Research in Sports Medicine

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Positional synchronization affects physical

and physiological responses to preseason in
professional football (soccer)

Hugo Folgado, Bruno Gonçalves & Jaime Sampaio

To cite this article: Hugo Folgado, Bruno Gonçalves & Jaime Sampaio (2017): Positional
synchronization affects physical and physiological responses to preseason in professional football
(soccer), Research in Sports Medicine, DOI: 10.1080/15438627.2017.1393754

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15438627.2017.1393754

Published online: 23 Oct 2017.

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 RESEARCH IN SPORTS MEDICINE, 2018
https://doi.org/10.1080/15438627.2017.1393754

Positional synchronization affects physical and physiological

responses to preseason in professional football (soccer)
ac b,c b,c
Hugo Folgado , Bruno Gonçalves and Jaime Sampaio
a
Departamento de Desporto e Saúde, Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Évora, Évora,
Portugal; bDepartment of Sports Sciences, Exercise and Health, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto
Douro, Vila Real, Portugal; cCreativeLab Research Community, Research Centre in Sports Sciences, Health
Sciences and Human Development, CIDESD, CreativeLab Research Community, Vila Real, Portugal
Downloaded by [University of Canberra] at 08:02 23 October 2017

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

This study aimed to identify changes in tactical, physical and Received 3 April 2017
physiological performances in large-sided games during the pre- Accepted 30 June 2017
season of elite footballers. Thirty professional football players KEYWORDS
participated in several GK+8vs.8+GK large-sided games across Interpersonal coordination;
the first four weeks of the season. Players were monitored by performance analysis; team
GPS units and heart rate monitors to quantify physical, physiolo- sports; motion analysis; GPS
gical and tactical performances. The variables were compared
according to the preseason period, players’ positioning and pro-
fessional experience. The training situation promoted similar phy-
siological responses during the first and the last training period.
However, players were revealed to have higher levels of positional
synchronization during the last preseason period, indicating an
improved tactical performance. Tactical variables seem to reflect
the improvement of players’ performance during the preseason,
measured in large-sided games situation, while affecting both
physical and physiological demands. These results highlight the
potential of positioning derived variables, concurrently to physical
and physiological variables, for football training optimization.

Introduction
Football training is a complex activity depending on multiple factors to optimize
players and teams’ performance. Coaches must take into account physical, technical
and tactical development, while dealing with players of different positions, presenting
different levels of expertise and with specific training requirements. The development
of players’ technical, physical and tactical performance is particularly important to be
addressed during the preseason (Di Salvo et al., 2007; Fessi et al., 2016; Ostojic, 2004),
when new players and coaches are being integrated into the team and have to adapt
to a typically new and different training process. At the beginning of the preseason,
players present lower performance levels of physical fitness levels, particularly the
agility, aerobic fitness, speed and strength (Caldwell & Peters, 2009). The training
during this period improves their physical response as the preseason progresses,

CONTACT Hugo Folgado hfolgado@uevora.pt Departamento de Desporto e Saúde, Escola de Ciências e

Tecnologia, Universidade de Évora, Pavilhão Gimnodesportivo da Universidade de Évora, Rua de Reguengos de
Monsaraz, nº 44, 7005-399 Évora, Portugal
© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
 2 H. FOLGADO ET AL.

measured by fitness tests, of aerobic capacity (Castagna, Impellizzeri, Chaouachi, &

