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This is not how the national team of the future should be formed: "Need to replace a bit of the training
Women's football of the future is expected to go faster and faster.
Now the Swedish Football Association is taking measures not to lose ground.
An ongoing study shows that young players may need to add more high-speed training to their everyday routine.
- It's about being able to keep up with developments internationally, so you don't stagnate, says researcher Helena Andersson.
Helena Andersson knows what she is talking about.
During ten years as an employee of the Swedish Football Association, she saw women's football develop at breakneck speed. When she left a post this year as the physio responsible for the women's national team for the university world, it was with a series of international championships on the merit list.
On Maundy Thursday, the Swedish Football Association presents a first partial summary of a project that has been ongoing since 2019.
Andersson, today a university lecturer at the Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation at Umeå University (majoring in sports medicine), together with the former national team player Sara Thunebro (operationally responsible from the confederation's side) has mapped the physical load of young female soccer players. Both in training and in matches.
It is about Swedish girls' national team players aged 15–18. In 2019–2021, data from 61 players has been collected using so-called GPS devices. Figures that have since been analyzed include how far the players ran (total distance), distance at high speed (here defined as over 15 kilometers per hour), acceleration and braking.
- Our conclusion is that we probably have to add more high-speed training, says Helena Andersson.
The total distance was, for obvious reasons, longer during a week's combined training than during the same week's match. But the players ran longer at high speed in a match than in a whole week of training.
None of the players in the study belong to the women's league but live in lower divisions.
- But the idea is that we (Swedish football) want to be able to keep up with the international pace, that we should be able to play international matches, says Andersson.
- We know that internationally it is important to cope with this high speed. Purely physical. That's why we wanted to do a survey.
She continues:
- Then it's also a bit about an injury perspective. If you get a handle on the load, you can work proactively to minimize the risk of damage.
A report from the international football association Fifa shows that the percentage of high-speed running has increased for every World Cup since 2011.
In the 2019 World Cup, where Sweden took bronze, England and the USA cleared the most meters at high speed of the four semi-final teams.
- Then you have to add that it doesn't mean that technically or tactically you are the best team, but now we are talking about the physical aspect, that you have to be strong, says Andersson.
The fact that the numbers for the girls' national team players look like they do in the ongoing study can have many reasons, Andersson believes. However, the high percentage of starts and stops in the GPS data from training testifies to a lot of so-called small team play.
- In the past, it has been said from the physical training side that small team games provide very good training, which is still true. But you would have to replace some of this training with exercises that challenge the high speed.
- But sometimes you can have too small a plan and some have very thin squads, and then you also don't have the opportunity to play bigger.
Do you mean that they don't have access to the whole field or that small team games are practiced by tradition?
- It is a combination, I would say. When we brought this up at a joint conference, someone said that "in our area, in the big city, we only have a half court for girls 15". Then you have to find other ways to get up to speed.
The young players who have been part of the project have already received tips to be able to take responsibility for their own training, for example adding certain exercises.
- It's about getting used to playing at this high speed, simply preparing the body. But you have to gradually increase, not just bang on, says Andersson.
When established men's clubs have invested heavily in their women's teams in Europe in recent years, the conditions for physical training have changed, she continues.
Suddenly, women's players have access to expertise in a completely different way.
Has Sweden fallen behind?
- No, I would not like to say that we have fallen behind, but perhaps rather that we are trying to be proactive, so that we do not begin to fall behind.
Are the numbers you came up with alarming?
- No I do not think so. There is really nothing to compare it to in this age category. But we know from the Fifa report that the percentage of high speed is very important.
If you turn it around, what are the risks of not rescheduling the training?
- The risk is then that the difference in load between training and match becomes greater and greater. And then you are not really physically prepared for match load.
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Stort för Bajen och svensk fotboll
Gårdagens skrällvinst i Lissabon kommer att ha stor betydelse för den vidare utvecklingen av Hammarby damfotboll och av damfotbollen i Sverige.
Efter fjolårets dubbel kommer Bajen inte att vinna någon titel i år. Man ligger 15 poäng bakom FC Rosengård och visst, teoretiskt kan Rosengård förlora alla sina sex kommande matcher och om Hammarby vinner alla vinner man SM-guld.
Men jag upprepar,…
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