Reliability of physical, physiological and tactical measures in small-sided soccer Games with numerical equality and numerical superiority

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the physical, physiological (HR) and tactical demands of small-sided soccer games (SSG) with numerical equality (3x3) and numerical superiority (4x3). Eighteen male players of a soccer team played against each other both types of SSG, both played as two 4-minute bouts interspersed with 4-minute rest. Physical (distances, velocities and accelerations) and HR demands were recorded by a GPS system (15hz) and a heart rate monitor during SSG. The individual tactical behaviors proposed by the System of Tactical Assessment in Soccer were registered by an observer who analyzed the SSG videos. Reliability was verified calculating the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the absolute and percentage standard error of measurement (SEM and %SEM, respectively), both considering athletes’ individual scores in each SSG bout. As a result, higher number of variables related to physical and physiological demands presented significant ICC values, being classified as moderate to excellent in relation to variables related to tactical demands. Considering these variables that presented significant ICC values in both SSG, the SEM% values found for physical and physiological variables ranged from 3.0 to 42.0%, while those found for the tactical variables ranged from 31.6 to 75.0%. It could be concluded that several variables related to physical and physiological demands present moderate to excellent reliability. Differently, the majority of variables related to tactical demands were not reliable in both types of SSG.