Soccer League Research Articles

Notational Analysis on Goal Scoring and Comparison in Two of the Most Important Soccer Leagues: Spanish La Liga and English Premier League

Goals scored are the most important performance indicator and may be a good tool to analyze game style predominance within different leagues. The aims of this study are to describe how goals are scored in the two major soccer leagues in the season of 2020/21, and to compare both leagues to watch possible differences in the offensive sequences that lead to goal-scoring. The aims of this study were: to evaluate goal scoring trends among two main soccer leagues and to compare the two leagues. A total of 1409 goals were observed using notational analysis. The total results show a dominance of positional play/fast attack (n = 38%), followed by set pieces as the second means to score (n = 32%) with corner kicks having a great impact (n = 36%) within set pieces goals. The most goals were scored by short possessions (n = 50%) with short passes number (n = 57%), with the recovery of the ball in the offensive third (n = 47%) and the huge dominance of finalization in central areas inside the box (n = 78%). Spanish La Liga scored more by positional play/fast attack, with most of the possessions starting in the medium third and using more the “central wing goal area” and “between wings left in the box” end zones when compared with English Premier League. The latter has more goals from counterattacks and corner kicks with very long possessions. Most of the possessions start in the offensive third and more goals are scored in “central wing between penalty and goal area” in comparison with Spanish La Liga. Coaches must be aware of the trends of the game and of the differences across leagues to prepare themselves when working in different countries to each specific characteristic.

Competition Experience of the Coach and Team Performance in the Kenyan National Soccer and Volleyball Leagues

Purpose: The objective of the study was to establish whether past competition experiences of the coach predicted team performance in the Kenyan national soccer and volleyball leagues.
 Methodology: The study adopted Cross-Sectional survey design. The population of the study was 53 head coaches handling teams in the Kenyan national soccer and volleyball leagues. Census sampling was used to pick the 53 coaches for the study. Data collection instrument was a self-administered questionnaire for the coaches. The coaches’ questionnaire was divided into sections which captured demographics and academic background. The study used Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 22) for data analysis. Chi-Square and Fisher’s Exact test was used to show whether competition experience had an effect on the team’s performance. Data was presented using tables
 Findings: For soccer, Chi square and Fisher’s Exact Test results showed that coaches past competition experience had a significant effect on team performance (χ2 =30.292≤ p 0.05 9df). The fisher’s exact test had a p value of 0.003 which was also less than 0.05 confirming that there was a significant relationship between soccer coaches’ past competition experience and team performance. For volleyball, Chi square and Fisher’s Exact Test results showed that volleyball coaches past competition experience had a significant effect on team performance (χ2 =23.910≤ p 0.05 9df). The fisher’s exact test had a p value of 0.008 which was also less than 0.05 confirming that there was a significant relationship between volleyball coaches’ past competition experience and team performance.
 Recommendations: Policy makers such as team managers, owners and other stake holders in sports to consider more experienced coaches. They should consider coaches who have long period of coaching experience as well as coaches with a long period of competition experience. This is because coaching knowledge comes from observations and experiences of other coaches. Team managers, owners and other stake holders in sports should also consider coaches with past playing experience from recognized local clubs. This will enhance team performance.

Landing Posture in Elite Female Athletes During a Drop Vertical Jump Before and After a High-Intensity Ergometer Fatigue Protocol: A Study of 20 Japanese Women’s Soccer League Players

