Evaluation of the Technical Performance of Football Players in the UEFA Champions League

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the technical match performance of top-class football players in a long-term perspective. Technical performance profiles of players according to five playing positions (central defender, full back, wide midfielder, central midfielder, forward) and five situational variables (competition stage, match location, quality of team, quality of opponent, match outcome) were established. Technical match data of players in the UEFA Champions League from season 2009-2010 to 2016-2017 were analyzed. The true effects of positional and situational variables on players' technical performance were evaluated by the non-clinical magnitude-based inference. Results showed that the effect of competition stage on player's performance was negligible. Quality of team, quality of opponent and match outcome revealed the strongest effects on player's performance (ES: −0.42 ± 0.10-0.59 ± 0.10) while the effect of match location was relatively lower (ES: −0.32 ± 0.10-0.23 ± 0.07). The number of variables that showed statistical differences under five competing contexts for wide midfielders and forwards were higher than those of central defenders, full backs, and central midfielders. Differences of players' match performance could mainly be identified in variables related to goal scoring, passing, and organizing, these findings may provide important insights for coaches and analysts during the match preparation and training session.

Effects of Match Location, Quality of Opposition and Match Outcome on Match Running Performance in a Portuguese Professional Football Team

“…Our study has some limitations, which means that the results should be interpreted with caution: (i) match data did not consider the different period bouts and halves of the match, as in other studies [13][14][15]17,18,20,48], and (ii) technical factors (i.e., running with or without the ball) [56,86,87], tactical key indicators (i.e., possession strategies) [65,83,88] and collective behavior must be considered for a more ecological analysis [9,10,[74][75][76][77][78][79]. (iii) The different methodological approaches used in the literature should be considered when interpreting our findings [6,7], (iv) cumulative effects of a pre-match training and players' cognitive status prior to match-play were not controlled in this research [89][90][91] and (v) our match data reflect only one team and hence cannot be extended to all Portuguese professional teams.…”

Strength and Speed Profiles Based on Age and Sex Differences in Young Basketball Players

“…In the multi-jump test, significant differences among game categories are found in all the analyzed variables due to the development in puberty of strength production factors [ 28 ] except for the variable between jumps, which does not present significant differences among ages. These results may be due to the fact that this variable is related not only to the ability to generate the greatest possible strength in the shortest time but also to the fact that coordination affects execution.…”

“…This way of presenting the results is because it facilitates the graphic representation and the understanding of variables that provide a comprehensive vision of the object of study (evaluated through different variables) and that have different scales [ 23 ]. In addition, it is a common practice both in the field of research and in the professional field of training for the study of performance indicators [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ] or the evaluation of physical condition [ 29 ].…”

The influence of randomness on goals in football decreases over time. An empirical analysis of randomness involved in goal scoring in the English Premier League

“…They stated that "pertinent information such as the period of the season the data were collected, the quality of the opposition faced and match location should arguably be provided in order to bring context to research data and its subsequent conclusions" (p. 647). Accordingly, it is widely acknowledged that situational variables such as match location, scoreline, competition stage, or the quality of the teams need to be considered when analysing performance in football (Fernandez-Navarro et al, 2018;Lago, 2009;Lago-Peñas, 2012;Yi et al, 2020).…”