The impact of physical, technical, tactical and psychological factors on the status of young football players
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v83.119529Keywords:
Team Sports, Football, TrainingAbstract
Introduction: In high-performance soccer, in addition to the players' physical, technical and psychological qualities, the competence to make the right tactical decisions, and to translate them into actions, is becoming increasingly important for achieving good results in matches. Objective: This study aimed to determine the impact extent of physical, technical, tactical and psychological factors on the status of young football players (YFPs).
Methodology: A total of 40 under-20 YFPs from 2 professional clubs were divided into 2 groups according to their status in the team (starting players or reserves). The YFPs performed physical, technical and tactical intelligence tests and answered a questionnaire to outline their psychological profile. Data were analyzed using binary logistic regression using the SPSS v.20 pro-gram
Results: The results showed that the starting players are better in 16 of the 22 indicators analyzed, with three of them showing significant differences: concentration (P<0.05; d=0.65), motivation (P<0.00; d=1.15) and anxiety control (P<0.01; d=0.81). The model to analyze the effects with the 4 factors revealed a statistically significant fit (P<0.01), with a good explained Nagelkerke variance of R2=0.41. Of the factors analyzed, mental strength and tactical performance significantly contribute to starting (P<0.05). Furthermore, these variables have a relevant effect size on the YFP status, increasing the chance of starting by 1.15 respectively and 1.2 for each point on the scale.
Conclusion: Therefore, it is concluded that the difference between being a starter and a reserve in YFPs is mainly attributed to tactical intelligence and mental strength.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Patrick Alan de Souza Pfeiffer, Júlio César Gomes da Silva, Eric de Lucena Barbosa, Rodrigo Benevides Ceriani, Guilherme Figueiredo Machado, Antonio García-de-Alcaraz, Kalinne Fernandes Silva, Gilmário Ricarte Batista
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