Gender differences in technical-tactical behaviour of La Liga Spanish football teams

Authors

  • Claudio Alberto Casal Catholic University of Valencia “San Vicente Mártir”, Spain https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9458-6345
  • José Luís Losada University of Barcelona, Spain
  • Rubén Maneiro Pontifical University of Salamanca, Spain
  • Antonio Ardá University of A Coruña, Spain

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14198/jhse.2021.161.04

Keywords:

Performance analysis, Observational methodology, Elite football

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify differences in technical-tactical behaviour between the men and women first division football teams of the Spanish league, to this end 68 matches corresponding to 2016/17 season were analysed. A comparative analysis of the medians was carried out using the Mann-Whitney U-tests were conducted as post hoc tests. The size effect of this test was calculated and, finally, we performed a grouping of the variables through the clustering bootstrapping technique in both groups. We have detected statistically significant differences (p < .01) regarding all accurate passes, in favour of men, as well as a greater number of yellow cards. In female football, a greater number of picking up free balls, interceptions, lost balls, recoveries and challenges are produced. Finally, in women's football a greater number of attacks are also carried out, both positional and counterattacks than in men. The clustering analysis allowed us to identify that in male football, the circumstance of receiving a red card is closely related to the number of goals conceded and most of the shots on goal are achieved by positional attacks. In the case of women's football, ball possession on own half is closely related to the number of losses. Data proves the existence of technical-tactical differences between male and female football of the La Liga teams. Such detailed analysis could be useful for gender-specific training information for optimal preparation. However, more research is warranted to establish the main gender differences and characterize women's football.

Funding

Consellería d´Educació, Investigació, Cultura i Esport, Generalitat Valenciana, Universidad Católica de Valencia

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Akalin, T., Gümüş, M., Göktepe, M., Acar, H., & Tutkun, E. (2016). Cerebral Laterality of Women Soccer’s. International Journal of Academic Research, 8(5), 48-52. https://doi.org/10.7813/2075-4124.2016/8-5/B.8

Althoff, K., Kroiher, J., & Hennig, E. M. (2010). A soccer game analysis of two World Cups: playing behavior between elite female and male soccer players. Footwear Science, 2(1), 51-56. https://doi.org/10.1080/19424281003685686

Anderson, H., Randers, M., Heiner-Moller, A., Krustrup, P., & Mohr, M. (2010). Elite female soccer players perform more high-intensity running when playing in international games compared with domestic league games. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 24(4), 912-919. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181d09f21

A.P.A. (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct.

Bangsbo, J., Norregaard, L., & Thorso, F. (1991). Activity profile of competition soccer. Canadian journal of sport sciences, 16, 110-116.

Barfield, W., Kirkendal, D., & Yu, B. (2002). Kinematic instep kicking differences between elite female and male soccer players. Journal of Sports Sciences and Medicine, 3(1), 72-79. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005768-200105001-00576

Belmont Report, T. (1978). Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research. (The National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research). Washintton.

Bloomfield, J. R., Polman, R. C. J., & O´Donoghue, P. G. (2005). Effects of score-line on intensity of play in midfield and forward players in the FA Premier League. Journal of Sports Sciences, 23, 191-192.

Bradley, P. S., Dellal, A., Mohr, M., Castellano, J., & Wilkie, A. (2014). Gender differences in match performance characteristics of soccer players competing in the UEFA Champions League. Human Movement Science, 33, 159-171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2013.07.024

Carling, C., Williams, A. M., & Reilly, T. (2005). Handbook of soccer match analysis: A systematic approach to improving performance. Abingdon UK: Routledge.

Casal, C.A., Losada, J. L., Maneiro, R., & Ardá, T. (2017). Influencia táctica del resultado parcial en los saques de esquina en fútbol / Influence of Match Status on Corner Kick in Elite Soccer. Revista Internacional de Medicina y Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte, 68(2017). https://doi.org/10.15366/rimcafd2017.68.009

Casal, Claudio A., Losada, J. L., & Ardá, T. (2015). Análisis de los factores de rendimiento de las transiciones ofensivas en el fútbol de alto nivel. Revista de Psicología del Deporte, 24(1), 103-110.

