Analysis of Small Game Areas of 4Vs4 and 7Vs7 in Spanish

Professional Football

O. Caro

1,2,3

, L. Fradua

, A. Zubillaga

and J. Fernandez-Navarro

Granada University,

Granada, Spain

University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU

Aspire ZF, Aspetar, NSMP, Excellence in Football Project, Doha, Qatar

Keywords: Amisco System, Individual Playing Area, Match Analysis, Small-Sided Games.

Abstract: The aim of this study was to analyse the reduced space game situations that appear during competition in

soccer considering interactions with a small number of players involved. The Amisco system was employed

to collect the dimensions of playing areas of different situations from competition in order to extrapolate the

results to the appropriate training drills design in reduced space. 8,727 4v4 and 7v7 game situations were

collected for the study. Width, length and individual playing area were registered from these situations. The

influence of the zone of the pitch in the configuration of these spaces was also considered. The results showed

that the dimensions of the areas designed for training drills are larger than those in competition. The influence

of the zone of the pitch is also significant, mainly in 4v4 situations. This should be considered to adjust the

training drills design depending on the intended tactical aim, directly associated with the zone of the pitch

where the training drill is developed.

1 INTRODUCTION

Small-sided games (SSGs) are considered as

modified training drills developed in limited areas.

SSGs frequently have adapted rules and the

participation of fewer players than in a usual soccer

match (Hill-Haas, Dawson, Impellizzeri & Coutts,

2011). They are currently an appropriate way for

improving technical and tactical abilities besides

player’s physical performance (Fradua et al, 2013).

SSGs are employed widely abroad and constitute the

basis for many development programmes in soccer

(Fradua, Zubillaga, Ruiz-Ruiz, Caro & Fernández-

Navarro, 2012).

Previous research addressed the evaluation of game

situations in reduced space and identified two different

aspects. Many studies were associated with the

analysis of SSGs during training to know the physical

demands of different training drills and the benefits

from the conditional scope (Casamichana &

Castellano, 2011; Hill-Haas et al, 2011; Hill-Haas

et al.,

2009; Hoff et al., 2002; Köklü, 2012; Little,

2009). On the other hand, other studies focused on

motor behaviour analysis and technical abilities of the

game (Bekris et al., 2012; Dellal et al., 2013; Jones &

Drust, 2007; Katis & Kellys, 2009; Kelly y Drust,

2009). All the studies showed game situations during

the training session with reduced spaces and a small

number of players, and therefore tried to determine

the physical, technical and tactical demands in

SSGs.

SSGs have the characteristics present in a soccer

match and therefore players experience the situations

that they find in competition, or similar to them

(Owen, Twist & Ford, 2004). SSGs include elements

from match play and possess their own complexity

(Morin, 1998), consequently they are suitable for

learning and acquiring technical and tactical skills

(Parlebas, 2001).

Learning through SSGs is determined by different

variables (Little, 2009). Number of players involved,

playing area, and individual playing area are the

decisive aspects. Previous research suggested playing

area dimensions for different options of interaction in

reduced space. These suggestions are justified by the

conditional or tactical load attempted.

Whereas previous studies stated the specificity of

SSGs, none of them provided justification for the

dimensions of the space suggested based on the

analysis of competition (Fradua et al., 2013). For this

study, the dimensions of the areas are considered as the

most important aspect for training drills, and if the aim

is to develop specific training drills the dimensions of

Caro O., Fradua L., Zubillaga A. and Fernandez-Navarro J..

Analysis of Small Game Areas of 4vs4 and 7vs7 in Spanish Professional Football.

DOI: 10.5220/0005191202310235

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress on Sports Sciences Research and Technology Support (PerSoccer-2014), pages 231-235

ISBN: 978-989-758-057-4

 2014 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

the area suggested should be similar to the one in

competition. Mainly, the individual playing area (IPA)

that represents the value of the area as the relationship

between the total area of the pitch and the total number

of players involved in the game (Parlebas, 2001),

because this determines the difficulty of the training

drill for the player.

The influence of the zone of the pitch as a

performance indicator (Reina Gómez & Hernández-

Mendo, 2012) was previously analysed in relation to

the areas for game situations (Fradua et al.,

2013;

Zubillaga et al., 2013). Different zones of the pitch

depending on the tactical aims and the phases of the

game can be considered to show a practical

justification of the results of this study (Garganta,

1997; Díaz- Díaz, 2011)

During a soccer match, numerous situations and

actions directly involve the nearest players to the

player in possession of the ball. The positioning of

these players, especially adversaries, determines that

such actions will be reduced in space and time (Vilar

et al., 2013). These competitive situations justify the

use of the widely discussed training drills in small

space or small-sided games (Hill-Haas et. al., 2011).

Previous studies (Fradua et. al., 2013; Zubillaga et.

al., 2011) utilised a novel procedure to analyse

competition for the subsequent design of the training

drills with similar characteristics of depth, width and

individual playing area. This study aims to describe

the reduced space situations of 4v4 and 7v7 that

appear in soccer match play and to analyse the

influence of the pitch zone in the variables measured.

2 METHODS

A multiple-camera player tracking system (AMISCO

Pro, Nice, France) was used to record the playing area

of these situations of 7vs7 and 4vs4. A total of 25

matches, 5 per team, of the 1st Spanish Division were

analysed. Pitch Zone, Player’s position and

movements were registered with a frequency of

twenty-five records per second (Zubillaga et al.,

2007). A total set of 8727 data were collected, all of

them in possession phases of the game. Records

where the ball was out of play were removed. Data

were recorded at intervals of 5 seconds and the pitch

was divided in six zones (figure 1).

