Skill-related performance in soccer: a systematic review

Abstract

the aim of the study was to evaluate and organize systematically the available literature on skill-related performance in young and adult male soccer players in an attempt to identify the most common topics, ascertain the weaknesses, and elucidate the main contributions of the scientific papers on this issue. A systematic review of the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Web of Knowledge database was performed in accordance with the Preferred reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-analyses (PrISMA) guidelines. the keywords 'football' and 'soccer' were used, each associated with the following terms: 'technical analysis,' 'technical performance,' 'technical activity,' 'technical skill,' 'technical demands,' 'technical profiles,' 'technical characteristics,' 'technical actions,' 'technical scores,' 'technical ability,' 'motor skills,' and 'skill acquisition'. From the 2830 papers, only 60 were reviewed, of which 75% had been published in years 2011-2015 and 53.3% concerned professional or seniors players (above the U-20 category). Out of the 41 papers that analysed the skill-related performance in the match, 48.8% evaluated the performance in small-sided and conditioned games. Among the 27 papers that used validated instruments, 88.9% assessed technical actions outside the match context (e.g. dribbling, shooting tests). Future research should pay attention to the definition and classification of the skill-related variables under investigation in match context and propose tests for measured skill-related performance in soccer, considering that the representativeness task design allies the players' possibilities of action to the situation of the match.

How Does the Adjustment of Training Task Difficulty Level Influence Tactical Behavior in Soccer?

“…Several researchers have also found an influence of players' skills levels on team performance. In a recent systematic review, Aquino, Puggina, Alves, and Garganta (2017) highlighted several studies that observed the influence of competitive level on player and team performance. Thus, the results of this study corroborate with those findings, since we also found an influence of player skill level on team performance and player exploratory behavior in tasks with different difficulty levels.…”

Using position data to estimate effects of perceptual features of play on passing decisions in soccer

“…Passes that resulted directly from free kicks, corners, goal-kicks, and throw-ins were all uniquely coded. Furthermore, we coded passes that were completed (e.g., touched once by a team member) but could not be brought under control (Aquino, Puggina, Alves, & Garganta, 2017;Jones, James, & Mellalieu, 2004). Coded passes were excluded from the analyses, resulting in a final number of 1,379 passes.…”

Comparison of the pass skill between professional and u-15 futsal players under different organization contexts

“…According to a systematic review study [2], the performance of motor skills is evaluated for various purposes, for example, to verify the frequency of success in the performance of the skills (a) through the effect of fatigue stimulated by physical exercises or (b) in conditioned game situations through different task restrictions, such as modified rules, fewer players, less space, or limited contact with the ball; (c) to compare athletes of different categories, competitive levels, playing positions, and tactical schemes; and (d) to identify and select potentially talented players. thus, there are different ways of evaluating the performance of the same specific motor skills, the main factor being the characteristics of the environment where they occur.…”