Casella, G., & Berger, R. . (2002). Statistical Inference (2nd Edition). Pacific Grove: Duxbury Press.

Castellano, J., Casamichana, D., & Lago, C. (2012). The Use of Match Statistics that Discriminate Between Successful and Unsuccessful Soccer Teams. Journal of Human Kinetics, 31(1). https://doi.org/10.2478/v10078-012-0015-7

Efron, B., & Tibshirani, R. (1993). An Introduction To The Bootstrap. En Journal of the American Statistical Association (Vol. 89, p. 436). https://doi.org/10.2307/2291020

Gignac, G. E., & Szodorai, E. T. (2016). Effect size guidelines for individual differences researchers. Personality and Individual Differences, 102, 74-78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.06.069

Gómez, M., Álvaro, J., & Barriopedro, M. (2009). Patrón de actuación en las acciones de finalización en el fútbol masculino y femenino. Kronos, VIII(14), 5-14.

Hjelm, J. (2011). The bad female football player: women’s football in Sweden. Soccer & Society, 12(2), 143-158. https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2011.548352

Hoare, D., & Warr, C. . (2000). Talent identification and women’s soccer: an Australian experience. Journal of Sports Sciences, 18(9), 751-758. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410050120122

Hook, C., & Hughes, M. (2001). Patterns of play leading to shots in ‘euro 2000’. In Pass.com. UWIC.

James, N., Jones, P. D., & Mellalieu, S. . (2004). Possession as a performance indicator in soccer. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 4, 98-102. https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2004.11868295

Jiménez, C., Díaz, R., & Rodríguez, D. (2016). Análisis observacional de los saques de esquina y tiros libres indirectos en el fútbol femenino de alto nivel. Kronos, 15(2), 1-13.

Kjaer, J. B., & Agergaard, S. (2013). Understanding women’s professional soccer: the case of Denmark and Sweden. Soccer & Society, 14(6), 816-833. https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2013.843915

Lago-Ballesteros, J., Lago-Peñas, C., & Rey, E. (2012). The effect of playing tactics and situational variables on achieving scorebox possessions in a professional soccer team. Journal of Sports Sciences, 30, 1455-1461. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2012.712715

Lago-Peñas, C., & Lago-Ballesteros, J. (2011). Game location and team quality effects on performance profiles in professional soccer. Journal of Systems Science and Medicine, 10(3), 465-471.

Lago-Peñas, C., Lago-Ballesteros, J., Dellal, A., & Gómez, M. (2010). Game-related statistics that discriminated winning, drawing and losing teams from the Spanish soccer league. Journal of Systems Science and Medicine, 9(2), 288-293.

LeFeuvre, A. ., Stephenson, E. ., & Walcott, S. . (2013). Football frenzy: The effect of the 2011 world cup on women’s professional soccer league attendance. Journal of Sports Economics, 14(4), 440-448. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002513496012

Little, T., & Williams, A. (2005). Specificity of acceleration, maximum speed, and agility in professional soccer players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 19(1), 76-78. https://doi.org/10.1519/00124278-200502000-00013

Liu, H., Gomez, M.-Á., Lago-Peñas, C., & Sampaio, J. (2015). Match statistics related to winning in the group stage of 2014 Brazil FIFA World Cup. Journal of Sports Sciences, 33(12), 1205-1213. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2015.1022578

Liu, H., Hopkins, W., Gómez, M. ., & Molinuevo, J. S. (2013). Inter-operator reliability of live football match statistics from OPTA Sportsdata. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 13(3), 803-821. https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2013.11868690

Meier, H. ., Konjer, M., & Leinwather, M. (2016). The demand for women’s league soccer in Germany. European Sport Management Quarterly, 16(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2015.1109693

Meier, H. ., & Leinwather, M. (2012). Women as ‘armchair audience’? Evidence from German national team football. Sociology of Sport Journal, 29(3), 365-384. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.29.3.365

Miyamura, S., Susuma, S., & Hisauki, K. (1997). A time analysis of men’s and women’s soccer. Science and Football III, 251-257.

