Review

Ger J Exerc Sport Res Rui Freitas1 · Anna Volossovitch1 · Carlos H. Almeida2 · Veronica Vleck3
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12662-023-00900-y 1
CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, SpertLab, Universidade de Lisboa, Cruz Quebrada, Lisboa,
Received: 8 November 2022 Portugal
Accepted: 6 July 2023 2
CIDEF, Instituto Superior Manuel Teixeira Gomes, Portimão, Portugal
3
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, BIOLAD, Universidade de Lisboa, Cruz Quebrada, Lisboa,
to Springer-Verlag GmbH Deutschland Portugal
and Bundesinstitut für Sportwissenschaft,
Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund, Deutsche
Vereinigung für Sportwissenschaft 2023
Elite-level defensive performance
in football: a systematic review

nandez-Navarro, Fradua, Zubillaga, & no equivalent review of the effect of de-

Supplementary Information
McRobert, 2018), which ultimately in- fence on match performance exists in
The online version of this article (https://doi. creases their success in competition. the academic literature. Consequently, it
org/10.1007/s12662-023-00900-y) contains
Fortunately, technological innovations is of utmost importance to clarify: What
supplementary material, which is available to
authorized users. in performance analysis, and the re- is the association between individual and
sulting accumulation of large amounts collective defensive behaviours (actions)
of within-match data, have recently performed during “open-play” sequences,
Introduction and markedly increased the opportunity and competitive outcome(s) in male elite
for such research to be translated into football?
The pursuit of sporting excellence leads improvement in applied practice. Therefore, we conducted a system-
coaches, performance analysts and schol- Several systematic reviews of within- atic review of the published research re-
ars to constantly examine the competitive match strategies and their potential re- garding defensive performance in elite-
environment, so as to better comprehend lationship to performance, all of which level “open-play” football (excluding set
the physical, technical or tactical fac- aimed to provide guidance to practi- pieces) to date. We aimed to identify
tors that are related to it (Aquino et al., tioners, were published from 2014–2022 the variables (e.g. technical, tactical or
2019). In football, such analyses must (Aquino, Puggina, Alves, & Garganta, game events) that are frequently linked to
take longitudinal evolution in match 2017; Low et al., 2019; Pratas, Volosso- a given positive or negative competitive
demands (e.g. across successive seasons) vitch, & Carita, 2018; Sarmento et al., outcome, and to provide recommenda-
into account. Game speeds (the speed at 2014; Wang, Qin, Jia, & Igor, 2022). They tions based thereon for the improvement
which the ball is moved across the pitch) provided crucial, relatively recent, sum- of football performance in both training-
and player density (Wallace & Norton, maries of football match-performance and match-based settings. Our second
2014), the number of technical actions knowledge. However, their findings and aim was to identify existing gaps and
that are carried out, and the distance recommendations—which mainly ad- weaknesses in the academic literature re-
that players cover at higher exercise in- dressed the time-motion demands (Sar- lating to the football defence-match per-
tensities (Barnes, Archer, Hogg, Bush, & mento et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2022), formance relationship and, thereby, pro-
Bradley, 2014) all appear, for example, “on-the-ball” actions (Aquino et al., vide recommendations for future work.
to be increasing over time. Ensuring 2017; Pratas et al., 2018), and differences
a current comprehension of the factors between players of different competi- Methods
influencing successful football match tive levels (Low et al., 2019)—focused
performance requires a constant pro- on the offensive phase of “the beautiful Search strategy: Databases and
cess of re-evaluation and adjustment of game”. Unfortunately, and also unex- eligibility criteria
knowledge within the specific settings pectedly—given its undeniable influence
to which they apply. This updated infor- on competitive success (Almeida, Fer- The systematic review on elite-level de-
mation can then be utilised by coaches reira, & Volossovitch, 2014; Vogelbein, fensive performance followed PRISMA
to make better informed and tailored Nopp, & Hökelmann, 2014; Winter & (Preferred Reporting Items for Sys-
decisions regarding game models (e.g. Pfeiffer, 2016), “performance analysis tematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses)
team formation, tactical principles, and has often not given consideration to guidelines. The SPORTDiscus, PubMed
players’ roles) and styles of play (identi- defending and its significance within the and Web of Knowledge Core Collection
fiable strategies and tactical interactions current literature” (Wright, Carling, & electronic databases were searched on
repeated over long match periods; Fer- Collins, 2014, p. 721). To our knowledge, December 6, 2021, using the Boolean

