Exploring Factors Related to Goal Scoring Opportunities in Professional Football

Assigning goal-probability value to high intensity runs in football

High intensity run counts-defined as the number of runs where a player reaches and maintains a speed above a certain threshold-are a popular football running statistic in sport science research. While the high intensity run number gives an insight into the volume or intensity of a player's work rate it does not give any indication about the effectiveness of their runs or whether or not they provided value to the team. To provide the missing context of value this research borrows the concept of value models from sports analytics which assign continuous values to each frame of optical tracking data. In this research the value model takes the form of goal-probability for the in-possession team. By aligning the value model with high intensity runs this research identifies positive correlations between speed and acceleration with high value runs, as well as a negative correlation between tortuosity (a measure of path curvature) and high value runs. There is also a correlation between the number of players making high intensity runs concurrently and the value generated by the team, suggesting a form of movement coordination. Finally positional differences are explored demonstrating that attacking players make more in-possession high intensity runs when goal probability is high, whereas defensive players make more out-of-possession high intensity runs while goal probability is high. By assigning value to high-intensity runs practitioners are able to add new layers of context to traditional sport science metrics and answer more nuanced questions.

Brain endurance training improves soccer-specific technical skills and cognitive performance in fatigued professional soccer players

OBJECTIVES

Brain Endurance Training (BET) - the addition of mentally fatiguing cognitive tasks to standard physical training - could improve performance in soccer. We tested whether BET, with cognitive tasks intermixed with physical training activities, improved players' cognitive and soccer-specific technical performance compared to physical training alone when fresh and fatigued.

DESIGN

The study employed a pre/training/midtest/training/posttest design.

METHODS

31 professional male soccer players were randomly assigned to BET or control groups and completed 18 physical training sessions over 6 weeks. In between the physical training activities, the BET group completed demanding cognitive tasks, whereas the control group rested. Players completed the Loughborough soccer passing (LSPT) and shooting test (LSST) before and after completing a 30-min Stroop task. A brief psychomotor vigilance test (PVT-B), a visual analog rating of mental fatigue (MF-VAS), and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured during testing and training.

RESULTS

During testing, the 30-min Stroop task elicited a state of MF, confirmed by higher subjective ratings (P < .01). Compared to pre-testing, at mid- and post-testing, the BET group improved passing (all P < .01), shooting (all P < .01), and PVT-B performance (all P < .01) when tested after (fatigued) but not before (fresh) the Stroop task, whereas the control group did not change performance either way. During training the BET group reported higher MF (P < .01) and exhibited slower PVT-B responses (P < .01) compared to control.

CONCLUSIONS

Intermixed BET was more effective than physical training alone at improving cognitive and soccer-specific technical performance of professional soccer players when fatigued.

Most common movements preceding goal scoring situations in female professional soccer

This study aimed to assess movements occurring during goal scoring situations in a female professional league.Data from all the goals on the Women's Super League 2018/2019 were collected through time-motion analysis using a modified version of the Bloomfield Movement Classification with differences analysed through chi-square. Analysis was performed on players (assistant, scorer [attackers], defender of assistant and defender of scorer [defenders]), movements, intensities and directions.Linear advancing motion (walking, jogging, running or sprint) (total percentage [95% CI] 37% attackers and 32.7% defenders) was the most common action preceding a goal, followed by deceleration (21.5% attackers; 18.4% defenders) and turn (19.2% attackers; 17.6% defenders). Other movements involved but with lower percentages were change in angle run (cut and arc run), ball blocking, lateral advancing motion (crossover and shuffle) and jumps. Players displayed similar tendencies but presented variations based on the role, with attackers performing more linear actions, subtle turns and cuts and defenders more ball blocking actions, lateral movements and high intensity linear actions and decelerations. Assistant performed the less percentage of involvements with at least 1 high intensity action (67.4%), scorer and defender of assistant showed similar values (86.3% and 87.1%), while defender of scorer had the highest percentage (97.3%).This study shows the importance of linear actions with other movements also being of high significance but with differentiated characteristics based on the role. This study could help practitioners design drills for the enhancement of physical capabilities related to movements occurring in goal scoring situations.

Match running performance preceding scoring and conceding a goal in men's professional soccer

