Quantifying the Peak Physical Match-Play Demands of Professional Soccer Substitutes Following Pitch-Entry: Assessing Contextual Influences

Abstract

Purpose: To quantify the peak post-pitch-entry physical responses of soccer substitutes, while assessing contextual influences. Peak responses may be important performance indicators for substitutes introduced to provide a physical impact.Method: Thirty-three professional substitutes wore Microelectromechanical Systems during 44 matches (4±3 observations•player -1 ). Post-pitch-entry relative peak total and high-speed (>5.5 m•s -1 ) distances, average acceleration, and PlayerLoad™ were calculated using rolling averages over 60-s to 600-s. Linear mixed models assessed contextual influences (position, substitution timing, scoreline, and location).Results: Substitutes introduced during the final ~15 min of match-play covered less high-speed distance than first-half substitutes (~2.8-3.1 m•min -1 ) over 480-s to 600-s epochs, and less than 60:00-74:59 min substitutes (~1.7-1.8 m•min -1 ) during 540-s and 600-s epochs. Average acceleration during all except 180-s epochs was lower for 75:00+ min substitutes compared with first-half replacements (~0.27-0.43 m•s -2 ), and lower than 60:00-74:59 min substitutes during 60-s epochs (~0.13 m•s -2 ).Substitutes introduced when their team was winning recorded greater distances over 120-s to 600-s epochs (~6.2-7.7 m•min -1 ), and higher PlayerLoad™ values during 120-s, 180-s, 300-s, and 480-s epochs (~2.7-3.6 arbitrary units•min -1 ), compared with when scores were level at pitch-entry.Irrespective of substitution timing, substitute midfielders exceeded the total distance of substitute attackers (~5.9-16.2 m•min -1 ) for all except 360-s and 600-s epochs, and defenders (~13.3-26.7 m•min -1 ) during epochs <300-s. Conclusions:This study provides benchmark data for practitioners tailoring training and recovery protocols, particularly 'top-up' conditioning, based upon the competitive demands of soccer substitutes. Knowing how contextual factors influence substitutes' peak match-play responses may also help managers/coaches to assess the efficacy of substitution strategies.

Positional and temporal differences in peak match running demands of elite football

“…Quantifying the physical demands of match-play provide context for training prescription and preparing players for competition. Recent methods have explored the most physically demanding periods of match-play through quantifying the peak match running demands for a range of short epochs rather than absolute running volumes for arbitrary epochs [ 13 – 15 ]. These peak match running demands are calculated using a moving average duration, where the highest observed physical output for selected metrics are calculated at incremental discrete time periods (e.g.…”

Profiling the Post-match Top-up Conditioning Practices of Professional Soccer Substitutes: An Analysis of Contextual Influences

“…Whereas absolute HSR in the current study equated to <50% of whole-match values for players occupying outfield players (9, 14, 31), relative HSR of ~28.1 m•min -1 far exceeds the ~4.8-10.1 m•min -1 typically recorded across a playing bout for both partial-and whole-match players (7,9,19). Indeed, such values broadly reflect the relative HSR responses reported during the 'peak' 2-3 min period of match-play (13,17,20). Although the role of HSR 'intensity' in physical preparation and injurymanagement remains to be determined, it may be important for practitioners to consider the potential for differing physiological responses when substantially overloading relative HSR compared with typical match-play demands, and to assess the volume of HSR that can be safely accumulated in the limited time available for post-match conditioning (10).…”

“…Strategic substitutions (i.e., replacements that are not made due to injuries sustained by on-pitch players) are most often made at half-time or during the second-half of match-play (7,18,19,21), with individuals entering the pitch typically exceeding the relative total (TD) and/or high-speed running (HSR) distances of players who started a match (7,21). However, substitutes consistently experience substantially lower absolute match-play demands compared with players who complete the full 90 min (19), whilst their reduced playing time may also restrict a substitute's opportunity to attain the 'peak' HSR responses of their whole-match counterparts (20).…”

Effect of Increasing the Number of Substitutions on Physical Performance during Periods of Congested Fixtures in Football

“…Taking into account the distribution used in the literature, substitutions were classified into 15 min temporal windows [ 26 , 27 ]. Solely the changes made in the second half were considered for this study, as those made in the first half did not present a representative sample ( n = 8).…”

“…In general, football coaches seem to have similar substitution patterns [ 21 ]. However, there are a variety of reasons for making substitutions, such as modifying tactical behaviours [ 22 ], counteracting fatigue [ 23 ], restructuring the team after a player has been dismissed, replacing yellow carded players [ 24 ], replacing injured or underperforming players [ 25 ] as well as providing playing time to players with fewer minutes and preventing fatigue accumulation among other team members [ 26 ]. Substitutes are typically introduced at halftime or during the second half of the game [ 25 , 26 ], although the differences in physical performance have not been studied using time criteria [ 26 , 27 ].…”