German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research

 Review

Fig. 1 9 Main topics and

subdivisions of the system-
atic review

strategy: (football OR soccer) AND (de- Study selection, data items and the background literature; (3) appropri-
fense OR defensive behaviors OR defensive extraction processes ateness of the study design; (4) the level of
performance OR tactical behavior OR col- detail of the sample description; (5) jus-
lective behavior OR collective variables Paper eligibility was assessed by the first tification of sample size; (6) reliability of
OR performance indicators OR situa- author. To evaluate the reliability of this the variables that were measured; (7) va-
tional variables OR contextual variables procedure, the screening of titles and ab- lidity of the variables that were measured;
OR notation analysis OR interpersonal stracts step of the systematic review was (8) a detailed method description; (9) the
coordination OR synchronization OR dy- independently repeated, on a random reporting of results in terms of statis-
namic positioning). No date or language sample of 50 articles, by the second and tical significance; (10) the appropriate-
limits were applied to the search. An third authors. Cohen’s kappa (κ)—used ness of the analysis methods that were
updated search of the aforementioned to measure consistency between their used; (11) the practical importance of
databases was conducted on May 3, 2023. decisions and those of the first author the work; (12) the appropriateness of the
In order to be processed further, the (McHugh, 2012)—indicated an almost conclusions that were drawn from the
references thus garnered had to meet perfect agreement (κ = 0.96). data; (13) whether or not the findings
the following criteria: (1) be an En- The first author then inputted the fol- had implications for practice; and for
glish language article; (2) be an obser- lowing data from each of the selected (14) acknowledgement of the study lim-
vational study, published in a peer-re- studies into Excel (Microsoft, Richmond, itations. A higher total score denoted
viewed journal; (3) involve data from WA, USA): (1) publication year; (2) aim; a higher quality paper.
official international competitions, the (3) sample description; (4) variables that The consistency of the evaluation pro-
final phase(s) of domestic cup competi- were analysed; (5) type of data (i.e. game cess was assessed through both intra- and
tion, and/or national premier league(s); actions; collective team behaviours; style inter-observer reliability testing proce-
(4) involve male, adult, professional play- of play); and (6) results or conclusions. dures. Ten articles were selected at ran-
ers; and (5) for technical, tactical or game The main outcomes that were sought by dom from the eligible sample, scored by
events data from teams’ defensive perfor- this process related to the assessment of the first author and then scored again,
mance to be a key feature of the Discus- teams’ competitive success over various 2 weeks later, to account for learning ef-
sion. We excluded articles that focused timescales (e.g. table/standing position, fects. The agreement between successive
on (1) set pieces; (2) goalkeeper’s actions; match outcome or defensive sequence scores ranged from moderate (in topic 5)
(3) referee decisions; (4) injuries; (5) tal- success). Descriptions of commonly per- to perfect agreement for each factor. The
ent development; (6) comparisons be- formed individual and collective defen- same articles were then analysed by the
tween starters and non-starting players; sive actions by elite-level footballers were second and third authors and their score
(7) comparisons between players of dif- also acceptable. data were compared to his. Reliabil-
ferent nationalities; (8) contextual influ- ity was, again, deemed adequate—given
ences on performance or (9) studies that Quality assessment the moderate (in topics 5, 6, 7 and 13;
used samples from before 2004, from this for second author) to perfect agreement,
review. Since the season within which the The first author then scored each paper and moderate (in topic 4; for third au-
data were collected was not mentioned in for quality using a 14-item checklist (Sup- thor)toperfectconsistencywithhis scores
numerous articles, only those articles that plementary Table 1). The checklist was (McHugh, 2012).
both did so and were published post- 2010 adapted for this study from the Criti-
were considered eligible for our analyses. cal Review Form—Quantitative Studies Synthesis of findings
(Law et al., 1998). Points were awarded,
according to a dichotomous scale, for: Detailed analysis revealed the most ap-
(1) clarity of purpose; (2) relevance of propriate way to present the papers find-

German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research

 Abstract

ings to be under two main topic headings, Ger J Exerc Sport Res https://doi.org/10.1007/s12662-023-00900-y
i.e. (1) Variables used in defensive perfor- © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Deutschland and
Bundesinstitut für Sportwissenschaft, Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund, Deutsche Vereinigung
mance analysis—examining the associa-
für Sportwissenschaft 2023
tion between them and competitive suc-
cess, and providing recommendations for
R. Freitas · A. Volossovitch · C. H. Almeida · V. Vleck
practice and competitive environments
on that basis; and (2) Methodological is- Elite-level defensive performance in football: a systematic review
sues and future avenues of research.
Abstract
Various subgroupings were adopted Background. Defensive action can decisively analysis and (2) methodological issues and
for each topic (. Fig. 1)—on the basis of affect football match performance. However, future avenues of research.
the “types of variables” (in topic 1), and there has been limited translation of the exis- Results. Research found teams to vary
the methods of performance analysis (i.e. ting academic literature into improvement the game styles that they had adopted, to
in applied practice. Therefore, we conducted decrease their spatial occupation of the
notational or positional data; in topic 2)
a systematic review of the literature to: pitch, and to increase intrateam movement
that were used. (1) identify defence-related variables synchronisation whilst defending. Given
The categorisation of variables that commonly linked to positive/negative the research findings, regaining possession
was implemented for topic 1 was adapted performance outcomes, and thereby improve higher-up the pitch, whilst maintaining
from Lord, Pyne, Welvaert, and Mara understanding of their potential applications; a balanced positioning and opting for an
(2) determine potentially useful directions for “intense” approach, appears advisable.
(2020), as detailed below.
future research. Conclusion. A notable research–practice
Methods. We searched the databases gap was identified. To better address
Game actions SPORTDiscus, PubMed and Web of Know- coaches’ “everyday concerns”, future research
Defined as any technical action, inter- ledge Core Collection in May 2023 for should (1) become more “process-oriented”,
action or game event and recorded ei- observational studies of adult male, football (2) acknowledge the specificities of certain
defence-related data, gathered from 2004 subareas of the pitch, and (3) involve
ther as a frequency or percentage per
onwards at official international or domestic improved processing of spatial–temporal
game. Actions may have been collected elite-level competitions. Each of the 119 data.
at the level of the team(s), individual papers was scored for quality according to
player(s) or playing position(s). Exam- a 14-item checklist, which itself was based on Keywords
ples include tackles and level of defensive the Critical Review Form. The findings were Male soccer · Defensive skills · Tactical
organised according to two major themes: behaviour · Interpersonal coordination · Style
pressure. Variables were recorded using
(1) variables used in defensive performance of play
hand and computerised notational anal-
ysis or semi-automated tracking systems.

