Association of match running performance with and without ball possession to football performance

Souza, Diego Brito de; Campo, Roberto López-Del; Blanco-Pita, Hugo; Resta, Ricardo; Coso, Juan Del

doi:10.1080/24748668.2020.1762279

Cited by 40 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…It has been hypothesized that when the competition was resumed after the COVID-19 lockdown, professional LaLiga TM players experienced physical challenges similar to those they usually experience during the first official matches of the season. The results of this study differ from those found by Brito Souza, López-Del Campo, Blanco-Pita, Resta, and Del Coso [ 29 ] showing that, in the previous four competitive seasons of LaLiga TM , the physical performance of the players was lower at the beginning of the season and the teams needed approximately 8–10 match days to achieve constant performance.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…Although it is often postulated that a high performance value in the running of matches is important to achieve victory in a soccer competition, it has been shown that running performance during matches is not associated with the qualifying position at the end of the league [ 31 ]. Conversely, the most successful soccer teams covered a greater distance with the possession of the ball—in particular, at ≥21 km/h—than the less successful teams, and the running distance with the ball correlated positively with the points at the end of the season [ 29 , 31 ]. However, running with and without possession of the ball is not the same [ 32 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparative Analysis of Soccer Performance Intensity of the Pre–Post-Lockdown COVID-19 in LaLiga™

García-Aliaga

Marquina

Cordón-Carmona

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) forced a stoppage in the 2019/2020 season of LaLiga™, possibly influencing performance indicators in the return to competition. Therefore, here, we evaluated whether the stoppage due to the coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) lockdown influenced physical performance compared to the start of LaLigaTM in terms of high-intensity efforts. Using a semi-automatic, multiple-camera system, running activities during 22 matches were analyzed. We compared the first 11 matches of the season (pre-lockdown) with the 11 matches just after the restart of LaLiga™ (post-lockdown). The results showed higher (p < 0.05) performance in the pre-lockdown period compared with the post-lockdown period, including in medium-speed running (14.1–21 km/h), high-speed running (21.1–24 km/h), and sprinting speed running distances (>24 km/h). However, the number of accelerations/min and decelerations/min were significantly higher during the post-lockdown period. Therefore, we conclude that the stoppage due to the COVID-19 lockdown generated lower physical performance in the post-lockdown period compared with the pre-lockdown period, most likely due to the accumulation of matches (congested schedules).

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Analysis of Soccer Performance Intensity of the Pre–Post-Lockdown COVID-19 in LaLiga™

García-Aliaga

Marquina

Cordón-Carmona

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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show abstract

“…This increase in total running distance and in low-intensity running were likely facilitated by the longer match duration and the possibility of reaching up to five substitutions per match. Interestingly, the running distance at above 21 km/h, which represents the running actions more associated to soccer performance, particularly when in possession of the ball ( Brito Souza et al, 2020 ) match, were well preserved in the 2019–2020 in comparison to the control season. It is probable that the maintenance of running distance at high speed and the number of sprints per match after the resumption of the competition was associated to the lower distance covered at 14.0–20.9 km/h ( Figure 1C and Table 2 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The validity of Mediacoach ® to assess running distance during soccer match play has been obtained through high agreement with the data obtained with Global Positioning System units ( Felipe et al, 2019 ; Pons et al, 2019 ) and with data obtained from a reference camera system (i.e., VICON motion capture system ( Linke et al, 2020 )). Data on each variable was normalised as team’s running distance per match to obtain easier-to-use information for coaches and physical conditioning staff ( Brito Souza et al, 2020 ). Additionally, the number of substitutions per match and match duration were also extracted to assess the effect of the in-game regulations introduced after the resumption of the competition.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Running Patterns in LaLiga Before and After Suspension of the Competition Due to COVID-19

