Game rhythm and stoppages in soccer. A case study from Spain

Abstract

Hernández-Moreno J, Gómez-Rijo A, Castro U, González-Molina A, Quiroga ME, González-Romero F. Game rhythm and stoppages in soccer. A case study from Spain. J. Hum. Sport Exerc. Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 594-602, 2011. The purpose of this paper was to quantify and analyze the participation/pause game times and stoppages of 11-a-side soccer. A total of 617 players of 44 Spanish men's teams and 33 matches of the 2007/08 and 2008/09 men's soccer players of 2 nd division A and B and 3 rd division were studied. The methodology used is observational and systematic, active and non-participating and with an observational instrument based on a category system. The variables studied were: Stoppages and Game Rhythm. The most frequent stoppage is out of bound (mean±SD) (59.03±10.15), followed by fouls (37.33±7.09). The stoppage which registers the longest duration (in hours, minutes and seconds) is foul (16'35"±3'48"), followed by out of bound (14'30"±3'26"). Regarding game rhythm the real time of each match totaled an average of 1h36'14"±2'03" seconds. The actual time of play is on average 49'±4'44" while the pause time is 47'14"±5'23"seconds. In the description of the implications of pause time in the game dynamics of soccer, some regularities can be observed; such as the fact that the most frequent stoppages are those made due to fouls and out of bound and that the duration of the majority of these stoppages varies within a range of 4 to 7 seconds. The pauses have shown to be a major element in the study of soccer game rhythm because they take at least half the total time of the match. Consistent with this, it is understood that game rhythm can easily be improved with regulatory modifications such as the elimination of interruptions because of substitutions.

Factors That Influence Actual Playing Time: Evidence From the Chinese Super League and English Premier League

“…Previous studies found that high-intensity games tend to be accompanied by longer intervals ( Hernández-Moreno et al, 2011 ). Compared to other leagues, the EPL has a faster rhythm ( Jamil and Kerruish, 2020 ); thus, players may take advantage of stoppages to recover from a high-intensity game, which can explain the greater time consumption during throw-ins in EPL games.…”

“…To test the reliability of the data, another experienced observer examined ten randomly selected games (10% of the sample: 5 CSL and 5 EPL games; Hernández-Moreno et al, 2011 ). Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) values ranged from 0.968 to 1.0 ( Table 2 ), which exceeded 0.9 and thus proved excellent reliability ( Koo and Li, 2016 ).…”

Effective playing time in the Chinese Super League

“…The negative coefficients and medium effect size of fouls suggest that ‘handicapped’ contestants tend to decrease the EPT, in line with previous findings that a foul results in the longest duration of game stoppage. 27…”