The rotation strategy in high-level European soccer teams

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the rotation strategy in high-level soccer teams during a sequence of three games per week (1st domestic, 2nd European and 3rd domestic). Data were collected during the 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 competitive season for the soccer teams that were qualified in the quarter finals of the Champions League. Regression analysis showed that when a large number of players participated in the initial list for the three games, more points in the domestic league were lost. Similarly, increasing the changes of players in the initial list between the 1st and the 3rd game and between the 2nd and the 3rd game a negative effect on the domestic league was observed. In contrast, a positive effect of the number of changes of players in the starting line between the 1st and the 2nd game, regarding the total points won, was found. As the average time of the substitutes participated in the game increases in all three games, the total points of the teams are reduced. The biggest time of changes in the 2nd game had a negative impact on the points of European games. In order to achieve a more efficient rotation, coaches should have a qualitative and competitive roster of players. Furthermore, coaches should try to apply different tactics in previous matches in order, as many players as possible, to maintain high levels of homogeneity and competing readiness.

Factors associated with match outcomes in elite European football – insights from machine learning models

“…In a previous study examining the effect of rotation on the performance of Champions' League teams playing three matches a week (2014-15 to 2017-18 competitive season), more points in the domestic league were lost when a large number of players participated in the initial list for the three games. Similarly, increasing rotations in the initial list between the 1st and the 3rd game and between the 2nd and the 3rd game had a negative effect on the domestic league performance (Bekris, 2020). A specific analysis of 98 different teams in the "Top 5" European domestic leagues over the 2016-17 season showed more contrasted results however (i.e., lack of clear correlations between rotation numbers and performance); this lead the author to suggest that the effect of rotations per se is more complex than and that and likely related to a myriad of other factors (e.g., opposition, travels -which gives more credit to the present multi-factorial analysis), and should be relied upon on a case-by-case basis (Schmidt, 2017).…”

“…Among the 'simple' factors the most examined, the effects of the number of rest days between matches (Buchheit, 2022;Verheijen, 2012) and match location (González-Rodenas, 2019, Lago-Peñas, 2016Pollard, 1986) are probably the most straightforward, with teams tending to lose more often when travelling away with few days of rest between matcheseven though the best teams with large squad (and ability to rotate players while maintaining their playing quality (O'Hanlon 2020), may actually deal better with these difficult scenarios (Buchheit, 2022;. Other factors including team ranking (González-Rodenas, 2019), manager changes (Radzimiński, 2022), players availability (Hägglund, 2013;Eliakim, 2020) and player management strategies such as substitutions (Buchheit, 2023c) and rotations Bekris, 2020;Schmidt, 2017) play also a role.…”

The Effect of Squad Rotation on Physical Activity at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Analysis the Most Exploited Players of the 4 Best Teams

“…Contemporary international football tournaments are characterized by a high number of matches condensed into a short period of time (Silva et al, 2017). This emphasizes the importance of rotation within teams during tournament matches (Carling et al, 2014;Bekris et al, 2020). Matches are held every few days, and each team plays seven matches in a month, which means that the players play for a total of 630 minutes, not excluding the extra time that may be added in the knockout stage (Król et al, 2017).…”