Manzi, 2013), strength (Loturco, Ugrinowitsch, Tricoli, Pivetti, & Roschel, 2013) and
technical performance actions such as speed dribbling or shooting from a pass
(Tessitore et al., 2011). Given the short time for teams’ preparation during the
whole season, coaches often choose to focus their attentions on technical and tactical
training during the preseason, i.e. sessions planned for the player’s tactical under-
standing and his technical ability (Jeong, Reilly, Morton, Bae, & Drust, 2011). In this
sense, the use of small-sided games (SSG) is the most frequent choice, as they
promote the simultaneous development of physical, technical and tactical skills for
football players (Davids, Araújo, Correia, & Vilar, 2013; Hill-Haas, Dawson, Impellizzeri,
& Coutts, 2011a; Owen, Wong, Paul, & Dellal, 2014).
There is a large amount of research using different formats of SSG, and their effects
on players’ performances, by changing the number of players, the pitch area or the
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game rules (Clemente, Wong, Martins, & Mendes, 2014; Hill-Haas, Dawson, Impellizzeri, &
Coutts, 2011b; Stolen, Chamari, Castagna, & Wisloff, 2005). The tactical performances
related to how players behave during training game tasks, however, are still scarcely
explored by the available research. Physical variables (e.g. distance covered in yo-yo
intermittent endurance tests, and physiological variables (e.g. maximal oxygen uptake or
heart rate (HR)) can be monitored throughout external devices and validated field tests
(Hill-Haas et al., 2011a; Stolen et al., 2005). However, the tactical variables are only
possible to be measured under actual match-like situations, such as SSG, as they are
dependent on the dynamical and complex relations between the players, the tasks and
the environment (Araújo, Travassos, & Vilar, 2010). In this sense, the dynamical interac-
tion between the different constraints may lead to distinctive physical, physiological and
tactical demands for the similar exercised that have been practiced in different moments
of the season, because players have become more physically fit and developed their
tactical role within the team. In fact, research seems to support the notion that physical
and tactical performance are interrelated (Clemente, Figueiredo, Martins, Mendes, &
Wong, 2016; Folgado, Duarte, Fernandes, & Sampaio, 2014; Gonçalves, Figueira, Maçãs,
& Sampaio, 2014). For example, it was identified that game pace seems to impair tactical
performance during a GK+5vs.5+GK situation (Sampaio, Lago, Gonçalves, Maçãs, & Leite,
2014). In this approach, non-professional players presented more randomness in their
distance to team centroid at higher game paces (Sampaio et al., 2014). From a practical
perspective, this higher degree of randomness was related to a modification from a
more regular distance variation to a less predictable behaviour. This behavioural adapta-
tion was associated to a decrease in tactical performance, despite the higher physical
demands measured during this exercise adaptation. Another interesting result that
supports this interdependence may be observed in players’ physical response (e.g.
total distance run and that covered in high-speed running and sprinting) according to
the competition level (Carling, 2013). Despite that some authors have related higher
levels of performance with physical demands (higher total distance covered, higher
distance covered in both high-intensity and very-high-intensity running against best
opponent teams compared to worst opponent teams) (Rampinini, Coutts, Castagna,
Sassi, & Impellizzeri, 2007) other approaches present divergent results. A comparison
of different professional English leagues revealed that Premier League players covered
less distance at high intensity running than players from lower leagues (Bradley et al.,
 RESEARCH IN SPORTS MEDICINE 3

