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

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Football Analytics

Background:

• Understanding player-specific physical demands in soccer is crucial for performance optimization.
• Previous research has focused on general positional differences, with less attention to individual player adaptability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the extent to which professional soccer players' physical match performance is specific to both playing position and individual player characteristics.
• To analyze how players adapt or maintain their physical output when playing multiple positions.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of official match data from the 2019/20 German Bundesliga season for 25 selected players.
• Quantification of physical match performance parameters: total distance, high-intensity distance, sprinting distance, and accelerations.
• Comparison of individual player data against normative positional data to assess performance adaptation.

Main Results:

• Player physical match performance varied significantly when switching positions, with normative positional data explaining 44-58% of the changes.
• Large individual differences were observed in how players adapted or maintained their performance across different roles.
• The study highlights that physical performance is not solely dictated by position but also by individual player responses.

Conclusions:

• Professional soccer players exhibit distinct physical performance profiles that are influenced by both their assigned position and individual player traits.
• Coaches and practitioners must recognize and address the individual variability in physical performance when players change positions.
• Tailored training and recovery strategies are recommended to accommodate these player-specific adaptations for enhanced performance and injury prevention.