Background: Even elite athletes, who usually show stable postural control, sometimes cannot control their posture after high-load training. This instability may contribute to anterior cruciate ligament injury. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the landing posture of elite female soccer players before and after a novel high-intensity fatigue-inducing exercise protocol. We hypothesized that the landing posture will change before versus after the fatigue protocol. Study Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Method: The study participants were 20 female elite soccer players. All athletes performed 3 drop vertical jumps (DVJs), pedaled an ergometer 8 times with full force for 10 seconds each (fatigue protocol), and then repeated the 3 DVJs. We measured and compared the athletes’ blood lactate levels before and after the fatigue protocol, as well as the hip flexion, knee flexion, and ankle dorsiflexion angles and final landing posture during the DJVs. Results: Blood lactate levels increased significantly pre- to postprotocol (from 2.7 ± 1.9 to 15.0 ± 3.6 mmol/L; P < .001), while there were decreases in hip flexion angle (from 35.0° ± 11.2° to 22.4° ± 8.8°; P < .001) and ankle dorsiflexion angle (from 26.4° ± 3.9° to 20.0° ± 3.7°; P < .001). The number of athletes who could not maintain a stable DVJ final landing posture increased from 10% before the fatigue protocol to 70% after. Conclusion: The elite female athletes in our study showed significant decreases in hip flexion and ankle dorsiflexion angles in the DVJ landing after a fatigue-inducing protocol. Most elite athletes were unable to maintain a stable posture on the DVJ landing after the fatigue protocol. Clinical Relevance: This study advances our understanding of how elite athletes land in a fatigued state.

Adductor Muscle Injuries in Major League Soccer: A Decade Long Analysis of Injury Rate, Associated Factors, and Return to Play?

Adductor Muscle Injuries in Major League Soccer: A Decade Long Analysis of Injury Rate, Associated Factors, and Return to Play?

Hamstring Muscle Injuries in Major League Soccer: An Analysis of Injury Rate, Associated Factors, and Return to Play

Hamstring Muscle Injuries in Major League Soccer: An Analysis of Injury Rate, Associated Factors, and Return to Play

Critical Interpretation of Spatiality in Professional Korean Football Stadiums: Relph’s Theory of Placeness

This research analyzes Korean professional soccer stadiums using Relph’s concept of placelessness to understand why Korean professional soccer has rapidly declined in popularity and become a minority fan sport. Qualitative research methods were used to conduct a narrative analysis. The interview content was analyzed, and four problems were identified. The findings show that these stadiums are (1) a uniform space that excludes local culture, (2) used as a profit-generating tool for large corporations, (3) spaces controlled by the state, and (4) maximizing economic efficiency. Therefore, they have been used as a uniform space for social, cultural, political, and economic purposes. The Korean national soccer team’s performance in international competitions seems to be satisfactory. However, the domestic professional soccer league is in a vulnerable condition. Thus, these stadiums should be established as true places by removing the element of placelessness in order to recover the popularity of Korean professional soccer.

The Beginning of a Reckoning: An Application of Situational Crisis Communication Theory and Image Repair to the National Women’s Soccer League

The purpose of this study was to examine the crisis of systemic sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and misconduct in the NWSL within the frameworks of situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) and image-repair theory (IRT). Specifically, this research engaged with three data sources (1) the Yates Report which details team by team allegations, (2) team statements in response to the allegations being made public, and (3) social media interactions in response to all statements. Based on the Yates Report, the Portland Thorns, Chicago Red Stars, and Racing Louisville (as well as the NWSL and USSF) were placed firmly within the preventable crisis cluster, which is marked by organization misconduct and management misdeeds. In terms of SCCT strategies, commonly used approaches were ingratiation and apology. In terms of image repair, commonly used approaches were corrective action, bolstering, and mortification, with corrective action being the most frequently utilized strategy across all statements. Within the preventable cluster, the two statements that received the highest interaction rates and like ratios were those that employed scapegoating, shifting blame, and corrective action. The implications of these findings as well as the utility of SCCT and IRT within the crisis communication landscape are discussed.

Soccer labour market equilibrium and efficient training of players

This paper develops a two-period model of the soccer labour market. The first period is devoted to the selection of players and training, while the second period corresponds to the beginning of the players’ professional career. Between the two periods, players can be hit by idiosyncratic shocks, thus generating mismatches between players and clubs. Some players are transferred in exchange for the payment of a transfer fee by the poaching club to the training club, while others may renegotiate their wages. Our model emphasises the key allocation role played by transfer fees: a training club may benefit from training, even if the player moves to another club at the end of the training period. Using the simulated method of moments, we estimate the impact of transfer fees on training, capitalising on an original data set on the Big-5 European soccer leagues. We show that the presence of transfer fees allows the selection and training of players to get closer to the efficient allocation. Counterfactual experiments then highlight that a significant share of players would not have been trained in the absence of transfer fees.