Collective team behaviours on the lateral corridors) were recorded from within the Fédération Interna-
Variables such as surface area or geomet- under this topic subheading. tionale de Football Association World
rical centres, that show how a team was Cup (FIFA; n = 27), followed by the
structured or positioned across the field Results Spanish La Liga (n = 18), the Union of
or in relation to the opposition, were con- European Football Associations Cham-
sidered herein. These variables were col- Studies selection, characteristics pions League (UCL; n = 17), the English
lected via tracking devices such as global and quality assessment Premier League (EPL; n = 15), the Ger-
or local positioning systems. man Bundesliga (n = 10), the Chinese
The electronic database searches returned Super-League (CSL; n = 10), the UEFA
Style of play 9070 titles. After their importation into European Championship (n = 7), the
The style of play (or game style) is a broad reference management software (End- Italian Serie A (n = 5), the Brazilian and
concept of tactical behaviour, which Note X5, Clarivate Analytics, London, French Championships (both n = 4), the
arises from the combination of identifi- UK), 2130 duplicate titles were manually Norwegian Championship (n = 2), USA
able strategies and tactical interactions eliminated. The titles and abstracts of the Major League Soccer (n = 2), the Greek
repeated over long match periods (Fer- remaining 6940 references were screened League (n = 2), the Africa Nations Cup,
nandez-Navarro et al., 2018). Several for relevance, and 6721 more articles con- the Copa America, the Australia and
performance indicators and tactical sequently excluded from further analysis. New Zealand’s Hyundai A-League, the
variables contribute to this generalised After fully reading the remaining 219 ar- Belgian League, the Portuguese League,
description of teams’ patterns of play ticles, the sample was further reduced, on the Qatar Stars League and the Turkish
(e.g. numerical relations, ball recovery the same basis, to 119 papers (. Fig. 2). League (all n = 1).
zones or the duration of episodes). Vari- Eighteen of these papers were pub- Defensive game actions was most often
ables that were recorded via notational lished between 2010 and 2014, 44 be- assessed, followed by team collective be-
analysis, and clustered in terms of the tween 2015 and 2019 and the remainder haviours and by styles of play (92, 19 and
most common defensive “style” of a team (n = 57) over the period 2020–2023. 9 articles, respectively). Most of the arti-
(e.g. team of intense defensive pressure Most of the samples were collected cles on game actions and team collective

German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research

 Review

Discussion

Variables used in defensive

performance analysis—Game
actions
Ninety-two papers on defensive game
actions were scrutinised and two related
core research topics were identified,
namely: (1) the association between
actions and the success of the defensive
episode(s) (S.D.E.; n = 33) and (2) the
association between actions and match
outcome or competition success (M.C.S.;
e.g. table position; n = 67). These are used
here as further subdivisions (. Fig. 3).
The study sample sizes, depending on
the level of analysis that was under-
taken, ranged from 67 to 5457 defensive
episodes, from 13 to 5532 matches.
Tackles (n = 38), followed by the time
spent out of possession (n = 26), number
of shots conceded (n = 26), clearances
(n = 24) and zone of ball recovery or loss
(n = 18), were the most often examined
variables. Other actions (interceptions,
turnovers or possession recoveries) were
frequently observed.
Fig. 2 8 Flow diagram of the study selection process

The association between game

actions and the success of
defensive episodes
S.D.E.—The starting zone of defensive
sequence(s). A consistent link was ev-
idenced between the location of the
loss of ball possession and the success
of the subsequent defensive episode.
Sequences that were initiated near the
defending team’s goal were persistently
linked to negative outcomes, such as
entry of opponents into the penalty
box (Lago-Ballesteros, Lago-Peñas, &
Rey, 2012; Tenga, Holme, Ronglan, &
Fig. 3 8 Subdivisions of the game actions category of variables Bahr, 2010a) and opportunities to score
(Cooper & Pulling, 2020; Gónzalez-Ro-
behaviours (n = 40 and 14, respectively) papers scored maximally, and none denas, Lopez-Bondia, Calabuig, Perez-
were published between 2020 and 2023. scored below 8, for quality. The main Turpin, & Aranda, 2016; Hughes &
Style of play was also a relatively novel possible shortcomings of the papers Lovell, 2019). Analogous results were
topic of interest in match analysis: all were identified as failure to explicitly noticed in all other reviewed studies
the articles on it were published from justify the sample size (item 5), or to di- (n = 9). This was as expected. Being
2016 onwards. The publication year and rectly acknowledge the study limitations significantly close to the team goal at
the key characteristics of the papers that (item 14). the instant of possession loss means that
were examined are presented online in opponents are required to cover a smaller
Supplementary Table 2. distance before they reach those zones
The article quality score (Q.S.) av- from which they have high goal-scor-
eraged 12.41 (out of 14). Eighteen ing probability. Therefore, most teams