2013). It seems that players’ level of technical and tactical characteristics, exhibited in
lower level leagues, may promote greater physical demands during the match.
Considering the evaluation of teams’ tactical performance during the match, it is
suggested to use movement synchronization as a performance indicator, which is calcu-
lated by the relative phase of players’ displacement. The indicator is based on the
functional behaviour of a team, where players try to coordinate themselves in order to
gain advantage over their opponents (Duarte et al., 2013). From a practical perspective,
different patterns of coordination vary between in-phase or synchronization (near 0°),
when two players are moving in the same direction, and anti-phase or synchronization
(180°), when they are moving in opposing directions. Based in previous research, it is very
likely that higher levels of synchronization during the match may be related to higher
levels of tactical performance. For instance, players from the same team tend to present
higher levels of synchronization during the match when facing higher-level opposition,
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than when facing lower level opponents (Folgado et al., 2014). The study of players’
synchronization was also interrelated with physical performance indicators. A study com-
paring congested and non-congested fixtures (Folgado, Duarte, Marques, & Sampaio,
2015), revealed that players covered similar distances at similar intensities in both fixtures
distribution. However, teams seemed to be more synchronized during non-congested,
than during congested fixtures. This result highlights that performance impairments
during congested fixtures surpasses players’ physical response and that their tactical
performance must be considered when analysing teams’ performance. As such, it may
be speculated that a different level of tactical performance may be related to distinct
players’ physical demands during match or training situations. Given the relevance of
players’ development during the preseason, the control of tactical performance during
this moment presents a particular importance.
Besides previous considerations, the current literature in large-sided games (LSG) are
still very unpopular topic. A deep understanding of players’ decision-making process
under these specific tasks can be relevant to enrich practice task design by enabling an
ecological performance evaluation (Gonçalves et al., 2017). Also, the possibility to
address players’ tactical variables such levels of displacements synchronization and
physical demands, such as distance covered at different intensities under LSG environ-
ments can produce a more functional and holistic understanding of teams’ sports
performance. Within, it has been argued that tactical, physical, physiological and per-
ceptual responses seem to be affected by players’ expertise levels, in a way that more
experienced show greater ability to perform high-intensity actions with higher-level
skills and also, present a better use of game information to shape the positioning
decision-making process (Dellal, Hill-Haas, Lago-Penas, & Chamari, 2011; Folgado,
Lemmink, Frencken, & Sampaio, 2014; Gonçalves et al., 2017).
Thus, the aim of this study was to identify changes in tactical, physical and physio-
logical performances in LSG during the preseason of elite footballers. In addition, the
results will be inspected according to the players’ specific positions and their profes-
sional experience. The tactical performance was expressed by players’ movement syn-
chronization, calculated by the relative phase of players’ positioning displacement. The
physical performance was evaluated through distance covered at different speed zones
and exertion index. Players’ physiological performances were calculated from players’ HR
response during the exercise.
 4 H. FOLGADO ET AL.

Methods
Participants
A total of 30 professional football players (mean±SD: age = 23.7 ± 4.2 years; professional
playing experience = 4.8 ± 4.2 years) participated in several GK+8vs.8+GK LSG played in
half-pitch (55×50 m), during their regular preseason training sessions. All players were
members of the same team. This drill was performed during seven sessions distributed
within 4 weeks of the team preseason training, starting from the second day. In the first
day of the preseason, players were submitted to physical fitness tests, including the Yo-
Yo intermittent recovery test level 2, which was used to determine their maximal HR.
Throughout the evaluated 4 weeks of preseason, players participated in a total of 28
training sessions. Each player carried an individual global positioning system unit (SPI-
PRO 5Hz, GPSports, Canberra, ACT, Australia) for positional and HR recording during the
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training session. During data collection, the number of satellites connected with each
device was 10.0 ± 0.1. The validity and reliability of these devices has already been
inspected by independent verifications. The typical error of measurement is below 5%
when accounting for measurement of the total distance covered, and between 5% and
10% during peak speed (Johnston et al., 2012). All procedures were approved by the
Ethics Committee of the Research Centre for Sport Sciences, Health and Human
Development.