Mohr, M., Krustrup, P., Anderson, H., Kirkendal, D., & Bangsbo, J. (2008). Match activities of elite women soccer players at different performance levels. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2(22), 341-349. https://doi.org/0.1519/JSC.0b013e318165fef6

Mohr, M., Krustrup, P., & Bangsbo, J. (2003). Match performance of high standard soccer players with special reference to development of fatigue. Journal of Sports Sciences, 21, 519-528. https://doi.org/10.1080/0264041031000071182

Pollard, R., & Gómez, M. A. (2014). Comparison of home advantage in men’s and women’s football leagues in Europe. European Journal of Sport Science, 14(1), 77-83. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2011.651490

Suzuki, R., & Shimodaira, H. (2006). Pvclust: an R package for assessing the uncertainty in hierarchical clustering. Bioinformatics, 22(12), 1540-1542. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btl117

Taylor, J. B., Mellalieu, S. ., James, N., & Shearer, D. A. (2008). The influence of match location, quality of opposition, and match status on technical performance in professional association football. Journal of Sports Sciences, 26(9), 885-895. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410701836887

Tenga, A., Holme, I., Ronglan, L. T., & Bahr, R. (2010a). Effect of playing tactics on achieving score-box possessions in a random series of team possessions from Norwegian professional soccer matches. Journal of Sports Sciences, 28(3), 245-255. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410903502766

Tenga, A., Holme, I., Ronglan, L. T., & Bahr, R. (2010b). Effect of playing tactics on goal scoring in Norwegian professional soccer. Journal of Sports Sciences, 28(3), 237-244. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410903502774

Tenga, A., Ronglan, L. T., & Bahr, R. (2010c). Measuring the effectiveness of offensive match-play in professional soccer. European Journal of Sport Science, 10(4), 269-277. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461390903515170

Unveren, A. (2015). Investigating Women Futsal and Soccer Players’ Acceleration, Speed and Agility Features. Anthropologist, 21, 361-365. https://doi.org/10.1080/09720073.2015.11891825

Wlodzimierz, S., Józef, B., & Andrzej, S. (2011). Movement symmetry and asymmetry of goal shots in female football at European championships and at World Cup. African Journal for Physical Health Education, Recreation and Dance, 17(4), 865-878.

Downloads

Statistics

Statistics RUA

Published

2021-02-04

How to Cite

Casal, C. A., Losada, J. L., Maneiro, R., & Ardá, A. (2021). Gender differences in technical-tactical behaviour of La Liga Spanish football teams. Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, 16(1), 37–52. https://doi.org/10.14198/jhse.2021.161.04

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1

Section

Performance Analysis of Sport

License

Copyright (c) 2018 Journal of Human Sport and Exercise

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Each author warrants that his or her submission to the Work is original and that he or she has full power to enter into this agreement. Neither this Work nor a similar work has been published elsewhere in any language nor shall be submitted for publication elsewhere while under consideration by JHSE. Each author also accepts that the JHSE will not be held legally responsible for any claims of compensation.

Authors wishing to include figures or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright holder(s) and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.

Please include at the end of the acknowledgements a declaration that the experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed. The editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with the abovementioned requirements. The author(s) will be held responsible for false statements or failure to fulfill the above-mentioned requirements.

This title is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

You are free to share, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms under the following terms:

Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.

NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.

No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

Notices:

You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation.

No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.

Transfer of Copyright

In consideration of JHSE’s publication of the Work, the authors hereby transfer, assign, and otherwise convey all copyright ownership worldwide, in all languages, and in all forms of media now or hereafter known, including electronic media such as CD-ROM, Internet, and Intranet, to JHSE. If JHSE should decide for any reason not to publish an author’s submission to the Work, JHSE shall give prompt notice of its decision to the corresponding author, this agreement shall terminate, and neither the author nor JHSE shall be under any further liability or obligation.

Each author certifies that he or she has no commercial associations (e.g., consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangements, etc.) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article, except as disclosed on a separate attachment. All funding sources supporting the Work and all institutional or corporate affiliations of the authors are acknowledged in a footnote in the Work.

Each author certifies that his or her institution has approved the protocol for any investigation involving humans or animals and that all experimentation was conducted in conformity with ethical and humane principles of research.

Competing Interests

Biomedical journals typically require authors and reviewers to declare if they have any competing interests with regard to their research.

JHSE require authors to agree to Copyright Notice as part of the submission process.