Journal of Sport and Kinetic Movement Vol. I, No. 23(2)2014 [622590]

Journal of Sport and Kinetic Movement Vol. I, No. 23(2)/2014
93 GAME FLUENCY AND SPORTS PERFORMANC E IN JUNIOR LEVEL
MODERN FOOTBALL
Doru Stoica, Dumitru Barbu, Mihai Constantin Răzvan Barbu, Daniel Ciocănescu
Craiova Sport and Physical Education Faculty
Abstract: In this research, we conducted a study on a total of 18 athletes, aged 17 to 18 years, all components of "A"
republican junior team of the ‗Gica Popescu‘ football school. The study was conducted on a number of 10 official
games, during which we followed the fluency of games, that have made up the 10 matches, which is a particular
advantage in preparing and building an attack that leads to victory, actually, the aim of any match.
Keywords: football, sport performance, efficiency, fluency.
Introduction
The concept of fluency means the quality of a football
team to solve the ball transport from defense to
completion, with as little disruption, caused by the
opponents, as possible.
In football, the improvement of game relations is
crucial, as well as the mutual understanding between
players, the judicious use of their possibilities, each
sport activity being consciously subordinated to the
primary objective: victory. Also, very special attention
should be paid to improving athletes collaboration
under weariness.[1]
Thus, by increasing the volume of training work effort,
along with the gradual decrease of intensity, improves
the effort capacity, thereby, influencing the play ers‘
physical and technical-tactical expression in the field,
knowing that the technical and tactical expression level
decreases in the moments of prolonged effort and
towards the end of the half, while the number of errors
increases with the fatigue.
To eliminate this kind of situation, athletes should
improve their tactical capabilities under weariness. [1]
Given that a football player is participating in over 60
actions in a match with maximum intensity, with about
110-120 ball possessions, the majority of the racing
rhythms being high, in football the increased share of
working with maximal and over-maximal intensity has
became the main factor of progress or performance
capacity maximization. This increase is the result of
games dynamics conduct, a major aspect for the
training of a team to play, in that: all matches are
means of training, operational models reflecting the
essential features of competition. [2]
In this sense, football teams which are ensured a
superior ability in terms game fluency, perform a better
ball possession, through the applied technique and
tactics and, through the ball dispossession and
interception techniques, interrupt the game fluency of
the opponent team.
The sport practice has shown, however, that tactical
skill is an attribute, pertaining not only to the skilled
athlete. It must be learned and improved throughout the
sports careers, as initiative and creativity are the result
of a strong and lasting training, summarizing the
development of basic and combined motor skills, the
improvement of technical elements and procedures, as
well as the education of mental qualities, for their
efficient use during competitions.[3] Given that football game claims a complex
manifestation of all physical qualities, infinite skills
and motor skills, which are the basis of technical
procedures, a prompt thinking, varied, doubled each
time by fantasy to solve each tactical moment, qualities
of will and theoretical knowledge, and that all this can
be formed only by educating a multilateral player,
combined organically with the development of the
aforementioned qualities towards the requirements of
the game, [4] the fluency of the game becoming in this
respect, a pragmatic expression that translates the
degree of physical, technical, tactical and psychological
training of a team compared to the opponent team.
The more tactically justified (conceived) the speed and
accuracy of passes, the speed (rhythm breaks) and the
direction of players movement will be, the faster the
team in ball possession will get to action completion,,
exceeding or scattering and surprising the defense of
the opponent team.[5]
So far, there have not been elaborated studies on the
fluency of the game, as determining element of game
organization, of good ball possession and performance.
We, in what follows, based on the football team games,
performed during the tournament of the 2013-2014
season, are trying to demonstrate that the teams that
reveal a superior game fluency have a superior sports
performance.
In the literature we find few works, mostly adjacent to
the subject. Among them we mention: "A first step for
a pedagogy of competition" (Arnd Kruger), "We need a
theory of competition" (Gunther Thieb), "Sports
training" (A. Dragnea), or "Fluency, essential
characteristic o f the modern football game model‘,
authors: Stefan Covaci and Egon Horn.