Procedures
During each of the seven evaluated sessions, different teams of eight players partici-
pated in bouts of the GK+8vs.8+GK situations. An aggregate of two to five bouts of the
presented LSG condition were evaluated per session. The bout duration varied between
6 and 10 min (mean duration = 7.67 ± 1.15 min) interspersed with a 3-min break. The
moment of application of this sided game was always constant between sessions.
The Positional data were retrieved from GPS units and processed in MATLAB® (The
MathWorks Inc., Natick, MA, USA) replicating existing methodological procedures
(Folgado et al., 2014). The players’ movement synchronization was quantified by calcu-
lating the relative phase of all dyads of outfield players (n = 28 dyads per team) during
the duration of each exercise, for both displacement axes. This calculation was based on
the Hilbert transform applied to players’ positional time series (Palut & Zanone, 2005).
From these results, synchronized movement was quantified as the percentage of time
each dyad spent in the between −30° and 30° of relative phase (near-in-phase synchro-
nization mode) (Folgado et al., 2014). Synchronization results were also divided accord-
ing to each dyad average speed, using the following speed categories (Folgado et al.,
2014, 2015): 0.0–3.5 km·h−1 (low intensity); 3.6–14.3 km·h−1 (moderate intensity); 14.4–
19.7 km·h−1 (high intensity); and >19.8 km·h−1 (very high intensity).
Players’ physical and physiological responses were quantified by external and internal
load during the LSG situation. External load was measured by the total distance covered
per minute; distance covered per minute at the low, moderate, high and very high
intensities; and exertion index per minute. Speed categories were determined using the
aforementioned intervals, used previously for synchronization analysis. Exertion index
 RESEARCH IN SPORTS MEDICINE 5

was based in a validated formula (Wisbey, Montgomery, Pyne, & Rattray, 2010), which
accounts for players’ instantaneous speed, speed over 10 s and speed over 60 s.
Exercise intensity was calculated from players’ HR response during the exercise, by
quantifying their mean percentage of maximal heart (%HRmax). Based in these mea-
sures, a modified training impulse (TRIMPMOD) (Stagno, Thatcher, & Van Someren, 2007)
was calculated as internal training load. For this analysis, the original weightings sug-
gested by Stagno et al. (2007) were used for calculate the modified training impulse.
This procedure was replicated from other studies addressing football players’ perfor-
mance (Campos-Vazquez et al., 2015; Gonçalves et al., 2014; Los Arcos, Martinez-Santos,
Yanci, Martin, & Castagna, 2014) and selected due to the lack of blood lactate measure-
ments from the participant players. This measure was obtained by calculating the
product between the time spent in five HR zones by a corresponding weighting factor
(Gonçalves et al., 2014; Stagno et al., 2007): zone 1 (65–71% HRmax)*1.25; zone 2 (72–
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78% HRmax)*1.71; zone 3 (79–85% HRmax)*2.54; zone 4 (86–92% HRmax)*3.61; and

zone 5 (93–100% HRmax)*5.16. The total TRIMPMOD result is equal to the sum of all heart
zones. For TRIMPMOD calculation, given the existing variation, bout durations were
normalized to 8 min for comparison purposes.

Statistical analysis
LSG situations were compared across preseason period with two levels: during the first
2 weeks of training (3 sessions with a total of 11 bouts) and during the last 2 weeks of
training (4 sessions with a total of 14 bouts). The players were classified into their field
positions (defenders; midfielders; forward) and professional playing experience – low (no
previous professional experience); medium (between 1 and 4 years of professional
experience); and high (more than 4 years of professional experience). For movement
synchronization analysis, the dyads were organized as follows: defensive dyads, consist-
ing in all dyads formed by two defenders; midfield dyads, consisting in all dyads formed
by two midfielders; and offensive dyads, consisting in all dyads formed by two forwards
or by a forward and a midfielder. The dyads’ grouping by professional playing experi-
ence were organized considering the less experienced player: low experience dyads,
when at least one player did not present previous professional experience; medium
experience dyads, when both players had at least between 1 and 4 years of professional
experience; and higher experience dyads, when both players had more than 4 years of
professional experience.
Factorial ANOVAs were used to compare the effect of training (preseason period),
field positions and professional experience (independent variables) on teams’ tactical,
physical and physiological performances (dependent variables). Standardized effect sizes
are presented as partial eta squared (η2). Pairwise comparisons for field positions and
players professional experience factors were performed using Fisher’s Least Significant
Difference. Pairwise effect sizes are presented as Cohen’s d with 95% confidence inter-
vals. Thresholds for effect sizes statistics were 0.2, trivial; 0.6, small; 1.2, moderate; 2.0,
large; and >2.0, very large (Hopkins, Marshall, Batterham, & Hanin, 2009).
 6 H. FOLGADO ET AL.

