Declarative Tactical Knowledge and Playing Position in a Professional Football Club: Real Sociedad

There is a need to characterise playing positions in football, as well as to investigate There is a need to characterise playing positions in football, as well as to investigate the relationship between declarative (DTK) and procedural (PTK) tactical knowledge. For these reasons, the aim of the study was to analyse the influence of playing position on the DTK of 163 players (16.7 ± 2.4 years) in the academy of a professional football club. The “TESTACTICO for F7” tool was used to assess the DTK of the participants, analysing the results obtained according to their positions (goalkeepers, central defenders, external defenders, midfielders, wingers and forwards), and ensuring an adequate effect size (f = 0.28) via G*Power. ANOVA analysis of variance was implemented, using Tukey’s HSD test for multiple post hoc comparisons, by assessing the magnitude of the differences found by pairs of positions through the Cohen’s d effect size. Macro level comparisons between positions revealed no significant differences in overall offensive and defensive scores. Significant differences were found between groups at the meso level (p ≤ .05) in the operational principle “Progress towards rival area” and the fundamental principle “Width and length”. However, the post hoc pairwise comparison revealed non-significant differences in both variables. The same happened at the micro level with the behaviours “dribble tobeat the rival” and “give depth to the attack by positioning in length”. In conclusion, the DTK values did not allow for differentiation between players according to their position, which casts doubt on a direct relationship between DTK and PTK.