Match-related physical performance in professional soccer: Position or player specific?

PLoS One. 2021 Sep 10;16(9):e0256695. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256695. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine to what extent the physical match performance of professional soccer players is both position and player specific. First, official match data from the 2019/20 German Bundesliga season was used to search for players that met the inclusion criteria of playing a minimum of four entire matches in at least two different playing positions. Overall, 25 players met the criteria prior to the COVID-19 induced break, playing a minimum of eight matches. Second, the physical match performance of these players was analyzed separately for each position they played. The following four parameters were captured: total distance, high-intensity distance, sprinting distance, and accelerations. Third, the 25 players' physical match performance data was then compared to normative data for each position they played to understand whether players adapted their physical performance (position dependent), or maintained their performance regardless of which position they were assigned to (position independent). When switching the position, the change in physical match performance of the respective players could be explained by 44-58% through the normative positional data. Moreover, there existed large individual differences in the way players adapted or maintained their performance when acting in different positions. Coaches and practitioners should be aware that some professional soccer players will likely incur differences in the composition of physical match performance when switching positions and therefore should pay special consideration for such differences in the training and recovery process of these players.

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Physiological
  • Athletic Performance*
  • Humans
  • Physical Functional Performance*
  • Soccer*

Grants and funding

The funder TSG 1899 Hoffenheim provided support in the form of salaries for authors [SH, TG, PL]. The funder TSG ResearchLab gGmbH provided support in the form of salaries for authors [SA, LR, AB]. Both funders did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.