German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research

should be encouraged to regain the centre1 were found to be worse than adequate individual and collective po-
ball closer to the opponent’s goal, as those that started from a position of sitioning), otherwise possibly leading
then they would commence subsequent inferiority (Freitas et al., 2021; Sarmento to incorrect pressing actions and un-
offensive actions under advantageous et al., 2018). This finding—which ini- favourable outcomes.
conditions. Nonetheless, multiple au- tially seems to be counterintuitive—can Overall, regarding the type of defence,
thors (n = 8) have also pointed out that be explained by the possible position- we set forth that teams should firstly strive
possession is commonly recovered in ing of various defending players behind to maintain a balanced collective posi-
retreated areas (farther from the op- the “line of the ball”, thus exhibiting tioning, with sufficient players behind
ponents’ goal), with one-versus-one an adequate defensive balance. It is and near the immediate ball location,
(1v1) defensive efficacy decreasing as also conceivable that numerical relations and then opt for “intense” pressing ac-
teams press higher up the pitch (Szwarc, reach a point of diminishing returns. That tions when these (and other) favourable
Kromke, & Lipińska, 2012a; Szwarc, is, eventually a point will be reached at collective contexts are present.
Kromke, & Lipińska, 2012b). Conse- which increasing the number of defend-
quently, we recommend that the efforts ers who are near the ball will not increase Association between game actions
to regain possession higher-up the pitch the extent to which their defence is suc- and match/competition success
should be performed in a collective and cessful. Clearly, the relationships that are More conflicting evidence exists regard-
coordinated manner, ensuring adequate assessed by this type of data should be ing the second game actions-related,
coverage (second defender) and allow- assessed from, and compared between, subtopic of the systematic review. Given
ing more assertive pressing actions to several viewpoints (e.g. behind the line the complex interactions of factors that
be undertaken by the first defender (as of the ball vs. on the game centre). This influence competitive outcome, it was
discussed in the following section of this would make it easier for researchers to not unexpected that the frequency of
paper). clarify the influence of distinct spatial given game actions generally had low
relations between teams and groups of explanatory power for success.
S.D.E.—Type of defence. Whereas the players on defence and match success.
previous topic subheading examined the As for the existing evidence about M.C.S.—Tackles. The evidence linking
influence of a “static” factor on defensive the type of defensive approach, and its tackling actions to match outcomes was
success, in this case the variables that were success, it mostly suggests that exertion inconsistent. Four papers reported that
included in the analysis provide a more of strong pressure on the opposing team the number of successful or total at-
detailed overview of the game dynamics should be recommended. Such “ag- tempted tackles did not vary with the
and players’ spatial disposition. gressive” action(s) have been shown to match outcome (Bilek & Ulas, 2019; Liu,
The data that were analysed were enhance chances of ball recovery (Casal, Hopkins, & Gómez, 2016; Parim, Gunes,
mostly in accordance with frequently Andujar, Losada, Arda, & Maneiro, Buyuklu, & Yildiz, 2021; Zaytseva &
encouraged principles of play and tactical 2016; Freitas et al., 2021), with a more Shaposhnikov, 2023), whilst five stud-
proposals (e.g. teams should maintain “passive” approach being linked to more ies reported small to trivial associations
a balanced disposition). A stable defen- goal-scoring opportunities conceded to between said technical action and the
sive organisation (tight pressure, with the opponent (Gónzalez-Rodenas et al., team’s competitive success (Li et al., 2020;
backup and cover in attendance) was 2016). Likewise, crosses performed Link, Lang, & Seidenschwarz, 2016; Liu,
shown to increase the chance of ball against low defensive pressure have been Gómez, Lago-Peñas, & Sampaio, 2015;
recovery, and to reduce the number of demonstrated to lead to higher odds of Liu, Hopkins, et al., 2016; Mao, Peng, Liu,
score-box possessions by the opponents, scoring (Pulling, Eldridge, Ringshall, & & Gómez, 2016). Two other papers (Has-
as well as shots and goals that were con- Robins, 2018). However, the data are san, Akl, Hassan, & Sunderland, 2020; Li
ceded by the defending team (Freitas, not unequivocal on this point (Armatas, et al., 2020) stated tackles, out of a se-
Volossovitch, & Almeida, 2021; Tenga et Zacharakis, & Apostolidis, 2022; Casal- ries of actions that included clearances
al., 2010a, b). In addition, an adequate Sanjurjo et al., 2021; Lago-Ballesteros and interceptions, to be the variable with
positional balance (in terms of the num- et al., 2012). Given the ambiguous evi- the least relevance to the prediction of
ber of defenders between the ball and dence, the use of an “intense” approach match outcome. It appears, therefore,
their goal) diminished the adversary’s may be applicable to only some specific that tackling has a small to non-existing
penetrative actions into dangerous ar- tactical contexts (e.g. in the presence of influence on match results—although its
eas and their opportunities for scoring “spatial dominance”, achieved through impact will vary between competitions.
(Freitas et al., 2021; González-Rode- This idea is supported by Zambom-Fer-
nas, Lopez-Bondia, Calabuig, James, & 1 The game centre is “the cooperation and raresi et al. (2018), who revealed that
Aranda, 2015; Taha & Ali, 2023; Tenga, opposition context experienced by the players tackling attempts had greater importance
Mortensholm, & O’Donoghue, 2017). with possibility to participate in the match’ s for match outcome within the Italian Se-
tactical development, through ball holding,
Oddly, the outcomes of defence-based opening or closing of passing lanes and through rie A than they did in the remaining “Big
episodes that started with numerical the principles of play execution” (Freitas et al., Five” European leagues (EPL, Spanish
equality and superiority on the game 2021).