This study aimed to investigate the potential differences in the match running performance of professional soccer players 5 min. before scoring and conceding a goal in the Polish Ekstraklasa. The sample consisted of 278 matches with 570 goals scored during official matches of the 2022/23 Polish Ekstraklasa season. All data was collected utilising the computerised multiple-camera optical tracking system TRACAB. Total distance covered (TD), standing distance (StD; < 0.72 km h-1), walking distance (WD; 0.73-7.2 km h-1), jogging distance (JG; 7.21-14.4 km h-1), running distance (RD; 14.41-19.8 km h-1), high-speed running distance (HSR; 19.81-25.2 km h-1) and sprinting distance (SprD; > 25.2 km h-1) were analysed in 5-min intervals prior to a goal scored for both teams. The employed linear mixed models showed that all examined match-running performance metrics were higher in teams that scored a goal compared to teams that conceded a goal. Within 5 min before scoring a goal in Polish Ekstraklasa matches, the scoring team produced significantly greater TD (∆ 95%CI 256.8-300.4 m; p = 0.001), WD (∆ 95%CI 52.3-95.8 m; p = 0.001), JG (∆ 95%CI 100.5-144.1 m; p = 0.001) and RD (∆ 95%CI 16.2-59.8 m; p = 0.001) compared to the conceding team, although no differences were found for HSR and SprD. These results demonstrate the enhanced identification potential of key physical performance factors influencing goal scoring in the Polish Ekstraklasa, thereby optimising the training process and improving overall performance. To enhance the effectiveness of soccer training, coaching and performance staff should consider this study's findings, that indicate an increase in the volume of medium- and low-intensity running efforts preceding a goal.

The characteristics of counterattacks in the Spanish league (La Liga) in 2021-2022

BACKGROUND

Current studies on counterattacks are limited despite the fact that it is one of the most effective ways to score in soccer. The aim of the study was to investigate the characteristics of counterattacks in the Spanish league (La Liga) for the year 2021-2022.

METHODS

The sample used in the study were 2631 counterattacks collected from a total of 380 games. The variables used were: 1) the space which the counterattack had started; 2) the number of players who participated; 3) the number of defending players; 4) the duration of the counterattack; 5) the touches to complete the counterattack; 6) the formation of both teams; 7) the way that counterattack was completed (final action); 8) the minute that the counterattack took place; and 9) which team had a home advantage. The results were analyzed using the Chi-square test. The level of significance was defined at P<0.05.

RESULTS

Firstly, it appeared that most counterattacks began from the axis of the defensive zone lasting 6-15 seconds. There were 3-4 attackers participating against 4-6 defenders, using 5-9 touches. In addition, most of them took place in the 46-60 minute of the game and were completed in a shot.

CONCLUSIONS

The study can help coaches and analysts to understand the characteristics of the counterattacks and adapt their training in a way to make their teams more effective, both in the attacking and defending phase.

Identifying Soccer Teams' Styles of Play: A Scoping and Critical Review

Identifying and measuring soccer playing styles is a very important step toward a more effective performance analysis. Exploring the different game styles that a team can adopt to enable a great performance remains under-researched. To address this challenge and identify new directions in future research in the area, this paper conducted a critical review of 40 research articles that met specific criteria. Following the 22-item Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines, this scoping review searched for literature on Google Scholar and Pub Med database. The descriptive and thematic analysis found that the objectives of the identified papers can be classified into three main categories (recognition and effectiveness of playing styles and contextual variables that affect them). Critically reviewing the studies, the paper concluded that: (i) factor analysis seems to be the best technique among inductive statistics; (ii) artificial intelligence (AI) opens new horizons in performance analysis, and (iii) there is a need for further research on the effectiveness of different playing styles, as well as on the impact of contextual variables on them.

Off-ball behavior in association football: A data-driven model to measure changes in individual defensive pressure

This study describes an approach to evaluate the off-ball behaviour of attacking players in association football. The aim was to implement a defensive pressure model to examine an offensive player's ability to create separation from a defender using 1411 high-intensity off-ball actions including 988 Deep Runs (DRs) DRs and 423 Change of Directions (CODs). Twenty-two official matches (14 competitive matches and 8 friendlies) of the German National Team were included in the research. To validate the effectiveness of the pressure model, each pass (n = 25,418) was evaluated for defensive pressure on the receiver at the moment of the pass and for the pass completion rate (R = -.34, p < .001). Next, after assessing the inter-rater reliability (Fleiss Kappa of 80 for DRs and 78 for CODs), three expert raters annotated all DRs and CODs that met the pre-set criteria. A time-series analysis of each DR and COD was calculated to the nearest 0.1 second, finding a slight increase in pressure from the start to the end of the off-ball actions as defenders re-established proximity to the attacker after separation was created. A linear mixed model using run type (DR or COD) as a fixed effect with the local maximum as a fixed effect on a continuous scale resulted in p < 0.001, d = 4.81, CI = 0.63 to 0.67 for the greatest decrease in pressure, p < 0.001, d = 0.143, CI = 9.18 to 10.61 for length of the longest decrease in pressure, and p < 0.001, d = 1.13, CI = 0.90 to 1.11 for the fastest rate of decrease in pressure. As these values pertain to the local maximum, situations with greater starting pressure on the attacker often led to greater subsequent decreases. Furthermore, there was a significant (p < .0001) difference between offensive and defensive positions and the number of off-ball actions. Results suggest the model can be applied to quantify and visualise the pressure exerted on non-ball-possessing players. This approach can be combined with other methods of match analysis, providing practitioners with new opportunities to measure tactical performance in football.