TITLE:
A Study on Support Play in Soccer Games― Relationship between the Distance from the Ball Carrier and the Number of Players
AUTHORS:
Hideki Matsubara, Teruo Nomura, Noriyuki Kida
KEYWORDS:
Soccer, J-League, Support Play, Distance, Number of Players, Diamond Shape, Tracking Data
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Physical Education,
Vol.12 No.2,
May
31,
2022
ABSTRACT: In soccer, support is considered a fundamental offensive play in bringing the ball towards, and in attacking the opponent’s goal. However, it is not clear how to objectively analyze the indicators of support play. Thus, this study aimed to examine the relationship between the number of players in support play and their distances from the ball carrier. By using tracking data from three games in the 2019 season of the J1 League; Japan’s top soccer league, a total of 1945 cases were analyzed, that dealt with passes that were successfully received during the offensive phase of the game. The following results were observed: ? The percentage that three or more players will be present begins to increase nonlinearly at 10.9 m from the ball carrier. ? The degree of increase in the “diamond shape” (DS) generation rate begins to increase nonlinearly at 12.7 m from the ball carrier and begins to decrease at 23.6 m. These findings suggest that coordinated support play is possible when three or more players form a DS at a distance of approximately 13 to 24 m from the ball carrier. The validity of the perspectives revealed in this paper needs to be further examined in future studies.