German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research

 Review

La Liga, German Bundesliga and French with favourable outcome(s). It therefore only represented “snapshots” of overall
Ligue One). seems a feasible goal that teams should performance. The literature relating to
Analysis of the association between strive to display at least the same amount them is also often inconclusive. It is rarely
tackling and tournament/league success of possession (~50%) as their opponents. clear how its findings may be translated
revealed that the teams that reached the This would limit the time that is avail- into improvement in applied practice.
second round (i.e. the last 16 teams) of able to their adversaries for the creation The spatial–temporal data discussed in
the 2014 World Cup, and no further, had of goal-scoring opportunities. Given that this section complement such data. As
attempted more tackles than those that one cannot equate a greater time spent they are characterised by high sampling
either progressed through that phase, or defending to the existence of a greater of- rates, including both the timestamp and
were eliminated before it (Kempe, Vogel- fensive threat from the opponent(s), such the location of a given action, their use
bein, & Nopp, 2016). This suggests that a goal should be viewed as desirable as may allow researchers to expand on the
the sides that had played in the second opposed to indispensable. explanation of why and how a given ac-
round of the competition and had not tion occurs, as well as its consequences
progressed further than that, employed M.C.S.—Conceded shots. Conceded for success.
a defensive-minded strategy, therefore shots were expected to have a stable A small number (n = 19 out of 119) of
tackling more often. Other data from the and negative influence on team success. the studies conducted thus far have exam-
same study (indicating that fewer passes Most studies (n = 14 out of 17) backed ined elite-level collective team behaviours.
were performed) support this hypothe- this hypothesis, although some (n = 3) The sample sizes of their analyses ranged
sis. Attempted tackles also appear to be still found no difference(s) in this vari- from 20 to 16,151 sequences. Most
positively linked to the time that is spent able across outcomes. Geurkink, Boone, commonly, surface area, width, length
out of ball possession (Gong et al., 2021). Verstockt, and Bourgois (2021), for ex- and geometrical centre (n = 4 papers),
From these findings, it can be inferred ample, reported that a smaller number followed by the spread and synchronisa-
that the number of tackles that are per- of shots conceded was associated to de- tion of teams (n = 3), were examined by
formed is mostly influenced by a teams’ sirable match outcomes in the Belgian said research. Three levels of analysis
style of play (specifically, whether it is League. The number of shots allowed were evident from it, namely: (1) in-
more or less defence-based) and the “con- also had a negative impact on match tra-team, (2) inter-team and (3) eco-
trol of the game” that is thereby attained. performance over several editions of the physical analysis (see below for defi-
Rather than focusing on the number of World Cup (Castellano, Casamichana, nition). The most frequent levels of
tackles that are to be achieved within & Lago, 2012), as well as across the analysis were inter- (n = 13; e.g. vari-
competition, coaching staff should focus “Big Five” Leagues (Zambom-Ferraresi ability of teams’ centroid distances) and
on improving their players’ detection of et al., 2018). Various papers echoed intra-team (n = 12; e.g. centroid move-
favourable contexts for executing tackles. said findings (n = 11). In contrast, the ment’s approximate entropy2), where
number of shots at the goal did not each team’s actions were evaluated in-
M.C.S.—Time spent out of possession. vary between winning and losing teams dependently of their opponent’s. Eco-
Most of the reviewed papers (n = 10 out either within the Qatar Stars League physical analyses, which captured the
of 18) showed that less time out of posses- (Moalla et al., 2017) or within the 2014 relationship between team(s) and their
sion was associated to positive outcomes, World Cup (Dufour, Phillips, & Ernwein, environment (e.g. distance from teams’
with the remaining eight articles report- 2017; Rumpf, Silva, Hertzog, Farooq, & centroid to the ball location), were least
ing no impact on team performance. For Nassis, 2017). The tactical and strategic common (n = 3 papers) and need to be
instance, teams who were eliminated in approaches used to diminish this number further explored, since these information
the group stage of the 2018 FIFA World might vary in slight details, according sources (e.g. instantaneous ball position)
Cup spent more time defending than to players’ and teams’ characteristics. are the major elements that affect game-
those qualified for the next competition However, the coarse guidelines that we play dynamics.
phase (Kubayi & Larkin, 2020). Similarly, have already provided (e.g. on defensive Overall, the evidence on intra-team
the time spent defending exerted a neg- sequences starting zone and type of de- behaviour points to increased synchro-
ative influence on match outcome across fence subsections) should be deemed as nisation of movement between players
six seasons of the Chinese League (Zhou, effective “starting points”. when they are defending (Carrilho et
Calvo, Robertson, & Gomez, 2021). Sim- al., 2020; Marcelino et al., 2020; Welch,
ilar findings were shown for several other Variables used in defensive Schaerf, & Murphy, 2021). This effect
competitions (n = 8), although they were performance analysis—Collective
by no means universal. Various authors team behaviours 2 Approximate entropy “expresses the regular-
reported contradictory results (n = 8). In
spite of such inconsistencies, it is worth The preceding sections of this review cov- ity that the configuration of one segment of
data in a time series will allow the prediction
noting that not a single research study, out ered variables that themselves were based of the configuration of another segment of the
of those that were assessed, found time on the frequencies, percentages and suc- time series a certain distance apart” (Gonçalves
spent in defence to be positively related cess rates of game actions. As such, they et al., 2018).

