Performance and tactical behavior of youth soccer players

Abstract

The aim of this research was to evaluate the performance and tactical behavior of youth soccer players of teams from base categories. The sample consisted of 152 male soccer players aged 11-17 years who participated in the in the U-13 (n = 50), U-15 (n = 62) and U-17 (n = 40) Sergipe State Championship in the year 2015. The System of Tactical Assessment in Soccer (FUT-SAT) was used to identify the players’ tactical behavior based on the fundamental tactical principles. The main results of the study show that players presented higher tactical offensive performance (50.8 ± 9.8 points) compared to defensive performance (34.3 ± 5.7 points) (p < 0.001; d = 2,1), and the Depth Mobility principle presented the highest performance indices in the offensive phase (64.1 ± 8.7; F = 54.4; p < 0.001; partial ?² = 0.26). Defensive Coverage showed the highest performance indexes in the defensive phase (46.1 ± 24.3; F = 54.4; p < 0.001; partial ?² = 0.26).