Technical performance and match-to-match variation in elite football teams

Abstract

Recent research suggests that match-to-match variation adds important information to performance descriptors in team sports, as it helps measure how players fine-tune their tactical behaviours and technical actions to the extreme dynamical environments. The current study aims to identify the differences in technical performance of players from strong and weak teams and to explore match-to-match variation of players' technical match performance. Performance data of all the 380 matches of season 2012-2013 in the Spanish First Division Professional Football League were analysed. Twenty-one performance-related match actions and events were chosen as variables in the analyses. Players' technical performance profiles were established by unifying count values of each action or event of each player per match into the same scale. Means of these count values of players from Top3 and Bottom3 teams were compared and plotted into radar charts. Coefficient of variation of each match action or event within a player was calculated to represent his match-to-match variation of technical performance. Differences in the variation of technical performances of players across different match contexts (team and opposition strength, match outcome and match location) were compared. All the comparisons were achieved by the magnitude-based inferences. Results showed that technical performances differed between players of strong and weak teams from different perspectives across different field positions. Furthermore, the variation of the players' technical performance is affected by the match context, with effects from team and opposition strength greater than effects from match location and match outcome.

Effects of match situational variables on possession: The case of England Premier League season 2015/16

“…"weak" or "strong" and their position on league rankings), and match status (if winning, losing or drawing) were identified as the most important situational variables that dictates possession patterns [9][10][11][12][13] . Concerning match location, playing home presented stronger interaction with team possession than playing away 6,8,14 , which might be explained by a more familiar environment and a more consistent style of play 15,16 . The quality of opposition is also a determinant variable when investigating possession in soccer 12,16 .…”

“…Concerning match location, playing home presented stronger interaction with team possession than playing away 6,8,14 , which might be explained by a more familiar environment and a more consistent style of play 15,16 . The quality of opposition is also a determinant variable when investigating possession in soccer 12,16 . According to Taylor,Mellalieu 10 , when facing strong opponents, teams perform more passes and fewer dribbles.…”

Evaluation of the Technical Performance of Football Players in the UEFA Champions League

“…Due to the availability of data, the profiling subject has developed over time from the analysis of single players or teams to more comprehensive analysis including a larger number of players or teams [15]. Previously, median and 95% confidence intervals [9,16] were used to present the typical performance of subjects and its spread of performance, while currently profiling techniques are commonly based on mean and 95% confidence intervals [17,18].…”

“…Due to the nature of complexity and highly dynamic behaviour in football matches [18][19][20][21], the match performance of players/teams is not only influenced by technical, tactical, mental [22,23], and physiological factors [24], but also by different situational factors [25,26]. Match performance of players/teams cannot be generalized in all contexts [15] and introducing the situational variables into performance profile can make it more comprehensive and systematic [17]. Match location, team quality, quality of opposition, and match outcome are examples of situational variables that have been investigated so far [17,18,27].…”

Cuantificación y análisis de situaciones ofensivas en partidos reducidos en fútbol = Quantification and analysis of offensive situations in sided games in soccer

“…This trend was consistently born out across all of the playing surfaces, small-sided game formats and age groups observed in this study. As such, it can be confirmed that those attacking moves were essential to finishing off attacking moves successfully (Liu et al, 2015a). In the same way, entries into the area box also significant in the majority of attacks analysed (reaching up to 13.5 entries into the box per match in the 5v5 format), including passes, dribbles and shots as essential variables in those entries (Folgado et al, 2015).…”