German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research

is greater for specific playing positions crease and decrease “simultaneously” Variables used in defensive
(central defenders) (Marcelino et al., (predominantly positive association). performance analysis—Style of
2020). The extent to which such syn- So, the anticipated inverted spatial oc- play
chronisation between players occurs cupation may be mostly observable (and
appears to be influenced by the location relevant) for the set of players that are A style of play is a combination of identi-
of the ball. According to Carrilho et al. positioned near the immediate ball lo- fiable strategies and tactical interactions
(2020), synchronisation of movement cation (game centre) or within effective (such as defensive approaches, ball re-
between teammates decreases when the playing space sublocations (Caldeira, covery locations, duration of specific
ball is positioned in the central area of Lopes, Fernandes, & Araújo, 2022). episodes) that are consistently repeated
the pitch, as well as when it is closer to Findings also revealed that teams move by a team over long periods of a match.
their goal. Such an effect may be, in part, synchronously both along and across the For instance, the game style of both
due to offensive actions that are being pitch, with a stronger vertical coupling the recent Spanish national team and
carried out by the opposing team. The (Bartlett et al., 2012; Clemente, Couceiro, of Barcelona football team was charac-
available data also indicate that play- Lourenço-Martins, Sousa, & Figueiredo, terised by long possessions, short passes,
ers occupy a smaller amount of space 2014; Duarte et al., 2013; Goes, Brink, inner game and high-defensive pressure
(coverage area) when they are out of Elferink-Gemser, Kempe, & Lemmink, (Amatria et al., 2019; Pratas et al., 2018).
possession (Castellano, Álvarez-Pastor, 2021). This pattern of team movement Although such simplified descriptions
& Blanco-Villaseñor, 2013; Garcia-Calvo can be a corollary of the goal location in summarize a given team’s patterns of
et al., 2023; Moura, Martins, Anido, De the central corridor, with lesser relevance play, the fact that they are an oversimpli-
Barros, & Cunha, 2012; Welch et al., given to peripheral areas. Moreover, to fication inhibits detailed insight into the
2021). Furthermore, it appears advisable hinder the opponent’s passing effec- reasons behind, and the consequences
for teams to reduce the lateral space tiveness, the existing evidence suggests of, the performed actions. The fact that
occupation of the pitch, as higher values that defending teams should decrease both the methods that have been used
of width were commonly observed in the distances between their players and to “cluster” them, and the variables that
opponent’s successful penetrative passes both the opponent ball carrier and its researchers have deemed suitable for
(Travassos, Monteiro, Coutinho, Youse- intended passing receiver (Merlin et al., the classification of each team’s style of
fian, & Gonçalves, 2022). As for the 2022; Travassos et al., 2022). Moura et play, have varied broadly between the
level of space that is occupied when al. (2016) disclosed a frequent inverse papers that are next discussed, hindered
there is an attempt on the goal, the association between teams’ spreads in the a “direct” comparison between studies.
evidence concerning this is both sparse beginning instants of shooting episodes, Of the various subtopics that were im-
and inconsistent. Moura et al. (2012) re- highlighting the actions performed on plemented in this review, style of play
ported larger occupation of space to exist defensive transitions as crucial for com- was the most difficult one to draw con-
for defending teams (in terms of both petitive success. Scoring opportunities clusions about how performance may
spread/dispersion and coverage area), were also characterised by a decrease be improved from. Nonetheless, some
whilst Bartlett, Button, Robins, Dutt- in synchronisation between the most observations may be made from the
Mazumder, and Kennedy (2012) (using advanced players (forwards) of the de- research that has addressed it.
stretch index and spread/dispersion) fending team and the most retreated Firstly, in most of the matches played
found no evidence of distinct distribu- individuals (defenders) of the attacking in the Spanish League, teams spent more
tions. We would suggest that “macro- side (Goes, Brink, et al., 2021). So, it time in non-preferred game styles, as
level” data on spatial occupation (that seems crucial that the forwards of the compared to the total time spent in the
encompass all the players on a given defending team remain synchronised preferred one. Nevertheless, a connec-
team and assess each of them in equal to their nearby adversaries, effectively tion between the use of the preferred
measure) are likely to be insensitive thwarting opponents’ offensive threats approach of a given team and the extent
to the “micro”-level imbalances which early-on. This decreased synchrony of to which their match outcomes were
themselves frequently lead to scoring goal-scoring opportunities was only ev- successful was reported (Castellano &
attempts. For example, a defender may ident on inter-teams subgroup analysis. Pic, 2019). According to Fernandez-
move too far away from a teammate and, Only marginal differences were detected Navarro, Fradua, Zubillaga, Ford, and
in so doing, free up a “passing lane” to when all players from each team were McRobert (2016), teams that successfully
an opponent who is not being tracked considered. Consequently, subgroup qualified for European level competi-
by the analysis in question. assessments might be paramount to the tions varied their strategies between
As for inter-team analysis, the re- disclosure of how small-scale inter-team high- and low-pressure defending, and
sults are often contradictory. Moura et interactions contribute to the defensive pressed in both the central and pe-
al. (2012) observed an inverse relation outcomes that are achieved. ripheral corridors. Gollan, Ferrar, and
(counter-phase relation) between teams’ Norton (2018) also observed top-ranked
spread. Moura et al. (2016) noted the teams to employ distinct (more vs.
opposite—that both teams spread in- less defence-based) game approaches.