Genomic Epidemiology of a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Outbreak in a US Major League Soccer Club: Was It Travel Related?

Professional soccer athletes are at risk of acquiring severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). United States Major League Soccer (MLS) uses protocol-based SARS-CoV-2 testing for identification of individuals with coronavirus disease 2019. Per MLS protocol, fully vaccinated players underwent SARS-CoV-2 real-time polymerase chain reaction testing weekly; unvaccinated players were tested every other day. Demographic and epidemiologic data were collected from individuals who tested positive, and contact tracing was performed. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) was performed on positive specimens, and phylogenetic analyses were used to identify potential transmission patterns. In the fall of 2021, all 30 players from 1 MLS team underwent SARS-CoV-2 testing per protocol; 27 (90%) were vaccinated. One player who had recently traveled to Africa tested positive for SARS-CoV-2; within the following 2 weeks, 10 additional players and 1 staff member tested positive. WGS yielded full genome sequences for 10 samples, including 1 from the traveler. The traveler's sample was Delta sublineage AY.36 and was closely related to a sequence from Africa. Nine samples yielded other Delta sublineages including AY.4 (n = 7), AY.39 (n = 1), and B.1.617.2 (n = 1). The 7 AY.4 sequences clustered together; suggesting a common source of infection. Transmission from a family member visiting from England to an MLS player was identified as the potential index case. The other 2 AY.4 sequences differed from this group by 1-3 nucleotides, as did a partial genome sequence from an additional team member. WGS is a useful tool for understanding SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics in professional sports teams.

Young Africans supporting European clubs: the case of football fans from Accra, Ghana

The massive following that European soccer leagues enjoy in Africa, especially among urban youth, is an aspect of African youth cultures that scholarship has not adequately addressed. This paper explores the phenomenon and its implications for young people’s everyday identity politics, by focusing on how African popular cultures draw on global cultural trends to appeal to urban youth in local settings across the continent. Specifically, what is being analysed is how young people engage with global modernity by projecting their aspirations and desires through the fortunes of their adopted European soccer teams. Using the questionnaire interview method, I talked to nine Ghanaian youths living in Accra, Ghana’s capital, where there currently exists a vibrant youth support movement for foreign clubs. Findings from the interviews reveal that the glamour of European leagues trigger issues of identity, belonging, and politics among young Africans. While some consider their involvement in European leagues as an escape and a powerful protest to the comparatively unattractive soccer landscape on the continent, others perceive it as an expression of their global citizenship and belonging. Recognising the enjoyment that young people elicit from the European soccer craze, the article argues that not only does the entertainment value of foreign soccer ‘absolve’ youth of their allegiance to foreign interests, but it also provides a powerful cultural avenue for them to vicariously participate in a modernity whose privileges they cannot access locally.

Return to Play and Performance After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction in the National Women's Soccer League.

