Influence of contextual factors on most demanding scenarios in under-19 professional soccer players

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the most demanding scenarios (MDS) of under-19 professional soccer players during official matches, controlling for contextual factors such as playing position, the level of opponent teams, playing venue, match status, playing surface, pitch size, and playing status of players. A total of 42 players were monitored across 27 games using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to collect the external loads, including total distance covered, high-speed running, sprint distance, accelerations, and decelerations. MDS were calculated across 1-minute, 5-minute, and 10-minute time windows for each variable. Significant differences were found based on the contextual factors. (i) Opponent level did not show significant differences; (ii) full-backs covered more distance at 1 minute in home games; (iii) midfielders in winning vs. drawing scenarios exhibited higher decelerations at 1 minute but less distance at 10 minutes; (iv) in drawing vs. losing scenarios, central defenders had greater distance at 5 minutes and accelerations at 5 minutes, while midfielders showed greater distances at 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes; (v) offensive midfielders and forwards displayed specific performance differences; (vi) no significant differences were found for the playing surface; (vii) regarding pitch size, full-backs covered more distance at 5 minutes on larger pitches, while midfielders covered more distance at 5 minutes and 10 minutes; and (viii) starters generally outperformed non-starter players across various variables depending on the playing positions. The findings suggest that contextual factors have a significant impact on soccer player performance across different playing positions.