According to specialists, Stefan Covaci and Egon
Horn, fluency is a qualitative criterion, because it is a
positive attribute, characterizing a certain team, it is a
relative criterion, it is considered in relation to some
opponents, it is a synthetic criterion, because achieving
fluency requires mastery of physical, technical, tactical
and psychological means, which are superior to the
opponent's.
The research hypothesis
If a football team achieves a fluency superior to that of
the opponent team, it also records a better sports
performance (result), better than that of the opponent
team .
The purpose of the research

Journal of Sport and Kinetic Movement Vol. I, No. 23(2)/2014
94 The research purpose is to provide the football coaches
with the research results, which, if they confirm the
hypothesis, may lead to the modeling of the game and
to getting superior sports performance.
The research subjects
The research subjects were represented by the "A"
republican junior team of the ‗Gica Popescu‘ foo tball
school as well as by players used in 10 championship
matches of the competition partner teams. In the 10
matches ‗Gica Popescu‘ football school used 18
players who entered the game either as
representatives/non-researves or as reserves, where
they performed in the second halves of the games . The
other teams, in their turn, have used reserves, in the
game, too, in general, three each. Thus, in the matches
performed by the ‗Gica Popescu‘ football school team,
the competition partner teams used a total of 140
players.
The methods used in research
The Interview Method.
We had discussions with the coach of Craiova team on
whether they prepared the team for achieving the game
fluency. The answer was largely positive, but being the
first year of participation for the junior republicans, the
game relations have not yet been improved and the
team has little competitive experience at this level.
From discussions we realized that it was actually the
means used for keeping the ball and not the game
fluency which requires that each ball or ball driving to
get at least 5 meters in the opponent's court. For this
reason we have extended the discussions with other
coaches, from some centers of children and juniors in
Craiova (Craiova CSS., Univ. Craiova, Craiova CSU)
the result being the same.
The Recording Method.
In order to have a safe collection of indices under
investigation, we recorded the 10 video football
matches of the ‗Gica Popescu‘ football school, then we
centralized the data in Tables 1 and 2, for their analysis
and interpretation.
The statistical and mathematical method
All data collected concerning Gica Popescu football
school team and the teams they played with, in the 10
matches, have been recorded in the tables, under the
headings concerned in view of their ordering,
processing and interpretation. This method helps us to
establish more precise conclusions, to be able to show
the future development of the phenomenon, the game
fluency and the sports performance.
Further we shall make some remarks and delimitations
of the elements making up the game fluency and their
value for athletic performance.
The fluency index. It is the ratio of interventions in attack, ie the number
of players included in those attacks and the number of
attacks initiated. This index is higher as the number of
players involved in ensuring the fluency in that attack
is higher.
The fluency index expresses significantly the game
fluency and efficiency due to the following reasons:
the team that can focus and provide more players in
the attack, can provide longer ball possession and has
more initiative in the game;
can impose its rhythm and style of play;
can create more completing game situations ;
To check the fluency of the attacks and their
effectiveness in the 10 games watched we made the
game fluency index formula:
interventions in attack Fluency index = –––––-
initiated attacks
The initiated attacks are operations carried out by a
team, from taking possession of the ball and the first in
depth pass given to a partner of at least 5 meters.
The interventions in attack are the participation in
attack of a partner, regardless of the ball control
duration (number of kicks).
The efficiency index expresses:
-The number of balls won (whatever the procedure
used), plus the number of decisive passes, plus –the
number of goals scored from free kicks and actions
related to the number of lost balloons, plus -the number
of missed opportunities in the act of completion.
The efficiency index was calculated using the formula:
number of balls won + the number of decisive passes +
goals number from actions and free kicks
Efficiency Index = ––––––––––
number of balls lost + the number of missed
opportunities in the completion action
Following the analysis of the games played by the Gica
Popescu Football School team in the 10 matches, won,
ended in a draw or lost, we established the
mathematical value of this report.
1 – 1,15 unsatisfying.
1,16 – 1,30 satisfying
1,31 – 1,45 good.
over 1,46 very good.