German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research

 Review

Data from the Greek League indicated leads to the derivation of “cause–effect” is used should be reduced. Such variables
that lower-ranked teams employed (or or “dose–response” straightforward in- (e.g. the number of tackles or clearances)
were forced to employ) game styles with ferences. This is a key limitation to only provide a description of what is hap-
a predominance of defensive actions, it—because football is dynamic, com- pening (i.e. the “symptoms”), not giv-
with the opposite noted for better sides plex and non-linear (Gudmundsson & ing sufficient insight into why they are
(Gómez, Mitrotasios, Armatas, & Lago- Horton, 2017). We also note that only happening (the “diagnostics”). Secondly,
Peñas, 2018). That is, styles of play differ approximately one-third (n = 29) of the game actions should be more frequently
among teams playing within major Eu- papers on game actions that we assessed analysed in an integrated manner. For
ropean competitions. Style of play also employed a more holistic approach (e.g. instance, by examining the interactive/
varies within individual team(s) between attempted to answer questions such aggregate effects of two or more inde-
matches. Thus, the ability to effectively as “how does regaining possession in pendent variables on a given dependent
use various playing approaches emerges advanced zones through tackling influ- variable. Such holistic analyses would
as an important feature of competition. ence the success of the subsequent ball take the complex nature of the game into
Given that their opponents may impede possession episode?”). account and better allow for the discov-
the use of their preferred game styles, The fact that procedural and contex- ery of “multiple truths”. We proffer the
and that the game style that they employ tual information were often discarded by following example: an “aggressive” defen-
is context dependent, the greater the the game actions-related analyses may ex- sive approach without adequate defensive
ability of a team to adapt to the situation plain, to some extent, why the results that coverage might be just as effective as a less
at hand, the better their performance is were obtained were sometimes incon- “aggressive” approach in the presence of
likely to be. Differentiation should be clusive and/or contradicted others’ work. proper defensive coverage. Finally, given
made between the possession of such Yet the extent to which such problem oc- that football is a “low-scoring” game, and
adaptability, and a deliberate continuous curs appear to be topic specific. The find- that the outcome of a given match can
modification of the strategic and tactical ings of the starting zone(s) of defensive se- be a consequence of the error of an iso-
objectives of the team—given the appar- quence and type of defence-related anal- lated player(s) (e.g. scoring an own goal),
ently positive link between the preferred yses thus far conducted have been both future research should be weighted to-
style(s) and game outcome. fairly uniform and instructive. There may wards the use of “short-term” measures
be two reasons for this. Firstly, they used of success. This might better circumvent
Methodological issues and future the direct outcome of each defensive se- limitations that arise within game analy-
avenues of research quence as the “measure of success”. This ses owing to an inability to differentiate
shorter timescale between the dependent between situations such as (1) recover-
We conclude with a discussion of the and independent variables of the analy- ing possession and preventing the oppo-
shortcomings of the research conducted sis might allow for better perception of nents’ spatial progression along the pitch
thus far and of the potential directions for the “true” impact of each action on de- vs. (2) recovering possession after hav-
future football defence-related research. fensive sequence outcome. In contrast, ing previously allowed such progression
the time interval within research into the of opponents.
Notational analysis relationship between tackles and match
Game actions. Most of the reviewed outcomes, between the “action” and the Style of play. Several papers addressed
papers (n = 92 out of 119) addressed de- “reaction”, is larger. This may contribute the styles of play adopted by teams in dif-
fensive game actions through notational to its lack of consistent findings. Sec- ferent league table positions/standings.
analysis. Notational analysis, which ondly, the variables that were investi- Nonetheless, the mutual influence be-
dominated the performance analysis- gated were frequently “process-oriented” tween game styles was inadequately tack-
related literature for decades (Lem- (e.g. defensive approach), better depict- led. What happens when a “high-
mink & Frencken, 2013) and is still ing “game dynamics”, and more enlight- pressure” team faces an opponent that
the main method of assessment that ening than “outcome-oriented” variables uses a direct playing style (exploring
is used by this type of research, sum- (such as the total number of tackles that long passes towards the back of the
marises “game dynamics”. It can thus were performed). last formation line)? Is this “high-pres-
provide helpful information for coach- We acknowledge that, notwithstand- sure” approach maintained, or do teams
ing staff and practitioners. It can be ing its limitations, notational-analysis- usually opt for a lower-block position-
used to establish normative data—which based research is still capable of answer- ing? Moreover, it was insufficiently clear
can then be used for the longitudinal ing “real-word” defensive concerns. Its whether the adoption of different styles
monitoring of performance. However, explanatory power can, however, be aug- across matches is more impacted by pre-
notational analysis is normally used to mented by the adoption of various mea- meditated coaching options (strategy) or
establish associations between isolated, sures. Firstly, the analysis ought to be- a result of the ongoing interactions that
quantitative variables, and performance come “process-oriented”. The extent to occur between players (tactics). Given
outcome(s), and even when it is based which variables that are (in colloquial that styles of play must take advantage
on probabilistic assessment it frequently terms) “nice to collect” or “nice to know” of player characteristics, it would be

