Dwayne Kwesi-Peasah

Really interesting insight from @waynerooney on the type of speed that can sometimes get overlooked in football. You’ll often hear coaches say that top speed is overrated. That football is mostly about being quick over short distances. It’s a fair point - most sprints in football are relatively short. Approximately 2-4 secs, over 10-20m. So acceleration, anticipation and timing are hugely important. But Rooney’s point is equally true - give genuinely fast players 30–40m to open up and top end speed is a massive plus. The counter-attack goal against Arsenal in 09/10 is a brilliant example. Rooney starts from deep, sprints about 50m and has the ability to maintain his speed and get on the end of the pass. In the current Premier League era, that ability is particularly valuable in a game increasingly full of transitions. For both attackers and defenders. Manchester United used to publish their players’ top speeds, and Rooney was regularly right up there at or above 35 km/h. There’s another reason developing top speed matters too: speed reserve. Imagine two players: Player A max speed: 36 km/h Player B max speed: 31 km/h At 25 km/h, Player A is at 69% of their maximum speed. Player B is already at 81%. So the same absolute running speed represents a very different relative speed demand for each player. That’s just one more reason maximal speed matters beyond simply being able to win a foot race. Raise your ceiling and you increase the speed you have in reserve.

This is a good example of how physical data can be often misused in football. This post has 1.1m views and tentatively insinuates that because Manchester United don’t sprint much out of possession, that’s a bad thing. Under Michael Carrick, United generally defend in a mid-block. They will naturally accumulate less OOP sprint distance than a Bournemouth side whose defensive model involves pressing much more aggressively. Look at the bottom-left quadrant. Many of those teams use structures designed to control space rather than constantly press at high intensity. It’s about running at the right moments. Physical output is generally a consequence of how you play. Or at least, how you want to play. Additionally, after the longest World Cup in history, it's another long season ahead for clubs and players in European competitions, and who go deep in domestic cups. Managing the season physically will be key.

Does running more actually win football matches? A research study over nine seasons and 3,379 Premier League games suggests it’s more complicated than that. Total distance had NO significant relationship with league position. Sprint distance showed the strongest relationship with success. Winning teams averaged just 91m more sprinting than losing teams. Teams who run less than others can still be successful. Aston Villa were bottom three for distance covered and sprint distance last season - they finished fourth. The real question isn’t how much you run. It’s when, where and why you run. Context is key.