Analysis of physical and technical-tactical demands through small-sided games in semi-professional football players

Abstract

Aim: Analyzing physical and technical-tactical performance based on the number of authorized ball touches in small-sided games in semiprofessional football players. Methods: Eight semi-professional football players (21,1 ± 1,5 years; 174,7 ± 3,5 cm; 71,3 ± 4,7 kg) performed 4x4 small-sided games with one touch (SG1T), two touches (SG2T) and three touches of the ball authorized (SG3T), without goalkeeper. Physical variables measured were total distance (TD), high intensity distance (HID) and sprint distance (SD). The tactical/technical variables included were number of successful passes (SP), ball losses (BL), and percentage of successful passes (%SP). Small-sided games were compared with an ANOVA of repeated measures and Pearson r was used to establish correlation between variables. Results: regarding the physical variables, higher values (p < 0,05) were obtained for TD in SG1T (1132,7 ± 61,3) compared to SG3T (1059,1 ± 88,3), and in SG2T (1165,7 ± 60,4) compared to SG3T. HID and SD values were higher (p < 0,05) in SG2T (HID: 145,63 ± 37; SD: 12,88 ± 7,1) than in SG3T (HID: 99,1 ± 33,2; SD: 5,75 ± 5,6). In the tactical/technical variables, SP (36,3 ± 6,4) and BL (28 ± 4,2) were higher in SG1T (p < 0,05) than in SG2T (SP: 26,9 ± 12,2; BL: 14 ± 1,51) and in SG3T (SP: 23,8 ± 3,4; BL: 12,1 ± 2,7). The %SP was smaller (p < 0,05) in SG1T (56,18 ± 7,82) than in SG3T (66,21 ± 7,94). Conclusions: In the physical domain, TD in SG1T was higher than in SG2T and SG3T, being HID and SD smaller in SG3T with respect to SG2T. At the technical-tactical level, SG1T situations showed more SP and less BL than SG2T and SG3T, being the %SP smaller in SG1T than in SG2T.