feature
football medicine & performance
DEFENDERS RUN MORE IN FORMATIONS WITH A BACK THREE FEATURE / LEON FORCHER1,2 Introduction Alongside physical and technical elements, the performance of a professional soccer player is characterized by tactical aspects1. Moreover, playing position and tactical formations are well-known factors in soccer that have gained importance in research in recent years. The physical, as well as the technical match performance of a professional soccer player, is highly affected by the playing position (i.e. central defender, wide defender, central/wide midfielder, striker)2,3. Contrary to this, the effects of the tactical formation (i.e. 4-4-2 vs. 3-5-2) on physical and technical match performance seem to be lower4,5. However, differences in match performance metrics between tactical formations were indicated earlier in the past6. Previous studies investigated the isolated effects of playing position and tactical formation on match performance and, therefore, the results are limited. To summarize, combining both tactical factors (formation & position) seem to provide further value 7,8.
Institute of Sports and Sports Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, Zuzenhausen, Germany
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Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effects of playing positions in different tactical formations on physical and technical match performance in the German Bundesliga.
phases. This situation might lead to higher physical performance for central defenders in formations with five defenders compared to formations with four defenders (e.g. 4-4-2).
Physical Match Performance In this chapter, the differences in physical match performance between the formations will be addressed for each playing position individually. Firstly, central defenders, wide defenders, and wide midfielders revealed significant and, therefore, decisive differences between formations. However, central midfielders and strikers showed less differences between formations.
Regarding the physical performance of wide defenders, a similar pattern was revealed. In detail, wide defenders cover the largest total, high-intensity, and sprinting distances in the 3-4-3 and 3-5-2 formations. Furthermore, wide defenders run less distance in total, high-intensity, and sprinting speed zones in the 4-4-2 and 4-5-1 formations. Concluding, wide defenders experience higher physical load (i.e. higher total distance, high-intensity distance, sprinting distance) in formations with a back three compared to formations with a back four (e.g. 4-4-2 or 4-5-1). Again, one can argue that wide defenders can be more offensive when supported by an additional central defender in formations with a back three (e.g. 3-5-2). Consequently, the wide defenders are more involved in offensive phases even though they still fulfill their original defensive duties. Potentially, this could explain the higher running output for wide defenders in formations with three central defenders.
Central defenders run the greatest distance in high intensity and sprinting speed zones in the 3-4-3 and 3-5-2 formations. These results are supported by a current review, analysing the impact of tactical formation on the match performance of male soccer players6. A possible explanation for this could be that wide defenders tend to be more offensive when being supported by three central defenders. Consequently, only three central defenders are left to prevent opposition scoring opportunities in defensive transition
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