Speed ability of youth soccer players in the match

Abstract

In this research, differences in high-intensity activities among youth soccer players were analyzed, particularly the total number of accelerations, total number of sprints, and total sprint distance (>25.2 km/h). In addition, these metrics were compared across different player positions in soccer, including central defender (n = 32), fullback (FB, n = 40), central midfielder (n = 42), wide midfielder (WM, n = 32), and central forward (CF, n = 17). We assumed significant differences in the total distance covered at maximum intensity, the number of runs at maximum intensity, and the number of accelerations among the individual player positions. The sample consisted of the players of ŠK Slovan Bratislava U21. The team plays in the second-highest men’s league. We collected the data from 27 matches in the seasons 2021/2022 and 2022/2023. However, we only used the data if the player participated in the entire match. The total number of records was 164. Such data were collected using the Polar Team Pro system. Then, the obtained data were processed and evluated using the Shapiro–Wilk test, one-way ANOVA, and post-hoc Tukey HSD test. We chose a significance level (α) of 0.05. From the measured values, significant differences in total sprint distance (F = 27.51, p < 0.01), total number of sprints (F = 23.94, p < 0.01), and total number of accelerations (F = 6.45, p < 0.01) were found among player positions. FB and WM achieved the highest total sprint distance and total number of sprints. By contrast, WM and CF achieved the highest total number of accelerations.