Results
The factorial ANOVA results revealed a main effect of training in total distance per
minute (F(1, 176) = 44.2; p < 0.001; η2 = 0.20), and distance per minute at low (F(1,
176) = 55.2; p < 0.001; η = 0.24) and moderate intensities (F(1, 176) = 26.2; p < 0.001;
2

η = 0.13). This main effect was also identified for longitudinal movement synchroniza-
2

tion (F(1, 348) = 15.6; p < 0.001; η2 = 0.04), and longitudinal movement synchronization at
low (F(1, 348) = 11.3; p = 0.001; η2 = 0.03), moderate (F(1, 348) = 13.7; p < 0.001; η2 = 0.04),
high (F(1, 348) = 5.0; p = 0.026; η2 = 0.01) and very high intensities (F(1, 259) = 4.9; p = 0.027;
η2 = 0.02). The results were similar for lateral movement synchronization (F(1, 348) = 5.7;
p = 0.018; η2 = 0.02), and lateral movement synchronization at low (F(1, 348) = 4.2;
p = 0.041; η2 = 0.01) and moderate intensities (F(1, 348) = 5.5; p = 0.019; η2 = 0.02). In
all physical variables, players presented lower values of distance in the last 2 weeks of
preseason. No differences were found in the %HRmax, the exertion index per minute
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and in the TRIMPMOD for the training factor. All tactical variables presented higher values
of synchronization in the last 2 weeks of training (Table 1).
There was a main effect of players’ field positions on some physical variables – total
distance per minute (F(2,176) = 5.1; p = 0.007; η2 = 0.055), and distance per minute at
moderate (F(2,176) = 4.8; p = 0.010; η2 = 0.051), high (F(2,176) = 7.9; p = 0.001; η2 = 0.082) and
very high intensities (F(2,176) = 4.6; p = 0.011; η2 = 0.050). Pairwise comparison revealed
that midfielders tended to present higher values of distance and exertion index (Table 2).
The movement synchronization results were significantly different according to
players’ positions in longitudinal movement synchronization (F(2,348) = 9.8;
p < 0.001; η2 = 0.05), and longitudinal movement synchronization at low (F
(2,348) = 9.6; p < 0.001; η = 0.05), moderate (F(2,348) = 8.9; p < 0.001; η = 0.05), and
2 2

Table 1. Physical, physiological and tactical variables comparison by training period.

First weeks of Last weeks of
Variables training training Cohen’s d (95%CI)
Physical and physiological variables
Total distance covered (m) per min 165.5 ± 23.8 142.2 ± 18.4 −1.09 (−0.79, −1.39)
Distance covered (m) per min at:
Low intensity (0.0–3.5 km·h−1) 59.3 ± 10.0 47.1 ± 7.4 −1.42 (−1.73, −1.10)
Moderate intensity (3.6–14.3 km·h−1) 76.9 ± 14.7 66.6 ± 13.4 −0.73 (−1.02, −0.44)
High Intensity (14.4–19.7 km·h−1) 14.4 ± 4.6 13.9 ± 4.6 −0.10 (−0.39, 0.18)
Very high intensity (>19.8 km·h−1) 11.0 ± 5.3 11.0 ± 4.8 0.01 (−0.27, 0.29)
Exertion Index per minute 1.9 ± 0.7 2.3 ± 1.7 0.27 (−0.02, 0.56)
%HRmax 85.9 ± 5.0 84.2 ± 6.2 −0.3 (−0.59, −0.01)
TRIMPMOD 25.6 ± 6.6 24.1 ± 7.2 −0.13 (−0.42, 0.16)
Tactical variables
% of longitudinal movement synchronization 46.6 ± 9.8 52.8 ± 9.8 0.64 (0.48, 0.79)
% of longitudinal movement synchronization at:
Low intensity (0.0–3.5 km·h−1) 44.5 ± 12.9 54.2 ± 12.9 0.75 (0.59, 0.9)
Moderate intensity (3.6–14.3 km h−1) 46.6 ± 10.0 52.0 ± 9.8 0.55 (0.40, 0.70)
High Intensity (14.4–19.7 km·h−1) 60.0 ± 18.6 63.7 ± 15.3 0.22 (0.07, 0.37)
Very high intensity (>19.8 km·h−1) 53.1 ± 19.1 61.2 ± 14.1 0.43 (0.28, 0.58)
% of lateral movement synchronization 32.8 ± 11.5 36.7 ± 11.4 0.35 (0.20, 0.50)
% of lateral movement synchronization at:
Low intensity (0.0–3.5 km·h−1) 30.3 ± 14.5 34.7 ± 13.9 0.31 (0.16, 0.46)
Moderate intensity (3.6–14.3 km·h−1) 33.0 ± 11.4 36.9 ± 11.4 0.34 (0.19, 0.49)
High Intensity (14.4–19.7 km·h−1) 37.5 ± 20.0 41.6 ± 17.1 0.22 (0.01, 0.43)
Very high intensity (>19.8 km·h−1) 39.7 ± 19.4 44.1 ± 18.3 0.23 (−0.02, 0.48)
 RESEARCH IN SPORTS MEDICINE 7