For data collection of the 4v4 and 7v7 situations,

the 8 and 14 nearest players to the ball determine the

four limits of the

playing area considered. The cases

where the nearest players to the ball do not allow an

equal distribution of 4 or 7 players per team, e.g. a

fifth player from one team should be taken in the area

of selection to obtain the fourth player of the opposite

team; were not considered for data collection (Figure

Figure 1: Schematic Representation of the Six Zones Used

in the Analysis. All Zones were Determined Using Athletic

Mode AmiscoPro® (Nice, France).

Figure 2: Playing area selection AmiscoPro® (Nice,

France). 4vs4.

3 RESULTS

The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that

depth is lower than width in all the pitch zones and

for both situations. The mean depth and width was

27.74 m and 32.15 m respectively for 7v7, and for 4v4

the mean depth was 16.34 m and the mean width was

19.08 m. Significant differences (p<0.05) were found

in these values depending on the pitch zones where

the action occurs. With the two variables (width and

length) we can obtain directly the third one, the

Individual Playing Area (IPA). This is the most

important data to analyse the different demands that

the SSG can generated in the players. For this reason

we put focus in the results and discussion of this paper

in that.

* p<0,001

Figure 3: IPA 4vs4 SSG during competition.

* p<0,001

Ns Without Differences

Figure 4: IPA 7vs7 SSG during competition.

4 CONCLUSIONS

The results from the analysis of the competition

showed that the mean dimensions of the 4v4 playing

area during match play were smaller than the

dimensions presented in previous research (Aroso et

al, 2004; Casamichana & Castellano, 2010 & 2011;

Coutts et al., 2009; Dellal et al., 2008; Fanchini et

al., 2011;

Hill-Haas et al., 2008 y 2009; Jones &

Drust, 2007; Little & Wiliams, 2006 & 2007;

Mohammad et al., 2011; Owen et al., 2004;

Rampinini et al., 2007; Sjökvist et al., 2011;

Williams & Owen, 2007). Mean dimensions of

16.34 m long and 19.08 m wide that consequently

generate an IPA of 42.38 m

showed a considerable

dimension reduction in comparison with previous

research. Thus, considering the results of this

investigation, training drills suggested in previous

studies related with SSGs could consider a reduction

in the 4v4 area to analyse this specific situation

derived from competition. Nevertheless although

these dimensions were obtained from the analysis of

the competition; the aim of training, level of players,

or their learning age could be also determining for the

adaptation of playing area suggested from this study

(Vilar et al., 2014).

DELETED.

The influence of the zone according to the playing area

was significant, especially in 4v4 situations where the

results are more easily identifiable with the tactical

objectives of each zone of the pitch, both in width and

length. The zones that do not present differences

between playing areas are zone 1 with zone 5 and 6,

and zone 2 with zone 3. Density of players is higher in

zones near to the goals (zones 1 in relation with the

defended goal; 5 and 6 in relation with the attacked

goal) moreover the main aim of the defensive team is

to prevent from scoring and the overcoming of their

own defenders, reducing the distance from the

attacking players. Hence, this explains that length in

zones 1, 5 and 6 were the lowest of all the zones.

These zones also presented the lowest IPA values,

thus confirming the increased time and space

demands for players in these zones.

The 7v7 situations have not been analysed in

previous research and their analysis can be considered

important due to 7-a-side soccer is the competition

format established in several countries for the first years

of competition in youth soccer.

The 7v7 game situation presents results less

related with specific tactical behaviours of each zone

of the pitch. Only significant differences appear

between the dimensions of playing area in zones 2

and 3, both associated with the beginning and

organisation of the attacking phase. When comparing

7v7 with 4v4 it can be stated that in the 4v4 situation

players are closer to the ball and this is associated

with tactical behaviours of each zone in the pitch. On

the other hand, the separation of the players around

the ball in 7v7 situation and the low participation and

influence of the players away from these 14 players,

could determine the difficulty in explaining the

results obtained. In a 4v4 situation the IPA is reduced

in zones 1,5 and 6 as a result of the higher density of

players associated with the reduction of space,

nevertheless in 7v7 situation this trend did not appear.

In zones of the pitch associated with finishing and

individual marking, playing actions are performed by

a smaller number of players. Therefore, although in

the selection of the 7v7 playing area the 14 players

closest to the ball are included, it is possible for

players further away from those 14 to have little or no

participation at the moment recorded.

Besides the difference in the influence of the zone

of the pitch in playing area in each of the two

situations analysed, we can see that it is not possible

to establish a proportional relationship in playing

areas for the different game situations. In a previous

study, Fradua et al., (2013) conducted an analysis of

the competition identical to this study and

extrapolated the dimensions of the 10v10 situation to

a reduced 5v5 situation. Regarding the results of this

investigation it can be stated that is not possible to do

a proportional extrapolation of one situation to

another, because each one of the game situations have

a different playing areas. Based on the IPA of the

10v10 situation (84 m

) (Fradua et al., 2013), th e

area for a 7v7 situation should have,

considering the number of players, an IPA

of 59 m

, and the 4v4 situation an IPA of 33.5 m

However, in competition there is a higher IPA in both

situations (7v7=66 m

and 4v4=42 m

The results from this study showed that each game

situation has its own characteristics, and they should

be considered in relation to the zone of the pitch where

the action occurs. This is a determining aspect for the

tactical aims that the teams want to develop, and affect

the configuration of playing areas that appear during

competition.

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