Effects of pitch dimension and skilllevel on the application of space and concentration principles in football small-sided and conditioned games

Problem Statement: A real challenge to coaches is to design effective practice tasks that adequately represent the competitive environment. In this sense, more studies are needed to investigate constraints manipulation effects on Football specific principles of play representativeness. Purpose: To analyse the effects of pitch dimension and skill level on applying offensive and defensive specific principles of play (space and concentration, respectively) during football small-sided and conditioned games. Approach: The intra-team coordination was measured through two variables that captured teams' dispersion (width and length). Players were divided into two groups (National or Regional level players) and participated in three different small-sided and conditioned games according to pitch dimension (small, intermediate, and large). Results: The pitch dimension (small, intermediate, and large) had a significant effect on length (F (2, 66) = 7.8, p = 0.001, η2 = 0.19) and width (F (2, 66) = 5.4, p = 0.006, η2 = 0.14) during the offensive phase. During the defensive phase, pitch dimension also had a significant effect on length (F (2, 66) = 31.4, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.48) and width (F (2, 66) = 14.0, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.29). The skill-level had significant effect on width during both offensive phase (F (1, 66) = 7.8, p = 0.007 η2 = 0.10) and defensive phase (F (1, 66) = 19.9, p < 0.001, η2 = 23.2). Conclusions: The increase of pitch dimension promoted higher dispersion values (width and length) on offensive and defensive phases of play. Additionally, teams have been capable of self-organising due to pitch dimensions' constraints to continue applying the offensive (space) and defensive (concentration) specific play principles.