Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40933316›Full record

ArticleJournal of sports science & medicine2025

Beyond Playing Positions: Categorizing Soccer Players Based on Match-Specific Running Performance Using Machine Learning.

Michel de Haan, Stephan van der Zwaard, Jurrit Sanders, Peter J Beek, Richard T Jaspers

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of sports science & medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Michel de HaanDepartment of Human Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Movement Sciences, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Stephan van der ZwaardDepartment of Human Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Movement Sciences, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Jurrit SandersPSV Eindhoven, Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Peter J BeekDepartment of Human Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Movement Sciences, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Richard T JaspersDepartment of Human Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Movement Sciences, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Soccer players are frequently categorized by playing positions, both in the scientific literature and in practice. However, the utility of this approach in evaluating physical match performance and optimizing physical training programs remains unclear. This study compares the effectiveness of categorizing soccer players by their playing position versus using unsupervised machine learning based on match-specific running performance. Match-specific running data were collected from 40 young elite male soccer players over two seasons. Thirty-one of these players completed a 20-meter sprint test and a maximal incremental treadmill test to measure maximal oxygen uptake. Players were categorized both by playing position and by subgroups derived through

Indexed as

Athletic PerformanceMachine LearningPhysical Conditioning, HumanRunningSoccerAdolescentAthletesCluster AnalysisExercise TestHumansMaleOxygen ConsumptionPhysical EnduranceYoung Adultartificial intelligenceClusteringfootballphysiologysprint speedV̇O2max

Identifiers

PMID40933316
PMCPMC12418189

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.