Match-running performance of young soccer players in different game formats

External demands differences between roles in semi-professional soccer players during different physical activity tasks

“…In fact, we found that in MBE mid elder performed a higher percentage of intense accelerations and decelerations than central back and striker. These results are is in line with the ndings of a previous study showing that mid elders spent most of the time in medium and high-intensity activity during a game 48 covering the highest amount of total distance and low intensity running compared to other players 17 . Moreover, mid elders present shorter recovery bouts and less time spent in very low activity 52 .…”

“…Indeed, Gaudino et al reported an increase in accelerations/decelerations as the number of players and pitch dimensions decreased in SSG 28 . A study reported that regardless of the game format, defenders covered the lowest total distance, low intensity running, high intensity running, and very high intensity running, while mid elders covered the highest total distance and high intensity running 17 . We found that central backs, external strikers, fullback mid elders, and wide mid elders reached signi cantly higher metabolic power during training than OM, while strikers presented the highest results during OM compared to training despite this difference was not signi cant.…”

“…This result suggests that accelerations, decelerations and changes of direction occur even when speed is low 7 . To improve soccer players' performance while reducing injury risk, coaches should assess training and match loads in relation to players' position on the eld to optimize training planning [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] .…”

“…It is worth noting that physical demand is highly related to players' positions on the pitch due to the fact that roles have speci c technical-tactical requests strictly related to different physical, physiological, energetic and biomechanical components 2,17,41 . For example, the longest distance covered at high intensity is achieved by wide mid elders and fullbacks 9,42 .…”

Positioning and displacement patterns of young players during 5v5, 7v7, 9v9, and 11v11 soccer matches

“…Therefore, we can argue that, from the tactical point of view, the profile of the soccer match is more structured as the game format increased, in other words, the specificity of the tactical roles and the positioning of the players expresses a more balanced occupation of the pitch in the 9v9 and 11v11 game formats . On the other hand, the 5v5 and 7v7 game formats seem to promote a faster style of play and in which players express more contacts with the ball, which in turn contributes to improve its technical and cognitive performance (Brito, Roriz, Duarte, & Garganta, 2018).…”