Biology of Sport
eISSN: 2083-1862
ISSN: 0860-021X
Biology of Sport
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SCImago Journal & Country Rank
2/2023
vol. 40
 
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abstract:
Original paper

Tier-specific contextualised high-intensity running profiles in the English Premier League: more on-ball movement at the top

Wonwoo Ju
1
,
Richard Hawkins
2
,
Dominic Doran
1
,
Antonio Gómez-Díaz
3
,
Andrés Martín-García
4
,
Mark Evans
5
,
Andy Laws
5
,
Paul S Bradley
6

  1. The Research Institution for Sport and Exercise Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, England, UK
  2. Football Medicine and Science Department at Manchester United Football Club, Manchester, UK
  3. Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  4. FC Barcelona Sports Performance Department, Barcelona, Spain
  5. Department of Computer Science, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
  6. Football Science Consultant, UK
Biol Sport. 2023;40(2):561–573
Online publish date: 2022/07/21
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The present study aimed to determine the physical-tactical profiles of elite football teams and individual players according to final league rankings. A total of 50 English Premier League matches (n = 100 match and 583 player observations) were analysed by coding the player’s physical-tactical actions through synchronising tracking data and video. Final league rankings were categorised into Tiers: (A) 1st–5th ranking (n = 25), (B) 6th–10th ranking (n = 26), (C) 11th–15th ranking (n = 26), and (D) 16th–20th ranking (n = 23). One-way analyses of variance were used to compare match performances between different Tiers, and effect size (ES) was determined for the meaningfulness of the difference. Tier A teams covered 39–51% more high-intensity distance for ‘Move to Receive/Exploit Space’ (ES: 1.3–1.6, P < 0.01) and ‘Run with Ball’ (ES: 0.9–1.0, P < 0.05) than Tier C and D, and 23–94% more distance for ‘Over/Underlap’ (ES: 1.0, P < 0.01), ‘Run in Behind/Penetrate’ (ES: 0.7, P < 0.05), and ‘Break into Box’ (ES: 0.9, P < 0.05) compared to Tier C. Central and Wide Defensive Players in Tier A covered 65–551% more high-intensity ‘Move to Receive/Exploit Space’ distance compared to other Tiers (ES: 0.6–1.0, P < 0.01). Moreover, the additional options within the physical-tactical actions and zonal differences unveiled more meaningful insights into ‘HOW’ the top Tier teams physically and tactically perform. Thus, the amalgamated physical-tactical data help improve our understanding of a team’s playing style relative to their competitive standard.
keywords:

football, match performance, physical-tactical data, standard, ranking

 
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