At UEFA EURO 2008, 46% of the open-play goals stemmed from counterattacks.
Since then, awareness of the damaging potential of fast transitions has reshaped match strategies among the coaching fraternity. By UEFA EURO 2012, the effectiveness of fast breaks had been halved to 23% and, this summer in France, this lower level was consolidated.
What is more, the statistics are somewhat deceptive in that a high percentage of the coun…