Player Load, Acceleration, and Deceleration During Forty-Five Competitive Matches of Elite Soccer

Abstract

The use of time-motion analysis has advanced our understanding of position-specific work rate profiles and the physical requirements of soccer players. Still, many of the typical soccer activities can be neglected, as these systems only examine activities measured by distance and speed variables. This study used triaxial accelerometer and time-motion analysis to obtain new knowledge about elite soccer players' match load. Furthermore, we determined acceleration/deceleration profiles of elite soccer players and their contribution to the players' match load. The data set includes every domestic home game (n = 45) covering 3 full seasons (2009, 2010, and 2011) for the participating team (Rosenborg FC), and includes 8 central defenders (n = 68), 9 fullbacks (n = 83), 9 central midfielders (n = 70), 7 wide midfielders (n = 39), and 5 attackers (A, n = 50). A novel finding was that accelerations contributed to 7-10% of the total player load for all player positions, whereas decelerations contributed to 5-7%. Furthermore, the results indicate that other activities besides the high-intensity movements contribute significantly to the players' total match workload. Therefore, motion analysis alone may underestimate player load because many high-intensity actions are without a change in location at the pitch or they are classified as low-speed activity according to current standards. This new knowledge may help coaches to better understand the different ways players achieve match load and could be used in developing individualized programs that better meet the "positional physical demands" in elite soccer.

Quantification of in-season training load relative to match load in professional Dutch Eredivisie football players

“…Whereas our study showed the total number of accelerations and decelerations above 1.5 m · s −2 (226 and 169, respectively) and 3.0 m · s −2 (61 and 58), other studies that considered matches in elite leagues (Bradley et al 2010;Varley & Aughey 2013;Russell et al 2014;Wehbe et al 2014;Ingebrigtsen et al 2015;Dalen et al 2016) used absolute thresholds of 0.5, 2.0, 2.5, 2.78, 3.0 and 4.0 m · s −2 . It is important to realize that even if there was agreement, comparison between acceleration variables measured with different tracking systems (and system versions) would be difficult (Buchheit et al 2014b).…”

“…The average total distance ran during the matches in our study (10,927 m) reflected that of top-level leagues in Europe and Australia (range 10,063-11,230 m) (Bradley et al 2010(Bradley et al , 2013Osgnach et al 2010;Manzi et al 2014;Wehbe et al 2014;Ingebrigtsen et al 2015;Dalen et al 2016). Also running (14.4-19.8 km · h −1 ) distance and high-speed running (>19.8 km · h −1 ) distance were within the range of the same top-level leagues (1614 m vs. 1612-1758 m and 738 m vs. 646-1061 m, respectively).…”

“…Acceleration thresholds were close to those suggested by Johnston et al (2014). Accelerations and decelerations had to last at least 0.5 s (Dalen et al 2016). Furthermore, accelerations were only included when they resulted in velocities above 2.78 m · s −1 (= 10.0 km · h −1 ) during the acceleration phase, whereas decelerations were only included when they started above and ended below a velocity of 2.78 m · s −1 .…”

“…Indeed, numerous studies have provided detailed information about the external load of elite football players during matches (see Sarmento et al 2014 for a review), including acceleration and metabolic variables (Osgnach et al 2010;Varley & Aughey 2013;Russell et al 2014;Wehbe et al 2014;Ingebrigtsen et al 2015;Dalen et al 2016), since these variables have been considered both metabolically and mechanically relevant (Greig et al 2006;Stevens et al 2015). Only recently, however, several studies have described the in-season training periodization practices of elite football teams in detail, including a comparison of training days within weekly micro-cycles (Akenhead, Harley, & Tweddle, 2016;Malone et al 2015;Anderson et al 2016).…”

Physical demands of playing position within English Premier League academy soccer

“…The majority of research investigating physical demands of soccer competition have analysed total distance, and high-speed distances, but not considered acceleration activities (Bradley et al, 2009;Dellal et al, 2011, Di Salvo et al, 2010. Accelerations are highly fatiguing in nature, and with muscular fatigue responsible for a large proportion of injuries within soccer, consideration of accelerations are vital when assessing training load (Dalen et al, 2016;Ingebrigtsen et al, 2015). Of the limited research including acceleration analysis, arbitrary thresholds were utilised to determine acceleration intensity (Dalen et al, 2016;Ingebrigtsen et al, 2015).…”