Analysis of Tactical Performance of Youth Soccer Players

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze tactical performance of youth soccer players concerning different age groups, according to the tactical game principles and action's place and outcome. The sample comprised 106 youth players who performed 2915 defensive and 2662 offensive tactical actions. The normal distribution of the data was verified by the test of Kolmogorov-Smirnov (p≤0.05). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the values of the performance indexes, concerning tactical actions. The results show significant statistical differences for all tactical performance indexes (p≤0.05) Also, it confirms that most of youth teams had better performance indexes for the “depth mobility” and “defensive coverage” principles. It is possible to conclude that the lowest offensive performance index concerns to “width and length” principle, for all youth age groups. In addition, the lowest defensive performance index, concerning “concentration”, “defensive unity” and “delay” principles, showed a dependence of the age group in order these principles. It is also reasonable to conclude that youth players showed higher difficulties to be efficient in defensive tactical actions in the offensive midfield.