Combined effect of game position and body size on network-based centrality measures performed by young soccer players in small-sided games

Paulo Henrique Borges; Julio Cesar da Costa; Luiz Fernando Ramos-Silva; Gibson Moreira Praça; Enio Ricardo Vaz Ronque

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.873518

Combined effect of game position and body size on network-based centrality measures performed by young soccer players in small-sided games

Front Psychol. 2022 Aug 22:13:873518. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.873518. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Paulo Henrique Borges¹, Julio Cesar da Costa², Luiz Fernando Ramos-Silva², Gibson Moreira Praça³, Enio Ricardo Vaz Ronque²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Education, Center of Sports, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil.
² Department of Physical Education, Center of Physical Education and Sport, State University of Londrina, Londrina, Brazil.
³ Departamento de Esportes, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Abstract

This study verified the effects of body size and game position on interactions performed by young soccer players in small-sided games (SSG). The sample consisted of 81 Brazilian soccer players (14.4 ± 1.1 years of age). Height, body mass, and trunk-cephalic height were measured. SSG was applied in the GK + 3v3 + GK format, and Social Network Analyses were carried out through filming the games to obtain the following prominence indicators: degree centrality, closeness centrality, degree prestige, and proximity prestige, in addition to network intensity and number of goals scored. Factorial ANCOVA (bone age as covariate) was used to test the effects of game position, body size, and respective interaction on centrality measurements (p < 0.05). Similarity between game positions in body size indicators (p > 0.05) was observed. The game position affected degree centrality (p = 0.01, η ² = 0.16), closeness centrality (p = 0.01, η ² = 0.11), and network intensity (p = 0.02, η ² = 0.09), in which midfielders presented the highest network prominence values when compared to defenders and forwards. In conclusion, midfielders are players with high interaction patterns in the main offensive plays, which behavior is independent of body size.

Keywords: body size; growth; performance; soccer (football); youth sports.