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is commonly injured in elite-level female athletes, which usually requires ACL reconstruction (ACLR). To analyze return to play (RTP) and changes in performance of players in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) after ACLR. Descriptive epidemiology study. NWSL players who sustained an ACL tear and underwent surgery between the 2013 and 2020 seasons were identified by multiple online resources. Players were classified as forwards, defenders, midfielders, and goalkeepers. RTP was assessed according to games played, games started, percentage of minutes played, plus/minus net per 90 minutes (a measure of a player's contribution to their team's performance while on the field), goals scored, and assists. A subanalysis was performed based on the median age at the time of the injury (≤24 vs ≥25 years). Nonparametric testing methods were used throughout the analysis. A total of 30 NWSL athletes were included. Midfielders had the highest percentage of injuries (n = 11; 36.7%), followed by forwards (n = 10; 33.3%). Overall, 27 players returned to the NWSL at a median of 12.1 months (IQR, 10.9-14.3 months), constituting a 90.0% RTP rate. There was a significant decrease in the percentage of minutes played from 1 year before the injury to 1 year after the injury (median, 87.9% [IQR, 80.7%-90.6%] vs 25.1% [IQR, 16.3%-57.2%], respectively; P = .031). Forwards and midfielders had a significant decrease in the number of assists from 1 year before the injury to 1 year after the injury (median, 3.0 [IQR, 1.0-3.0] vs 0.0 [IQR, 0.0-1.0], respectively; P = .037) as well as the number of goals scored when averaging across 2 seasons before the injury to 2 seasons after the injury (median, 3.0 [IQR, 1.5-5.5] vs 1.0 [IQR, 0.5-3.5], respectively; P = .031). On subanalysis, older players started in significantly more games (median, 12.0 [IQR, 3.8-18.5] vs 3.0 [IQR, 0.5-6.0], respectively; P = .048) and had a higher percentage of minutes played (median, 63.0% [IQR, 18.8%-77.3%] vs 14.9% [IQR, 2.0%-21.2%], respectively; P = .046) at 1 year after the injury versus younger players. There was a 90.0% RTP rate after ACLR in the NWSL. Players who returned to the NWSL had a lower percentage of minutes played in their first year after RTP, with older players starting in more games and having a greater percentage of minutes played. Compared with preinjury performance, forwards and midfielders had a significant decrease in the number of assists at 1 year after the injury as well as the number of goals scored at 2 years after the injury.

Putting Russia's Ban in Historical Perspective: A Curated Interview

Putting Russia's Ban in Historical Perspective: A Curated Interview

Team Masculinity and Performance: Evidence from Major League Soccer

Abstract: Previous papers provide evidence that psychological characteristics such as personal masculinity are related to performance. Although relationships have been well established on an individual level, there has been little attempt to analyze the performance of teams that diverge in terms of masculinity. This paper studies the impact of team masculinity on its performance, paying particular attention to the connection between masculinity and cooperative behavior within a team. We use data on Major League Soccer teams because sports competitions represent a good ground for demonstrating masculinity and provide open data. Our results suggest a positive connection between the group’s average masculinity and its performance. We test whether this fact can be explained by increased in-group cooperation, first revealed in Stirrat and Perrett’s experimental study (2012) but do not find any relationship. As for the team’s diversity in masculinity, we do not find any impact on team performance.

K5리그 축구동호인의 참여동기가 자아존중감 및 운동지속의도에 미치는 영향

This study aims to inverstigate the effect of participation motivation on the self-esteem and exercise adherence intention of K5 league soccer club memvers. To accomplish this objective, this study surveyed 152 soccer club members of the K5 league in Gyeongnam/Busan in 2021. BR Collected data from the questionnaire was analyzed according to the aim of this study with the use of SPSS/PC Window V.23.0. The results are as follows: There was statistically significant difference in the level of participation motivation among the K5 league soccer club members and statistically significant relationship was found between self-esteem and participation motivation of memvers of the K5 league soccer club. Also, it was found that participation motivation had a statistically significant effect on the intention to adhere to exercise. BR Taken together, these results suggest that strengthening the intrinsic motivation for achievement is more important than the intrinsic motivation for knowledge acquisition in order to increase the self-esteem of soccer club members in the K5 league, the top amateur league. BR In particular, increasing the goal of moving to a higher league or advancing to the FA Cup among K5 League soccer club members is necessary in order to induce continuous participation. BR Players who moved to lower leagues or whose athletic performance decreased can have a negative impact on athletic performance and motivation to continue exercising. Therefore, setting individual and team goals as well as the role of the coach/manager are important in order to improve the self-esteem of soccer club members in the K5 league.BR

Return To Play Rate and Performance Following Surgical Repair of Athletic Pubalgia in Major League Soccer Players: A Retrospective Case-Control Study.

