Research in soccer has traditionally focused on very specific aspects of the game, such as technical and physiological aspects, and has largely ignored important issues such as tactical performance and the role of individual players within the team. The aim of this study was to study the different relationships that Xabi Alonso, one of the world's best midfielders, establishes with his teammates during offensive play, and to investigate his connections with the pitch in terms of where his direct interventions started and finished, his use of technical actions, his involvement in set plays and interceptions, and his relationship with shots at goal. To do this, we analyzed all the matches played by the winner of the 2012 UEFA European Championship: Spain. We employed an observational methodology design (Anguera, 1979) using a modified version of the ad hoc soccer observation instrument designed by Amatria et al. (2016). The resulting data were analyzed by polar coordinate analysis (Gorospe and Anguera, 2000), which is a powerful data reduction technique with high predictive power. The results showed significant associations (Z > 1.96; p < 0.05) between Alonso and players in different positions, a wide sphere of influence on the pitch, both for the start and end of interventions, and a strong link with game interruptions and interceptions and with the use of different technical actions. No significant associations were detected for type of shot. Studies on tactical performance that take account of the multiple factors involved in soccer will lead to better decision-making by coaches and facilitate analysis of a player's true performance.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 5. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 08 April 2018.
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#7,430,250
of 26,563,001 outputs
Outputs from Frontiers in Psychology
#10,584
of 35,510 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#117,884
of 350,712 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Frontiers in Psychology
#258
of 584 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 26,563,001 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 72nd percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 35,510 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 13.9. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 70% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 350,712 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 66% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 584 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 55% of its contemporaries.
