Effect of Opposition Quality and Match Location on the Positional Demands of the 4-2-3-1 Formation in Elite Soccer †
1
Human Performance Laboratory, Department of Life and Health, School of Sciences and Engineering, University of Nicosia, Nicosia 1700, Cyprus
2
School of Physical Education and Sports Science, Democritus University of Thrace, 69100 Komotini, Greece
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Presented at the 9th Greek Conference of Biochemistry and Physiology of Exercise, Thessaloniki, Greece, 18–20 October 2019.
Proceedings 2019, 25(1), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2019025026
Published: 3 September 2019
(This article belongs to the Proceedings of The 9th Conference of Biochemistry and Physiology of Exercise)
Abstract
:AIM: The present study examined the influence of match location, quality of opposition team, and playing position on physical performance indicators of the 4-2-3-1 formation. MATERIAL & METHODS: Twenty-six games (with 184 player-observations and 17 players, who played the full 90 min) were recorded with a video system, and the physical demands of the players were analyzed according to their specific playing position (classified into wide defenders, central defenders, central midfielders, wide midfielders, and forwards). Match performance variables analyzed included total distance (TD), high-intensity running (HIR), very-high-intensity running (VHIR), and sprinting (SPR). RESULTS: There was a main effect of position on TD (F = 37.84, p < 0.001), HIR (F = 41.19, p < 0.001), VHIR (F = 27.89, p < 0.001), and SPR (F = 22.25, p < 0.001). Wide defenders covered the most SPR and—along with the central midfielders—the most VHIR. Central midfielders covered the most TD and HIR. Match location and opposition quality had interactive effects on TD (F = 12.96, p < 0.001), HIR (F = 8.33, p = 0.004) and VHIR (F = 8.17, p = 0.005). Competing against “weak” opponents, more TD, HIR, and VHIR were covered during home games compared to away games (p < 0.001). However, more TD was covered during away games against “strong” opponents compared to away games against “weak” opponents (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The current study supports more individualized specific intense-based drills (e.g., repeated sprint training) for wide defenders and more volume-based drills (e.g., long interval training) for central midfielders, whilst total weekly training load can be adjusted based on match location and quality of oppositions in the anticipated game-load.
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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MDPI and ACS Style
Paraskevas, G.; Smilios, I.; Hadjicharalambous, M. Effect of Opposition Quality and Match Location on the Positional Demands of the 4-2-3-1 Formation in Elite Soccer. Proceedings 2019, 25, 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2019025026
AMA Style
Paraskevas G, Smilios I, Hadjicharalambous M. Effect of Opposition Quality and Match Location on the Positional Demands of the 4-2-3-1 Formation in Elite Soccer. Proceedings. 2019; 25(1):26. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2019025026
Chicago/Turabian StyleParaskevas, Giorgos, Ilias Smilios, and Marios Hadjicharalambous. 2019. "Effect of Opposition Quality and Match Location on the Positional Demands of the 4-2-3-1 Formation in Elite Soccer" Proceedings 25, no. 1: 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2019025026
