Does aerobic performance define match running performance among professional soccer players? A position-specific analysis

ABSTRACT

Aerobic performance is considered an important determinant of match running performance in soccer, but studies have rarely investigated this issue in top-level players. This study examined the possible associations between direct measures of aerobic performance and match running performance in elite soccer players. Aerobic performance was tested at the beginning of the season in laboratory settings. The match-running performance was measured by a global positioning system over a competitive half-season for a total of 82 match performances in professional players from Croatia (age: 23.76 ± 2.64; body height: 181.62 ± 7.09 cm; body mass: 77.01 ± 6.34 kg) and clustered as central player (n = 57) and side player (n = 25) performance. No significant differences in aerobic performance were noted between central and side players. The anaerobic threshold was correlated with high-speed running (19.8–25.1 km/h), sprint running (>25.1 km/h), and high-intensity running (>19.8 km/h) among side players (r = 0.52, 0.53, and 0.59, respectively; p < 0.01). For central players, the aerobic threshold was correlated with the total distance covered, low-intensity running (<14.3 km/h), and distance covered in the zone of running (14.4–19.7 km/h) (r = 0.47, 0.49, and 0.39; p < 0.01, 0.01, and 0.03, respectively). Conditioning for central players should include activities with intensities corresponding to aerobic thresholds, while conditioning of side players should be focused on the development of anaerobic thresholds.

KEYWORDS:

• Aerobic fitness
• aerobic threshold
• anaerobic threshold
• football
• relationships

Acknowledgments

Authors are particularly grateful to all players of HNK Hajduk Split who voluntary participated in the research. Special thanks goes to staff of the Institute of Kinesiology of the Faculty of Kinesiology Split for their help in measurement of the aerobic performance. Support of Croatian Science Foundation (IP-2018-01-8330; DOK-2020-01-9298) is gratefully acknowledged.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Croatian Science Foundation [DOK-2020-01-9298, IP-2018-01-8330].