Introduction Athletic pubalgia (AP) injuries requiring surgical repair in elite-level soccer players are significant injuries with the potential of impacting a player's playing time and performance. Currently, no data exists explicitly analyzing Major League Soccer (MLS) players' return to play (RTP) rates and performance following these surgeries. Methods A retrospective review of publicly available data of all MLS players who underwent surgery to repair an isolated AP injury from the league inception year of 1993 through 2021 was performed. Demographic data at the time of injury was collected. Athletes who successfully returned to play for at least two seasons in the MLS were matched to healthy controls in a 1:2 ratio by demographics and position. The index year was defined as the season, including pre- and post-season, that the surgery occurred. RTP date and performance metrics one and two years pre- and post-index year were collected. Statistical analysis was performed. Results Eighty-eight players underwent surgical repair for AP from 1993 through 2021. Eighty-five athletes were able to successfully RTP (96.5%). Twenty-five players met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis. The average RTP time was 1.08±4.92 months. During the combined seasons following surgery, athletes in the AP group displayed a significant reduction in minutes played compared to the two combined seasons prior to surgery (4153±912.77 vs. 3405.36±1342.35 minutes; p=0.03). There was no significant reduction in performance metrics when compared to both prior season statistics and the matched cohort (p>0.05). Conclusion There is a high RTP rate among MLS players who undergo isolated surgical repair of AP. Although there was a significant reduction in combined minutes played in the two ensuing seasons following surgery, athletes who RTP demonstrated equivalent performance metrics comparable to their pre-injury seasons as well as to a matched cohort.

Chinese Super League: Missing Out Aspects on Service Quality and Brand Equity

Chinese sports market gained tremendous attention in recent days as China held the 2022 Winter Olympic Games successfully. However, in contrast to other sports markets, the attention given to the Chinese Super League (CSL), the top-division soccer league in China, seems to have decreased catastrophically. The CSL was once popular among the public in its golden era but met a recession in recent years. Service quality and brand equity were two of the major factors that directly influenced spectators' experiences in the western market, followed by previous studies. The study from Grönroos suggests that service quality has three dimensions: functional, technical, and image. The study from Keller suggests that brand equity was built by consumers based on their knowledge and experience of a brand. From former empirical research, it is unsure if those models fit different occasions in China, and whether the depression of the CSL can be explained by the missing aspects of service quality and brand equity. The results from review actions by CSL revealed that both thrive of the CSL and the recession of the CSL followed by brand equity and service quality model. Meanwhile, several suggestions have been raised based on the two models that can be implemented to help the CSL out of catastrophe.

The Importance of Crowd Support and Team Quality to Home Advantage in Brazilian Soccer League First Division.

Our aims in the present study were to analyze home advantage (HA) and number of goals scored in consideration of the presence or absence of crowd support and the influence of team quality during the last 11 seasons of the Brazilian Soccer League first division. We analyzed data from 4162 matches played in the Brazilian Soccer League in seasons 2012-2022 (3563 matches with an audience and 599 matches without an audience). We calculated HA by comparing the number of points won at home as a percentage of the total number of points gained, and we also recorded the number of goals scored by home and away teams. For analyses, we divided the teams based on home and away matches, with and without crowds, and we classified teams into three ability groups, based on the points scoring percentage of the team at the end of the season. There was a HA in all seasons analyzed (i.e., home teams won more than 50% of the total points won at home); but in matches in empty stadiums, the HA was reduced significantly, compared to matches with crowd support (66.6% with crowd vs. 57.2% without crowd, p < 0.05). The number of goals in all seasons was higher for home teams than for away teams; however, away teams scored more goals in empty stadiums than in stadiums with crowd support (p < 0.05). The HA was greater in matches with crowd support than in matches without crowd support (p < 0.01), independent of the team's ability level; but, top teams scored more goals than weaker teams (p < 0.01). In conclusion, in the Brazilian Soccer League, the HA and number of goals scored were affected by the presence or absent of an audience in the stadiums. While top teams scored more goals than weaker teams, the HA was lower without than with crowds, independent of team quality.

Investigating the Sketchplan: A Novel Way of Identifying Tactical Behavior in Massive Soccer Datasets.

