Position Specific Running Performances in Professional Football (Soccer): Influence of Different Tactical Formations.

Toni Modric,Damir Sekulic,Sime Versic

doi:10.3390/sports8120161

Abstract

Running performances (RPs) are known to be important parameters of success in football (soccer), but there is a lack of studies where RPs are contextualized regarding applied tactical solutions. This study aims to quantify and analyze the differences in position-specific RPs in professional football, when games are played with three defensive players (3DP) and four defensive players (4DP). The participants here include professional football players (M ± SD, age 23.57 ± 2.84 years, body height 181.9 ± 5.17 cm, body mass 78.36 ± 4.18 kg) playing at the highest competitive level in Croatia. RPs were measured by global positioning system and classified into four groups based on playing positions: central defenders (CD; n = 47), wide defenders (WD; n = 24), midfielders (MF; n = 48), or forwards (FW; n = 19). Analysis of variance and discriminant canonical analysis are used to identify differences between 3DP and 4DP tactical solutions in terms of the RPs for each playing position. The number of accelerations and decelerations most significantly contributed to the differentiation of 3DP and 4DP among MFs (Wilks λ = 0.31, p < 0.001), with higher occurrences with 3DP. For CDs, total distance, and high-intensity running were higher in 3DP (Wilks λ = 0.66, p < 0.001). No multivariate differences were found for FW and WD players in terms of the RPs between 3DP and 4DP tactical formations. The characteristics and differences shown in this study may provide useful information for coaching staff regarding changing in-season tactical formations. Additionally, the results are useful for optimizing training programs for football players with different playing positions. When changing from 4DP to 3DP tactical formations, WDs training programs should include more of high-intensity running, while MFs training programs should be more based on short intensity activities (accelerations and decelerations).

Highlights

The technical and tactical nature of football has resulted in the nature of multifactorial physical characteristics for players [1]
For wide defenders (WD), significant differences were found for the total distance covered (11,021 m with 3DP and 10,143 m with 4DP; large effect size), high-speed distance covered (729 m with 3DP and 505 m with 4DP, large effect size), high-intensity distance covered (955 m with 3DP and 708 m with 4DP, large effect size), and total number of accelerations (485 with 3DP and 451 with 4DP, medium effect size)
Considering that high intensity distance covered in matches is closely related to training status [30], the findings of this study may help coaches to identify WD players who will be able to respond to the physical demands during matches played with 3DP tactical formations

Summary

Introduction

The technical and tactical nature of football (soccer) has resulted in the nature of multifactorial physical characteristics for players [1]. Elite football players travel 9 to 14 km in total during a game with high-intensity running accounting for 5–15% of this distance [4,5,6]. These performances vary according to the different playing positions of the players in the game [7,8,9]. It is generally accepted that these differences in running performances (RPs) between playing positions are influenced by the different tactical roles of players during the game [7,12,13]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion