ArticlePloS one2021
Match-related physical performance in professional soccer: Position or player specific?
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed.
- Position-Specific Match Demands in Professional Soccer Assessed Using GPS Technology: A Repeated-Measures Analysis.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Influence of Match Location and Match Outcome on External Load Demands in Female Futsal Players.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Effects of Dribbling constraints on Sprint Acceleration Performance and the Force-Velocity Profile according to Playing Positions in Professional Soccer Players.Journal of human kinetics · 2026Article
- Competition-level and positional differences in match running performance of Vietnamese professional soccer players: a GPS-based season analysis.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- Uncovering the Latent Components of Physical Performance in Professional Soccer: Evidence from the Turkish First Division.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Article
- Who Runs the Most? Positional Demands in a 4-3-3 Formation Among Elite Youth Footballers.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Return-to-Play Timeline and Recovery Predictors After COVID-19 Infection in Elite Football Players.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- The Influence of Playing Position on Physical, Physiological, and Technical Demands in Adult Male Soccer Matches: A Systematic Scoping Review with Evidence Gap Map.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2024Article
- Possession or position games: What is the key in soccer?Biology of sport · 2024Article
- Analyzing soccer match sprint distances: A comparison of GPS-based absolute and relative thresholds.Biology of sport · 2024Article
- The influence of tactical formation on physical and technical performance across playing positions in the Chinese super league.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Non-linear trends using the generalized additive models in physical and technical performances of the Chinese Super League players.PloS one · 2024Article
- Effective playing time affects physical match performance in soccer: An analysis according to playing position.Biology of sport · 2023Article
- Soccer's AI transformation: deep learning's analysis of soccer's pandemic research evolution.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Is ball-possession style more physically demanding than counter-attacking? The influence of playing style on match performance in professional soccer.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Training and match load ratios in professional soccer-should we use player- or position-specific match reference values?Frontiers in sports and active living · 2023Article
- Metabolic power and energy expenditure in the German Bundesliga.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Article
- High-speed running and sprinting in professional adult soccer: Current thresholds definition, match demands and training strategies. A systematic review.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2023Review
- Assessment of inter-individual variability in hamstring muscle recovery after a sport-specific sprint training in women and men.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
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.
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