Analyses on the technical and tactical match performances of elite football teams and players considering situational efficiency
- Autores: Qing Yi
- Directores de la Tesis: Miguel Ángel Gómez Ruano (dir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid ( España ) en 2019
- Idioma: español
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Luis Miguel Ruiz Pérez (presid.), María Teresa Gómez (secret.), Archit Navandar (voc.), David Viejo Romero (voc.), Antonio Tessitore (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte por la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid y la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
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- Resumen
The analysis of technical and tactical performance is one of the main purposes of performance analysis in football. Researchers have paid much attention to this area during the last decades to reveal the mechanisms of the game and provide important information for practitioners regarding how to play the match to succeed. However, the existing studies cannot fulfil the needs of elite football, and some crucial issues need further consideration such as the simplistic methodologies for identifying key performance indicators, the inconsistencies in the categories and associated performance indicators of playing styles, operational definitions of technical variables, classification of playing positions, and the lack of consideration of the interactive effects between playing positions and situational variables, or the failure to address the repeated-measured data obtained from multiple matches. Therefore, the overall aim of this PhD thesis was to evaluate the effects of situational factors when analysing technical and tactical match performances of teams and players in elite football matches. Six independent studies were included in this thesis as six chapters (chapter two to seven), aiming to address the mentioned issues above from team level and player level respectively.
Chapter two assessed the technical match-to-match variation of teams and identified the relationships between variation of match variables and team’s match performance in the group stage of UEFA Champions League from season 2009/2010 to 2016/2017. The differences of technical variation between teams were identified by the non-clinical magnitude-based inferences (MBI). Results showed that qualified teams displayed lower variation on variables related to goal scoring, attacking and passing, non-qualified teams achieved higher variation on variables related to defending. Moreover, the autocorrelation function, correlation analysis and generalised linear model were undertaken to quantify the relationships between the variation of technical variables and teams’ match performance. Results showed that the variation of variables related to goal scoring, attacking and passing had negative relationships with teams’ match performance, while the positive relationships were observed between the variation of variables related to defending and teams’ match performance.
Chapter three used K-means cluster analysis to classify all match observations from the 2018 FIFA World Cup (Russia) into two clusters of tactical approaches (direct play and possession play) in order to identify the playing style of each team. Then, generalised mixed linear modelling was undertaken to examined the differences of technical and physical performances between direct-play characterised teams and possession-play teams and the interaction of playing styles of the teams with their opponents. The findings indicate that possession-play characterised teams performed better in variables related to goal scoring, passing and organising and worse in variables related to defending compared with direct-play teams. The differences for both these two types of teams when against different teams that characterised by different playing styles were all mainly observed in variables related to passing and organising.
Chapters four and five aimed to establish performance profiles of technical match performance and technical variation for players from five playing positions under five match contexts. match data of players in the UEFA Champions League from season 2009/2010 to 2016/2017 were analysed. The differences between players were identified by the non-clinical magnitude-based inferences (MBI). The interactive effects between playing positions and situational variables were identified. All competing contexts had substantial impact on players’ performances, except for competition stage. The performances of players from five playing positions were also varied in different competing contexts.
Chapters six and seven identified the differences of technical demands of players from different playing positions and different leagues respectively. Technical performance-related match data of out-field players in the UEFA Champions League from season 2009/2010 to 2016/2017 were analysed. Generalised mixed linear modelling was employed to assess the differences between players controlling the effects of situational variables. Results showed that the differences of technical performance were substantial among players from five playing positions and five leagues. Central defenders and forwards presented the largest differences while the smallest differences were observed between central defenders and full backs. The differences between players from five leagues were mainly observed in variables related to goal scoring, passing and organising, while limited differences could be found in variables related to attacking and defending. No clear differences could be detected between players from La Liga, Premier League and Ligue 1.
Findings from chapter two and three could add novel insights into the development of specific training interventions to optimise team’s performance in key indicators, as well as the match preparation by scouting the upcoming opponents that characterised by different playing styles and technical characteristics. The insights gained from chapter four to seven may be of assistance to extend our understanding of the effects of situational variables on players’ technical performance. Therefore, the current PhD thesis allows providing a useful tool for practitioners in the post-match evaluation, player recruitment and talent identification.
