EXCITING NEW RESEARCH Do you want to know the Contextualised Physical Demands of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™? If so, see below. It was an honour to conduct this Official FIFA Physical Analysis, which is the first of its kind! It comes in eight parts below:

Ever wondered what truly drives performance in elite football? Hopefully you’re in London for the Hudl Conference to find out. Excited to (1) present on  contextualised EPL match demands on the main stage, & (2) join a panel session on high performance on the Signal Stage.

Ever wondered what truly drives performance in elite football? Hopefully you’re in London for the Hudl Conference to find out. Excited to (1) present on  contextualised EPL match demands on the main stage, & (2) join a panel session on high performance on the Signal Stage.

“The team’s busy… but busy doing what?” Peak periods of match intensity are often analysed, but ‘blind’ numbers alone tell you very little. Take a peak intensity period: much of it happens out of possession, usually during defensive transitions  https://t.co/uxa9xoc1ye

The key takeaway? Without context, tracking data is just numbers. Knowing what the team is actually doing during those busy periods is what gives the data meaning. https://t.co/2kbBKYRH1Y

What’s fascinating is that these periods are often preceded or followed by counter transitions – defensive into offensive, or vice versa – creating even more intensified moments in the game.

e.g. lose the ball → press → recover if the ball isn’t regained. In our EPL analysis, we typically see 9 players involved in these intensified periods – almost all outfield players. Arsenal demonstrate this brilliantly in clip, collectively tracking back at high intensity

“The team’s busy… but busy doing what?” Peak periods of match intensity are often analysed, but ‘blind’ numbers alone tell you very little. Take a peak intensity period: much of it happens out of possession, usually during defensive transitions  https://t.co/uxa9xoc1ye

2025 feels like the year clubs are going all-in on understanding contextualised match demands. I’ve delivered CPD sessions with teams across the Champions League, Ligue 1, Premier League and Championship — next up, looking forward to meeting West Ham United’s performance staff ⚽️

The psychological attributes that set professional footballers apart — and the growing possibility that AI could identify some of these characteristics before a ball is even kicked — highlight an exciting new frontier in player development. Thanks Leo https://t.co/2JkE6JrJGo

Cool. Looks interesting Miguel.

The best part of these @Statsbomb events? The conversations that happen around the ideas. I’ll be presenting on contextualised EPL match demands on the Main Stage, and later joining a Signal Stage Q&A. Looking forward to a great day of sharing, learning, and connecting.

Thanks to Matt and the team for the great questions and discussion — always a privilege to share ideas with people pushing the game forward.

Football performance is evolving fast — and context is everything! Today I had the pleasure of delivering my second session with @LCFC staff, unpacking the match demands that define high performance: from specialised positions to peak periods & competitive level differences.

Well Done Leonardo for your contribution to FIFA

Football isn't just numbers. It’s context. Paul Bradley (@ContextIsKing9) leads Module 2: Sport-Specific Physiology. From match demands to player profiling — make science work on the pitch. 🔗 Link in bio #SCSEducation #FootballScience #OneStepBeyond

"Context is becoming king when trying to decode aspects of the game as it translates the data directly to the coach using football as the primary vehicle and long may this continue."

VARIATION, VARIATION, VARIATION! That is what we see in match physical performance measures This is the result of many factors, but one of the most powerful modulators of a team’s work-rate is the opposition you play (e.g., one style vs another each game). Thread👇 1/5

Find below a FIFA Research Brief: ‘Like Father, like Son’. They interviewed the Bergs, the Sørloths & the Thorstvedts. All of whom are current or former Norwegian internationals. They investigated how the ex-pros supported their sons’ development 👇 https://t.co/aXhCkAT5nF

Always great to push out new research, well done to Shuyao Chen on another cool match demands paper. Glad myself and Piotr Zmijewski could help you just a little bit with the writing aspects. See below for free access: https://t.co/VYsYfiVXvq

For instance, how these factors work in isolation and also their interplay and accumulation over the course of various matches and how they may impact physical performances. For more details: https://t.co/2kbBKYSeRw 5/5