for that game — they could have been more aggressive with possession if they wanted to. For Nottingham Forrest, it was business as usual and their preferred way to roll. Crucially, 30% possession and defence in numbers allowed both teams to shut out the opposition and then leverage their transitional qualities to win the game.

Does ALBWT have the DNA to play 30% possession football? They certainly have speedy transitional players like ALBWT No.10 Maisarah and No.18 Takashima. It all begins with acknowledging the nature of the game at hand: playing against teams like LCSWT is like playing in a cup final, where defence is paramount and conceding a goal is a mountain-sized problem to overcome.

And at this point, it’s not even theoretical — GIWT has already demonstrated that 30% possession football works against LCSWT. Sometimes, you just have to tell yourself: “Look, it’s just for this one game. Next game we go on a scoring spree, okay?”