German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research

helpful if future research were to address eryday doubts” of coaching staff. They coverages to the teammate pressing the
which individual and collective traits may not then possess sufficient and rel- opponent ball carrier) and enough play-
lead to the adoption of certain patterns evant information to the applied con- ers behind and near the immediate ball
of play. We would comment that, as the text. Most “real-world” concerns—e.g. location. As broad objectives, the time
research thus far has focused mainly on “why isn’t our defensive pressing effec- spent defending and number of shots that
the Spanish and English leagues, future tive?” or “what tactical changes would are conceded should be reduced, given
work should also assess different leagues allow for a better spatial domination of thattheynegativelyinfluence competitive
and competition types (e.g. national the pitch?”—seem to have been neglected success. The association between tack-
teams competitions, as the FIFA World by the current body of research. The les with the defensive outcomes attained
Cup or clubs’ elimination tournaments, use of positional data for the creation of was largely inconclusive, owing to the
as the UCL). spatially informed defensive metrics can expected low explanatory power of tech-
certainly, and largely, be improved. nical actions when deprived of additional
Positional data analysis and the procedural or contextual information.
use of collective variables Limitations
The evidence from collective team be- Conclusion
haviours allows us to look in a more de- Nonetheless, this systematic review pos-
tailed manner into the interactive aspects sesses some limitations. Firstly, it was This systematic review has both ad-
of performance. Although this approach based on data from a wide variety of dressed the associations between com-
has long been suggested (Grehaigne, football competitions, spanning from na- mon defensive-related variables and
Bouthier, & David, 1997; Grehaigne & tional teams to clubs, group to knockout several competitive outcomes, and pro-
Godbout, 1995), it is only recently that stages and leagues from distinct compet- vided recommendations for training and
technological advances have allowed itive levels. Both the inferences and the match contexts from them. The short-
the effortless collection and analysis of recommendations that were made from comings of the literature to date were
spatial–temporal data. At this point in them may not be universally applicable. assessed and future avenues of research
time, however, and despite its presenta- Second, contextual variables, which are were suggested. The conclusion of this
tion of novel information, most of the known to affect football defensive per- paper is that, despite the proven rele-
defence performance-related evidence formance, were not controlled for in the vance of the research to date, there exists
in the literature is highly descriptive. It study selection phase. Therefore, the se- a clear research to practice gap. Further
merely illustrates teams’ actions during lected articles might have comprised cer- research in the field of defensive perfor-
defensive episodes, rather than clari- tain game contexts more often than oth- mance is justified. Such investigations
fying which behaviours are desirable. ers (e.g. playing at home), and this may should attempt to take the “real-world”
Researchers seldom used “measures of have influenced the conclusions of the concerns of coaching staff, and the com-
success”, with the main measure used subsections. plex interaction of various factors, into
being shots conceded. As shots are rela- account. As such, it would better allow
tively infrequent and constitute the end Practical implications for direct translation of research results
of a presumably long “game process”, into improvement in applied practice.
the use of more “immediate” dependent We found elite-level teams to vary their
variables (e.g. the ability to impede op- defensive game styles (e.g. by implement- Corresponding address
ponent’s spatial progression) may better ing high- vs. low-block positioning).
enlighten practitioners, as regards game- Nonetheless, they systematically reduced Rui Freitas
CIPER, Faculdade de
play dynamics. space occupation, moved synchronously
Motricidade Humana,
Most of the variables that were com- with opponents across the pitch, and gave SpertLab, Universidade de
monly examined (e.g. surface area or less relevance to the lateral corridors of Lisboa
team spread) captured collective actions the pitch. Overall, the level of intra-team Estrada da Costa, 1495-
from a “macro” viewpoint. The signifi- synchrony of movement that is displayed 688 Cruz Quebrada, Lisboa,
Portugal
cance of interactions within specific sub- appears to increase when teams are out
ruifernandesdefreitas
areas of the pitch, as the game centre, was of ball possession. The extent of this syn- @gmail.com
overlooked. The use of “micro” analysis chronisation appears to be influenced by
may help clarify the relevant factors on the ball location, with the defending play- Author Contribution. RF and AV conceptualised
these different organisational levels and ers becoming less “connected” as the ball and drafted the article. RF performed the literature
evencomplementsuchlargerscale assess- moves closer to their own goal. To di- search and data analysis. CHA made substantial
contributions to the design of the work and CHA
ments. We further observe that many minish the probability of a negative out- and VV revised it critically for important intellectual
commonly used research metrics most come occurring, teams should start their content. VV, as a native English speaker, also rewrote
likely originate from theoretical perspec- defensive sequences away from the goal the final draft. All the authors revised and approved
the final manuscript. The corresponding author
tives (i.e. dynamics systems theory and they are defending, maintaining a stable attests that all listed authors meet authorship criteria
order parameters), as opposed to the “ev- tactical organisation (e.g. with adequate

German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research

 Review

and that no others meeting the criteria have been in soccer: methodological considerations. soccer. Revista de Psicología del Deporte, 22(2),
omitted. International Journal of Performance Analysis in 437–446.
Sport, 12(2), 398–424. https://doi.org/10.1080/ Chen, C. C., Yang, T. C., Chiu, W. S., Wang, J. C., Chow,
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supervised machine learning task based on Football Tournament. Mathematical Problems
synchronized positional and event data with in Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/
Conflict of interest. R. Freitas, A. Volossovitch, expert-based feature extraction. Data Mining 3396238.
C.H. Almeida and V. Vleck declare that they have no and Knowledge Discovery, 35(5), 2009–2049. Clemente, F. M. (2012). Study of successful soccer
competing interests. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10618-021-00763-7. teams on FIFA World Cup 2010. Pamukkale.
Bilek, G., & Ulas, E. (2019). Predicting match Journal of Sports Sciences, 3(3), 90–103.
For this article no studies with human participants outcome according to the quality of opponent Clemente, F. M., Couceiro, M. S., Lourenço-Martins, F.,
or animals were performed by any of the authors. All in the English premier league using situational Sousa, R., & Figueiredo, A. (2014). Intelligent
studies mentioned were in accordance with the ethical variables and team performance indicators. systems for analyzing soccer games: The
standards indicated in each case. International Journal of Performance Analysis in weighted centroid. Ingenieria e Investigación,
Sport, 19(6), 930–941. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 34(3), 70–75. https://doi.org/10.15446/ing.
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