Table 2. Physical and physiological variables comparison by field position.

Variable Defenders (d) Midfielders (m) Forwards (f) Pairwise
Total distance covered (m) per min 148.3 ± 22.2 160.2 ± 22.6 146.6 ± 24.1 m > d, f
Distance covered (m) per min at:
Low intensity (0.0–3.5 km·h−1) 52.3 ± 9.7 51.8 ± 11.8 53.7 ± 9.5
Moderate intensity (3.6–14.3 km·h−1) 68.0 ± 13.0 75.9 ± 14.4 67.4 ± 16.0 m > d, f
High intensity (14.4–19.7 km·h−1) 13.4 ± 4.5 15.8 ± 4.4 12.5 ± 4.1 m > d, f
Very high intensity (>19.8 km·h−1) 11.0 ± 5.0 12.3 ± 5.0 8.9 ± 4.4 m, d > f
Exertion Index per minute 1.9 ± 0.8 2.7 ± 1.8 1.8 ± 0.6 m > d, f
%HRmax 86.3 ± 4.7 84.0 ± 5.0 84.9 ± 7.3
TRIMPMOD 25.6 ± 6.5 22.9 ± 5.9 24.4 ± 9.2

high intensity (F(2,348) = 4.3; p = 0.015; η2 = 0.03). Pairwise comparisons revealed that
dyads constituted by midfielders tended to be less synchronized than defensive and
offensive dyads in longitudinal displacements, presenting a small and medium effect
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size respectively (46.7 ± 9.0% to 50.8 ± 10.2%, d = −0.44; and to 52.6 ± 9.8%,
d = −0.62). The interaction between training and players’ positions was not significant
for the analysed variables.
The players’ experience revealed differences only for physical variables – total dis-
tance per minute (F(2,176) = 13.3; p < 0.001; η2 = 0.13), and distance per minute at
moderate (F(2,176) = 14.2; p < 0.001; η2 = 0.14), high (F(2,176) = 4.6; p = 0.012; η2 = 0.05)
and very high intensities (F(2,176) = 6.7; p = 0.012; η2 = 0.07). Pairwise results revealed a
trend for more experienced players to cover less distance per minute in all of the
presented variables – (results in meters by high; medium and low experience) total
distance per minute (146.5 ± 21.8 to 159.4 ± 24.2, d = −0.57; and to 165.8 ± 21.7,
d = −0.89), and distance per minute at moderate (66.6 ± 13.2 to 76.4 ± 16.3, d = −0.68;
and to 79.4 ± 11.4, d = −0.99), high (13.2 ± 4.4 to 15.6 ± 5.1, d = −0.52; and to 15.2 ± 2.3,
d = −0.49) and very high intensities (9.7 ± 4.7 to 12.7 ± 5.4, d = −0.61; and to 12.8 ± 3.9,
d = −0.68).
The interaction between training and players’ experience factors was significant for
the distance covered per minute at moderate intensity (F(2,176) = 3.2; p = 0.045;
η2 = 0.035), for longitudinal movement synchronization (F(2,348) = 4.8; p = 0.012;
η2 = 0.025) and longitudinal movement synchronization at moderate intensity (F
(2,348) = 4.9; p = 0.008; η = 0.027) (Figure 1). Pairwise comparison revealed that training
2

