The Effect of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Position-Specific Match Running Performance of Professional Football Players; Preliminary Observational Study

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted professional football in the 2019/2020 season, and football experts anticipate that the consequences of lockdown measures will negatively affect the physical performance of players once competition restarts. This study aimed to evaluate position-specific match running performance (MRP) to determine the effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on the physical performance of professional football players. Players’ MRPs (n = 124) were observed in matches before and after the COVID-19 lockdown in the 2019/2020 season of the highest level of national competition in Croatia and were classified according to player position: central defenders (CD; n = 42), fullbacks (FB; n = 20), midfielders (MF; n = 46), and forwards (FW; n = 16). The MRPs were measured using Global Positioning System, and included the total distance covered, low-intensity running (≤14.3 km/h), running (14.4–19.7 km/h), high-intensity running (≥19.8 km/h), total accelerations (>0.5 m/s2), high-intensity accelerations (>3 m/s2), total decelerations (less than –0.5 m/s2), and high-intensity decelerations (less than –3 m/s2). The results indicated that, in matches after the COVID-19 lockdown, (i) CDs and FBs featured lower running and high-intensity running (t-value: from 2.05 to 3.51; all p < 0.05; moderate to large effect sizes), (ii) MFs covered a greater distance in low-intensity running and achieved a lower number of total accelerations, and total and high-intensity decelerations (t-value: from –3.54 to 2.46; all p < 0.05, moderate to large effect sizes), and (iii) FWs featured lower high-intensity running (t-value = 2.66, p = 0.02, large effect size). These findings demonstrate that the physical performances of football players from the Croatian first division significantly decreased in matches after the COVID-19 lockdown. A combination of inadequate adaptation to football-specific match demands and a crowded schedule after the competition was restarted most likely resulted in such an effect.

Analysis of the Sustainability of Long-Term Detraining Caused by COVID-19 Lockdown: Impact on the Maximal Aerobic Speed of Under-16 Soccer Players

“…A second limitation is that the training intensity was not monitored. Third, in soccer, aerobic power or endurance capacity differs according to playing positions due to the different tactical roles in the matches during the COVID-19 Lockdown [30]. In our study, the effect of detraining on aerobic capacity was not shown in terms of different playing positions.…”

Seasonal analysis of match load in professional soccer players: An observational cohort study of a Swiss U18, U21 and first team

“…In comparison to Norwegian soccer, the sprint distance of the first team under investigation corresponds most with those of central defenders or central midfielders at Level 1. Total distance as well as high-speed running observed for the first team in this study seem to be similar to what is known from the Croatian First Division 2019/20 season ( Sekulic et al, 2021 ).…”

Differences in Physical Match Performance and Injury Occurrence Before and After the COVID-19 Break in Professional European Soccer Leagues: A Systematic Review

“…Physical match performance in German Bundesliga mainly did not change significantly from pre to post COVID-19 break in 3 out of 3 studies, i.e., high-intensity running distance (0.61 ≤ p ≤ 0.70; 0.03 ≤ ES 0.05) and sprinting distance (0.20 ≤ p ≤ 0.82; 0.02 ≤ ES ≤ 0.09) [3,17,18]. In 1 out of 1 study for Polish Ekstraklasa (p ≤ 0.03; − 0.27 ≤ ES ≤ − 0.18), in 1 out of 1 study for Croatian HNL (p ≤ 0.04; − 1.42 ≤ ES ≤ 1.44), in 2 out of 3 studies for Spanish La Liga (p ≤ 0.017; − 0.32 ≤ ES ≤ 5.5), and in 1 out of 1 study for Italian Serie A (p ≤ 0.014; − 1.01 ≤ ES ≤ 0.24), most physical match parameters such as total distance and high-intensity running distance decreased from pre to post [4,17,[19][20][21]. 1 out of 3 studies for Spanish La Liga did not find significant differences in physical match performance, i.e., total distance, low-intensity running distance, high-intensity running distance, and sprinting distance (p = n. s.; ES = N/A), between pre-and post-COVID-19 break [22].…”