Exploring a holistic training program on tactical behavior and psychological components of elite soccer players throughout competition season: a pilot study

• Published in: BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation Vol. 16; no. 1; p. 27
• Main Authors: Tassi, Juan M, Nobari, Hadi, García, Jesús Diaz, Rubio, Ana, Gajardo, Miguel Ángel López, Manzano, David, García-Calvo, Tomás
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 22.01.2024; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adaptation; Adversity; Athletic ability; Behavior; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; Competition; Intervention; Principles of play; Psychological aspects; Soccer; Soccer players; Sport aggressiveness; Stress; Tactical component; Teams; Training; Argentina; Competition; Principles of play; Adversity; Sport aggressiveness; Tactical component; Stress
• ISSN: 2052-1847; 2052-1847
• DOI: 10.1186/s13102-024-00811-x

This study aimed to assess the effects of a training program, considering an ecological/holistic perspective, on both tactical behavior (i.e., principles of play; PP) and psychological aspects (i.e., emotional, and cognitive components) in elite soccer teams consisting of players from the U23 and U21 age groups. The participants were 46 players from the under U-23 and U-21 teams from the same club and the first division of Argentina. A quasi-experimental design was examined after five weeks of intervention through integrated training tasks, where psychological factors were used for the development of the tactical principles of the game. Two evaluations of the improvement of game principles were performed before and after the intervention. The results showed significant changes and differences in both teams concerning the PP during the post-intervention period. Specifically, the results show significant group-by-time interactions with an increase in the percentage of tactical actions and behaviors performed during the competitions in two game principles analyzed in both teams. There were significant in the group-by-time interactions for PP 3 (i.e., the first option to pass forward; p ≤ 0.001, F = 58.96, ηp  = 0.88) and also, significant changes were in PP 4 (i.e., immediate pressure when losing the ball) through the main effect of time (p ≤ 0.001, F = 105.41, ηp  = 0.93) and group by time interactions (p = 0.002, F = 20.08, ηp  = 0.72). In both groups, there were significant changes in post hoc analysis (PP3: U21: p = 0.039 vs. U23: p ≤ 0.001) and (PP4: U21: p = 0.006 vs. U23: p = 0.001). It seems the strategies and constraints used, tactical components, and integrated into the psychological aspects during specific soccer training tasks can help improve the tactical behaviors of both teams in a competition associated with the PP of a soccer team.