promoted a greater reduction of distance covered (meters per minute ± SD) at

moderate intensity for medium (84.8 ± 14.4 to 70.4 ± 15.1, d = −0.97) and low
experienced players (84.9 ± 12.4 to 74.3 ± 7.7, d = −1.04) than high experienced
players (71.2 ± 12.9 to 63.0 ± 12.3, d = −0.65). For tactical variables, training promoted
significant changes in synchronization movement of medium and high experienced
players’ dyads, in the longitudinal displacements and longitudinal displacements at
moderate intensity (Figure 1).

Discussion
The aim of this study was to identify changes in tactical, physical and physiological
performances in LSG during the preseason of elite footballers. The results were also
inspected according to the players’ specific positions and their professional experience.
 8 H. FOLGADO ET AL.
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Figure 1. Players’ movement synchronization results by training period, according to dyads profes-
sional experience.

No differences were identified for %HRmax, TRIMPMOD and exertion index results
between preseason training periods. Yet, the players covered less distance in the last
training sessions, particularly at low and moderate intensities. Based on these results, it
seems that the physical demands of the large-sized game condition were similar
between the two periods. However, all the evaluated tactical variables presented higher
results of synchronization in the last preseason period. In this sense, the players’
responses during the game situation depicted their tactical development, as a conse-
quence of the systematically training occurred during the first 4 weeks of the preseason.
Similar behavioural adaptations were identified in amateur players, enrolled in a 13-
week of football lessons assessed in a GK+5vs.5+GK game situation (Sampaio & Maçãs,
2012). In this study, players’ interpersonal relations measured by the relative phase,
changed from no particular mode of positioning coordination in the pre-test, to exhibit
patterns of in-phase and anti-phase positioning coordination in the post-test. This
adaptation was attributed to higher levels of expertise, resulting from an increased
awareness of football tactical principles exhibited during the SSG situation. It seems
that current results show similar functional adaptations to training in professional
players, thus providing complementary information for coaches to control players’
performances. The ecological approach of this study, by measuring players’ response
during their regular preseason sessions, poses a limitation as it lacks the controlling of all
the training promoted during this period. However, it is important to consider that this
works was based on professional players and coaches, working specifically for perfor-
mance objectives.
 RESEARCH IN SPORTS MEDICINE 9

