Effects of different small-sided games assembly strategies on the performance of soccer players: a systematic review

The knowledge about how the structuration of small-sided games could affect the technical-tactical performance of soccer players, allowing the coach to choose the most consistent structure with his goal. Therefore, the objective of this systematic literature review was to assemble the studies that analyzed the effects of different assembling strategies of small-sided games on performance of soccer players evaluated by the Team Sport Assessment Procedure (TSAP) tool. The search was conducted by the following databases: PubMed, Scopus and Sportdiscus in December 2019. 152 articles were found, of which them 4 were included in this study. Fewer number of players on the field show higher values in the performance variables assessed by TSAP. These variables can be changed by the scoring methods established on the small-sides games. Finally, the instructions or conditioning defined by the coach does not interfere on the performance of soccer players.