Variations in individual player area in youth football matches: the effects of changes of players’ age, numerical relations, and pitch zones

ABSTRACT

The aim of the study was to quantify the individual player area (IPA) that emerges during football matches at youth levels, considering different numerical relations and pitch zones. Two hundred and twenty-eight players, divided by U15, U17 and U19, participated in the study. Jonckheete-Terpstra and Kruskal Wallis nonparametric tests were used to compare the IPA according to variations in players’ age, numerical relations and pitch zones considered for analysis. All ages and numerical relation results revealed the highest IPA in the zones closer to the goal and were lower in the middle of the pitch. For 3 × 3 to 10 × 10 numerical relations, the IPA was higher in the U15 and lower in the U17. The greater differences between the age groups concerned numerical relations of 6 × 6 to 10 × 10 (p ≤ 0.001). The effect size was moderate between the U15 and U17 in numerical relations of 8 × 8 to 10 × 10. Results suggest that the manipulation of IPA during training sessions should respect players’ age and be adjusted considering the numerical relation and the tactical purpose of coaches.

KEYWORDS:

• Zone
• individual player area
• numerical relations
• age
• football

Practical implications

This study suggests the need to vary the playing area according to age level, numerical relations and the collective goals of each task according to the field location. In other words, the sectorial training of defenders, midfielders or attackers associated with different objectives must be trained in different spaces. The design of SSCG should respect the proportionality of space occupied by players of each team according to their own individual and collective capabilities for action. Thus, the evaluation of teams’ space of play should be done during the season in order to constantly promote new adaptations in players’ behaviours according to coaches’ purposes. The use of higher proportional IPA in comparison with the game should offer additional time of players to perceive and act during the training sessions, while the use of lower proportional IPA will require faster perception and more precision in actions. The presented values could be used as reference for the design of SSCG in the U15, U17 and U19 age levels if they don’t have possibility to measure the IPA values of their own team. Further research should be developed to link the variation in space occupied and the game moment, helping coaches to design more representative tasks in relation to the competitive environment.

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.