Curiously, the players’ physical adaptations identified during the last training period
indicated that players covered less distance during the game situation, particularly at
lower intensities. As players covered the same distance at high- and very-high-intensities
in both preseason training periods, and while speculatively, it may be considered that
the higher amount of distance covered in the first training period was not an exercise
demand response, but rather players correcting their tactical positioning relative to their
teammates.
Interestingly, the more experienced players from our study presented a lower amount
of distance covered than their less experienced teammates. Other studies have also
revealed lower amounts of distance covered by higher-level teams during match play,
compared to lower level counterparts (Bradley et al., 2013). Given these results, it seems
that running more is not a performance indicator per se in either formal matches or
other game situations. In fact, higher levels of expertise seem to eliminate the need for
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constant positioning corrections, as expert players are more tuned to the local context
information presented in the training situations (Gonçalves, Marcelino, Torres-Ronda,
Torrents, & Sampaio, 2016) or match situation (Travassos et al., 2013). These considera-
tions seem to highlight the importance of considering players’ interactions as a measure
of sports performance (Travassos, Davids, Araújo, & Esteves, 2013). The tactical results
presented in our study help accentuate this fact, by showing that players’ physical and
physiological performances are influenced by their interpersonal coordination.
Considering the physical and physiological results, the players’ %HRmax responses to
the game condition are in line with previous studies using the same number of players
and similar pitch dimensions (Hill-Haas et al., 2011b). Comparing the game results to
formal match demands in the preseason (Folgado et al., 2014), we can consider that
players tend to cover more distance per minute at low and very high intensities during
the training situation. Inversely, during match situations, the players cover more distance
per minute at moderate and high intensities. The pitch size and duration of the large-
sized game condition may be accounted for these differences, as players are confronted
with less individual space than in a formal match situation (due to a considerable
reduction of the pitch width). This adaptation may promote less longitudinal displace-
ments, which is considered as the predominant direction of play (Frencken, Lemmink,
Delleman, & Visscher, 2011). Similarly, differences between training and match condi-
tions (Folgado et al., 2014) also exist for tactical variables, with players spending less
percentage of time synchronized during the game conditions. Again, the reduction of
the pitch width may explain this decrease in synchronization, as previous research
suggests that players are more likely to coordinate their movements in this direction
(Duarte et al., 2013; Frencken, Poel, Visscher, & Lemmink, 2012).
The comparison of the game responses by players’ positions revealed that midfielders
were the players who covered more distance per minute during the exercise. Also,
midfielders cover more distance at moderate, high and very high intensities. These
results replicate both match (Bradley et al., 2013; Carling, Le Gall, & Dupont, 2012) and
small-sided games’ demands per position (Dellal et al., 2012), observed in previous
studies. The midfielders are commonly considered players with a wider range of motion
in the pitch, providing defensive and offensive support to other teammates, character-
istics that elate their physical demands. Furthermore, these specific behavioural roles
increase their positional regularity with teammates during the match (Gonçalves et al.,
 10 H. FOLGADO ET AL.

2014). Curiously, tactical results seem to support this fact, as midfielders presented the
lowest longitudinal synchronization result, and the highest lateral synchronization result
per position. It seems that different positions exhibited distinctive synchronization
patters during the match (Folgado et al., 2014), but also during the LSG situations. In
this way, there is the need to explore different sided games conditions to understand
their effects on players’ movement synchronization.
Finally, performance according to players’ experience, results revealed that less experi-
enced players tend to cover more distance during the exercise. As stated earlier, these
results seem to be related to the fact that players need to adjust more often their position-
ing. Also, higher experienced dyads seem to benefit more from training, as their synchro-
nization increased from the first to the last training sessions. It seems that the level of
expertise facilitated players’ coordination development, rather than provide a higher level of
synchronization from the start (Araújo & Davids, 2011). In this sense, experienced players
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without a meaningful training setting might not benefit from the same development.

Conclusion
Monitoring players’ development during the preseason using LSG seems to provide very
relevant information for coaches. More particularly the use of tactical variables, inter-
related with the more common physical and physiological variables (Carling, 2013),
strengthens the information retrieved from players’ responses to the training process.
In this study, players’ tactical performance seemed to influence their physical and
physiological response, as higher levels of synchronization were correspondent to
similar or lower levels of distance covered and HR responses. This improvement is likely
a response to the overall training during the preseason and to the knowledge players
have about their role in the teams’ tactics.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding
This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (UID/DTP/
04045/2013), the European Regional Development Fund (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006969) and by the
project NanoSTIMA: Macro-to-Nano Human Sensing: Towards Integrated Multimodal Health
Monitoring and Analytics (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000016).

ORCID
Hugo Folgado http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9432-1950
Bruno Gonçalves http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7874-4104
Jaime Sampaio http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2335-9991
 RESEARCH IN SPORTS MEDICINE 11

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