et al. 2021

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In the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak (spring 2020), the first division of professional soccer in Spain (LaLiga) was suspended for 12 weeks as part of the lockdown imposed by the Spanish health authorities. Professional soccer players were confined to home for 8 weeks and then a retraining period of 4 weeks was set before the first competitive match. When competition was resumed, professional soccer teams competed in a congested calendar (11 matchdays in 39 days) while some in-game regulations were altered (up to 5 substitutions, refreshment pauses). The current research presents an analysis of running patterns before suspension and after resumption of LaLiga to determine how the lockdown affected players’ physical performance. To aid in this purpose, a pairwise comparison was performed of running patterns of the 2019–2020 vs. 2018–2019 season (i.e., control season). Using a two-way ANOVA (season x matchday), it was found that there was no main effect of the season on total running distance per match (P = 0.288) nor in the distances covered < 14.0 km/h (P = 0.294), at 21.0–23.9 km/h (P = 0.266), and at ≥ 24.0 km/h (P = 0.112). Only the distance at 14.0–20.9 km/h was affected by the season (P = 0.019) with a lower running distance on matchday 34 in the 2019–2020 vs. 2018–2019 season. The number of substitutions (from 2.9 to 4.5 substitutions per game; P < 0.001) and match duration (96 vs. 100 min; P < 0.001) significantly increased after resumption respect to the previous season. These data suggest that high-intensity running performance of professional soccer teams was maintained after the resumption of the competition while the alterations likely aided in the in-game regulations facilitated the maintenance of soccer physical performance.

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“…In summary, when resuming competition after COVID-19, professional players of LaLiga will experience physical challenges similar to the ones they usually undergo during the first official matches of the season. This analysis might be useful for strength and physical conditioning coaches because it advocates that those teams that are better prepared, in physical and conditioning terms, to achieve high running performance from the first match after resuming the competition may increase their possibilities of succeeding [ 15 ], especially for those teams that are fighting to win the championship or to avoid relegation. In addition to football performance parameters, football practitioners should be aware of the potential higher injury risk [ 16 ] as the need to finish the season without affecting the start of the next championship will produce a congested calendar with lower-than-habitual recovery times.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Players’ physical performance in LaLiga when the competition resumes after COVID-19: insights from previous seasons

Souza¹,

González‐García²,

Campo³

et al. 2021

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Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, professional football players competing in LaLiga were confined at home for ~8 weeks and then they were allowed to train to prepare the first competitive match for 4 weeks. As the duration of summer break in the prior four seasons of LaLiga (from 2015-2016 to 2018-2019) was of similar length to the suspension of the championship due to COVID-19 (~12 weeks), we have analysed the running performance of teams competing in LaLiga in these four seasons to anticipate players’ physical performance after the resumption of the competition. The analysis includes the average running distance per game for each of the 38 matchdays that compose LaLiga. One-way ANOVA revealed that there was a main effect of the matchday on total running distance per match (p = 0.001), and in the distance covered between 14.0 and 20.9 km/h (p < 0.001), between 21.0 and 23.9 km/h (p < 0.001) and at above 24.0 km/h (p < 0.001). Overall, the post-hoc analysis revealed that the running patterns progressively increased during the first 8-10 matchdays and then reached a plateau which was significantly different to matchday-1 (p < 0.05). This analysis reveals that, in the prior four competitive seasons of LaLiga, players’ physical performance was lower at the beginning of the season and the teams needed approximately 8-10 matchdays to reach a steady state running performance. These data suggest that football players will progressively increase their performance across the 11 matchdays remaining to complete LaLiga.

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Association of match running performance with and without ball possession to football performance

Cited by 40 publications

References 27 publications

Comparative Analysis of Soccer Performance Intensity of the Pre–Post-Lockdown COVID-19 in LaLiga™

Comparative Analysis of Soccer Performance Intensity of the Pre–Post-Lockdown COVID-19 in LaLiga™

Running Patterns in LaLiga Before and After Suspension of the Competition Due to COVID-19

Players’ physical performance in LaLiga when the competition resumes after COVID-19: insights from previous seasons

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