Team Synergies in Professional Football: A Goal-Referenced Performance Indicator for Rapid Ball Recovery in Negative Transitions
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Negative transitions require teams to reorganise rapidly from attack to defence, yet few positional indicators describe collective reorganisation in relation to possession recovery. This study examined whether rβ, a GNSS-derived angular concentration performance indicator referenced to the goal to be protected, was associated with controlled possession recovery within 10 s after a negative transition. In this retrospective observational study, five official matches of a single professional team (Serie A and UEFA Conference League) were analysed. Negative-transition episodes ending with controlled recovery were classified as FAST (≤10 s) or SLOW (>10 s). For each outfield player, the angular deviation between movement direction and the direction to the protected goal was computed; rβ was calculated at the team level using Kuramoto’s order parameter. The sample comprised 248 episodes (133 FAST; 115 SLOW). FAST episodes showed higher mean rβ values than SLOW episodes (0.717 vs. 0.600; difference = 0.117; 95% CI [0.085, 0.150]; p < 0.001; and d = 0.906). This pattern remained consistent across thresholds, fixed-window analyses, zones, and matches. Among recovered transitions, greater goal-referenced angular concentration was associated with controlled recovery within 10 s; rβ may serve as a process indicator of immediate defensive reorganisation that could support training, team monitoring and performance analysis.
Source: Sports
Language: English
Subfield: Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,172
OpenAlex ID: W7204923475