Abstract
Abstract AIMS The aim of this study was to explore the effects of a deep-defending vs high-press defending strategy on footballers’ tactical behaviour, physical and physiological responses, when in numerical difference. METHODS Nineteen elite professional footballers (outfield players) participated in this study, playing an 11vs10 match (simulating an early dismissal) for two halves of 10 minutes on a full-sized regulation pitch. The 11-men team was instructed by the head coach to defend closer to goal in the first half (deep-defending) and then defend higher up the pitch in the second half (high-press). Players’ positional data were used to calculate the distance between team centroids, players’ distance to own and to opponent centroid, teams’ effective playing space (EPS), teams’ length per width ratio, distance covered and player velocity. Heart rate was measured via short-range radio telemetry. RESULTS Relative-phase analysis of teams’ EPS showed 61.6% of anti-phase synchronisation pattern (i.e. the values change in opposite directions) in the deep-defending game. In the high-press game, teams’ centroid distances were closer (% difference in means; ±90% CL, -21.0%; ±9.5%), while players’ distances to own and opponent centroids were 20% more regular. Distance covered (-19.8%; ±2.5%), player velocity (-20.0%; ±2.5%) and heart rates also decreased in the high-press game. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that, adopting a high-press defending strategy can elicit closer centroid distances, more regular movement patterns, decreased synchronisation patterns of EPS, lower distance covered, lower player velocity, and lower heart rates. Coaches may also consider adopting a high-press strategy, when in numerical superiority, to decrease players’ physical and physiological demands.
Highlights
Defending is an important aspect of successful football performance
From findings in current literature, majority of ball recoveries in elite football matches, take place in defensive and midfield areas of the pitch[3]; while betterranked teams are more effective in applying defensive pressure in more advanced pitch positions[2]
The approximate entropy (ApEn) values for these two variables presented a very likely/ most likely ~ 20% decrease, with moderate effect, when it came to the high-press game
Summary
Defending is an important aspect of successful football performance. currently available studies on defending only take a notational analysis approach[1,2,3,4]. One study examined the relationship of inter-team distances and match events, and alluded to closer inter-team distances in high defensive pressure or high attacking pressure[5]. One style of defending is characterised by a team collectively maintaining a compact shape in a zone nearer to their goal, and only applying pressure on their opponents when the attacking play begins to reach this zone[6]. This collective behaviour is often described as a strategy of deep-defending. Some studies have explored defensive pressure from a notational analysis perspective, no study has examined the tactical behaviour and activity profile variables associated with defending
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