Does competition standard and player position influence the match-play physical demands of Australian elite youth male soccer players within a single squad?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of competition standard and player position on the physical demands of Australian elite youth male soccer players during match-play. Twenty-three elite youth male soccer players from the same Australian U17 National Centre of Excellence program were observed across 8 National Youth League (NYL) and 21 National Premier League (NPL) competition matches. Total (TD/min), low- (< 3.6 m/s), moderate- (3.6–5.0m/s) and high-speed (> 5.0 m/s) running distance, and the accelerations (Acc/min) (≥ 2.0 m/s2) and decelerations (Dec/min) (≤ −2.0 m/s2) were recorded using 15-Hz portable global positioning system tracking devices (GPSports, Canberra, Australia). An interaction was observed between competition standard and player position for TD/min ( p = 0.003), HSRD/min ( p = 0.007) and Acc/min ( p = 0.037) indicating the influence that competition standard had on these variables varied according to player position. Furthermore, we report that Central Defenders (3.1%), External Attackers (4.2%) and Central Attackers (3.8%) performed more TD/min in NYL (professional development level) compared to NPL (semi-professional) match-play. Central Defenders (24.2%) and Central Attackers (17.0%) completed more HSRD/min in NYL (professional development level) compared to NPL (semi-professional) match-play. Central Defenders (47.8%), External Defenders (20.5%), Midfielders (18.5%) and External Attackers (32.3%) all performed more Acc/min in NPL (semi-professional) when compared to NYL (professional development level) match-play. The results of this study provide scientific basis to aid the match-preparation of Australian elite youth male soccer player’s transition to higher standards of soccer.

Investigating Acceleration and Deceleration Patterns in Elite Youth Football: The Interplay of Ball Possession and Tactical Behavior

“…On the other hand, our findings can only partially confirm the hypothesis that establishes differences in the physical demands of young players according to the role or position assigned to them on the pitch [45][46][47][48], since all positions showed similar performance. Statistically significant differences were found only in the main variables of the study, Ac and Dec, and these differences were uneven depending on the possession of the ball.…”

Match running performance in Brazilian professional soccer players: comparisons between successful and unsuccessful teams

“…However, there are some issues related to the use and interpretation of measures derived from GPS [ 6 , 7 ]. For example, some measures (e.g., total distance covered and distance in high-speed running) can be highly dependent on positional role, tactical contexts, players’ physical fitness, competitive standard, and contextual factors, among other aspects [ 4 , 8 – 10 ]. On the other hand, the investigation of accelerometry-derived measures in response to the aforementioned independent variables should be better investigated during the match play.…”

Influence of contextual factors on match running performance of starters and non-starters in elite youth male soccer players

“…Match analysis is crucial for researchers and practitioners in sports. 1 In soccer, the integration of different technologies (e.g. global positioning systems (GPS) and microtechnology) is a useful aid in understanding the external loads of training and matches, including distance covered at various speeds and acceleration/deceleration measures.…”