Are there differences in the attention of elite football players concerning playing positions?

ABSTRACT

Purpose

This study aimed to compare the attention performance, by playing position, in elite Brazilian football players.

Methods

A total of 66 professional players competing in the first division of the Brazilian Championship were evaluated. They were grouped according to their playing positions into 7 goalkeepers, 8 defenders, 15 fullbacks, 8 defensive midfielders, 13 attacking midfielders, and 15 forwards. The attention was evaluated using the Quotient^TM ADHD System equipment. The group performances were compared using the Kruskal–Wallis Test and the post-hoc analysis using the Mann–Whitney Test.

Results

Fullbacks showed less attentive behavior than defenders (U = 9.000, p = 0.001), defensive midfielders (U = 12.500, p = 0.002), offensive midfielders (U = 48.000, p = 0.007) and forwards (U = 27.000, p = 0.001). Fullbacks also had impulsive behavior longer than defenders (U = 10.500, p = 0.001) and defensive midfielders (U = 12.000, p = 0.002), as well as offensive midfielders had impulsive behavior longer than defenders (U = 16.0000, p = 0.004) and defensive midfielders (U = 19.500, p = 0.009).

Conclusion

Players of defensive positions, as defenders and defensive midfielders, were more attentive and less impulsive than players of hybrid positions, responsible for both defensive and offensive actions, such as fullbacks and attacking midfielders. The present finding indicates that the defenders were the players who maintained the attention level for more time, while the fullbacks maintained for less time. Players in offensive playing positions (fullbacks and attacking midfielders) maintained their impulsive behavior for longer when compared to defensive positions (defenders and defensive midfielders).

KEYWORDS:

• Attention
• football
• professional players
• playing position
• cognitive performance

Acknowledgements

The researchers kindly thank the Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (PRPQ), the Brazilian professional players and clubs that agreed to participate voluntarily in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.