Coaches and analysts prepare for upcoming matches by identifying common patterns in the positioning and movement of the competing teams in specific situations. Existing approaches in this domain typically rely on manual video analysis and formation discussion using whiteboards; or expert systems that rely on state-of-the-art video and trajectory visualization techniques and advanced user interaction. We bridge the gap between these approaches by contributing a light-weight, simplified interaction and visualization system, which we conceptualized in an iterative design study with the coaching team of a European first league soccer team. Our approach is walk-up usable by all domain stakeholders, and at the same time, can leverage advanced data retrieval and analysis techniques: a virtual magnetic tactic-board. Users place and move digital magnets on a virtual tactic-board, and these interactions get translated to spatio-temporal queries, used to retrieve relevant situations from massive team movement data. Despite such seemingly imprecise query input, our approach is highly usable, supports quick user exploration, and retrieval of relevant results via query relaxation. Appropriate simplified result visualization supports in-depth analyses to explore team behavior, such as formation detection, movement analysis, and what-if analysis. We evaluated our approach with several experts from European first league soccer clubs. The results show that our approach makes the complex analytical processes needed for the identification of tactical behavior directly accessible to domain experts for the first time, demonstrating our support of coaches in preparation for future encounters.

Talent concentration and competitive imbalance in European soccer.

While most of the available literature on competitive balance analyses its impact on ticket sales and TV audiences, less empirical research is available that examines the observable variation in competitive balance across leagues and over time. This paper studies the concentration of player talent and end-of-season league points to empirically assess whether leagues with a more equal distribution of player talent produce a more balanced competition than leagues with less equal distribution. The longitudinal data we use to estimate our empirical model comes from professional soccer leagues in twelve Western European countries from 2005/06 thru 2020/21, yielding 5,299 club-season observations. Our empirical analysis indicates that talent concentration in a league significantly and positively impacts points concentration in that league. However, in specifications controlling for year, country, and division, this impact is only weakly significant or insignificant, suggesting that talent concentration does not significantly affect competitive balance in that league. Additionally, our findings demonstrate that the relationship between talent and points concentration does not vary considerably across the European leagues or over time. Our results suggest that repeated participation in the UEFA Champions League, with its considerable monetary returns by (more or less) the same subset of teams, does not increase competitive imbalance in the respective national league. Thus, with relatively few additional regulatory interventions, the promotion and relegation system in the open European soccer leagues seems effective in ensuring a balanced competition.

The relative age effect is widespread among European adult professional soccer players but does not affect their market value.

The relative age effect (RAE) is most prevalent in highly competitive youth soccer and persists to a lesser extent in senior soccer. However, it is known that soccer players born in the second half of the year are as successful at senior level, indicating that they are equally talented although under-represented at youth level due to bias during the selection process, in which the emphasis is on more pronounced physical qualities in a specific period of time. Examining the prevalence of the RAE among professional soccer players depending on the level of competition and playing position, as well as analyzing the relationship between the player's birth quarter and market value, are of scientific interest. The dates of birth, playing position, and market value of all adult male soccer players included in the final rosters of teams from the top-division of 54 European countries, listed on www.transfermarkt.com on August 15th, 2020, were analyzed (18,429 soccer players in total). All players were categorized into four groups according to the quarter of birth (Q) and playing position. All teams were further sub-divided in groups depending on the soccer clubs' level of representation in the UEFA Champions League. Of 18,429 players, 30.9% were born in Q1, 25.7% in Q2, 23.8% in Q3 and 19.6% in Q4. The number of soccer players born in Q1 was lower in less competitive leagues. The number of players born in Q1 decreased as the level of competition decreased; the highest percentage of these players was observed in clubs that are among the top 50 ranked in UEFA or compete in the most prestigious European championships. The RAE was less pronounced in teams that participate in lower competitive championships. There was no significant difference in market value between players playing position and level of competition when born in different quarters. Although, the most expensive soccer players in the European championships were late-born forwards. Players of various groups differed in their market value. The RAE is currently prevalent in all the most competitive senior soccer leagues and teams in Europe regardless of playing position. There are no significant differences in market value between players of the same playing position and level of competition when born in different quarters. The most expensive soccer players in the European championships are forwards born in Q4. These findings may indicate that the under-representation of "late-born" soccer players in youth, and then consequently in adult soccer, is not associated with lower talent, but with other factors, possibly based on physiological characteristics and socio-cultural factors. Further measures are needed to mitigate the discriminatory effects of selection bias based on the RAE.