Investigation of Physical Performance of Young Elite Football Players: "Positional Comparison"

This study aims to compare the positional physical performances of young elite A league football players. A total of 38 players from MKE Ankaragücü's U17 and U19 categories, competing in the young elite league during the 2023-2024 season, participated in the research. A Shapiro-Wilk normality test was applied to the data obtained in the study, and based on the results of the normality test, the Spearman test was used for correlation analysis. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine the differences between groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used to define these differences. Additionally, Spearman correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between the participants' physical performance data. When the vertical jump variable was examined, it was found that defenders performed better than goalkeepers in vertical jump (p<0.05), midfielders performed better than goalkeepers (p<0.01), and forwards also performed better than goalkeepers (p<0.05). Regarding the long jump variable, it was found that midfielders performed better in vertical jump than goalkeepers (p<0.01). When the 20-meter sprint variable was examined, it was found that defenders performed better than goalkeepers in the 20m sprint (p<0.01), midfielders performed better than goalkeepers (p<0.01), and forwards also performed better than goalkeepers (p<0.05). For the 40m sprint performance variable, it was found that defenders performed better than goalkeepers in the 40m sprint (p<0.05), midfielders performed better than goalkeepers (p<0.01), and forwards also performed better than goalkeepers (p<0.05). In conclusion, the findings of the study reveal that defenders, midfielders, and forwards exhibit significant superiority in vertical jump, long jump, and sprint performances compared to goalkeepers.