We mention that these delimitations values were
determined for Gica Popescu Football School team,
referred to the value of the team of players provided for
the 10 matches. A neglected factor was that over 75%
of the basic fund of players were in sport fitness at that
time.
In table no. 1 we present the data collected from the 10
matches played by the Gica Popescu Football School
team, the average of goals scored and received, as well
as, the index that determines the fluency the game.

Journal of Sport and Kinetic Movement Vol. I, No. 23(2)/2014
95 Table no. 1
Table no. 2 shows the average of the efficiency index and the factors that determine it
Table no. 2
The analysis and interpretation of data.
Athletic performance.
In the 10 matches recorded by us, the Gica Popescu
Football school team won seven, lost one and two
ended in a draw. From Table 1 we can see that only in
the lost match with Craiova Sports School, the juniors
of the experimental group had a fluency index, lower
than that of the opposing team (2.57 versus 2.74) and
an efficiency index (see tab. 2) 1.02 unsatisfactory, in
fact, observable also through the "performance" sports
(score 1-3).
In the two games ended in a draw 3-3 with CSM
Ramnicu Valcea and by 1-1 with C. S. Mioveni, we can see from Table 1 that the team from Craiova had
higher fluency indices (2.74 versus 2.29) in the game
with the Vâlcea team (2.81 versus 2.23) in the game
with Mioveni. Also the Gica Popescu Football school
juniors, in both games, (see tab. 1) had superior indices
in what initiated attacks are concerned (107 to 105) in
the game with those from Vâlcea (98 to 91) oand the
one with Mioveni. In terms of efficiency index for the
two games ended in a draw, they are satisfying (see
Table 2).
In the other seven games, the victory belonged to the
Gica Popescu Football team, scoring 29 goals and
receiving 14, with higher fluency indices to the The game and the teams The score Attacks
initiated interventions in
attack fluency index
Experiment Group Control Group Gr.
E Gr. M Gr. E Gr. M Gr. E Gr. M Gr. E Gr.
M
1 Football School G.
Popescu C.S.U. Craiova 2 1 105 95 283 196 2,69 2,06
2 Football School G.
Popescu C.S.M. Rm.Vâlcea 3 3 107 105 294 242 2,74 2,29
3 Football School G.
Popescu C.S. Mioveni 1 1 98 91 276 203 2,81 2,23
4 Football School G.
Popescu Alro Slatina 2 1 101 93 296 238 2,93 2,55
5 Football School G.
Popescu Minerul Motru 2 0 111 89 291 202 2,62 2,26
6 Football School G.
Popescu L.P.S. Târgu Jiu 6 2 125 90 301 180 2,44 2,00
7 Football School G.
Popescu L.P.S. Viitorul
Pitești 2 1 110 96 303 219 2,75 2,28
8 Football School G.
Popescu L.P.S. Slatina 4 2 115 102 295 214 2,56 2,09
9 Football School G.
Popescu C.S.S. Craiova 1 3 104 124 268 340 2,57 2,74
10 Football School G.
Popescu C.S.S Tr. Măgurele 6 0 128 103 301 185 2,35 1,79
The average of the results 2,9 1,4 110,4 90,6 290,8 191,8 2,912 2,229
The game and the teams The score The results obtained by Gică Popescu Football School
Experiment
group Control group Gr.
E Gr.
M Recove
red
balls Decisiv
e
balls Marked
goals Lost
balls Missed
opportu
nities Efficie
ncy
index qualifie
r
1 Football School
G. Popescu C.S.U. Craiova 2 1 103 23 2 78 11 1,43 good
2 Football School
G. Popescu C.S.M. Rm.Vâlcea 3 3 93 29 3 82 13 1,28 Satisfyi
ng
3 Football School
G. Popescu C.S. Mioveni 1 1 91 25 1 81 12 1,27 Satisfyi
ng
4 Football School
G. Popescu Alro Slatina 2 1 107 26 2 86 16 1,32 good
5 Football School
G. Popesc u Minerul Motru 2 0 99 27 2 77 18 1,34 good
6 Football School
G. Popescu L.P.S. Târgu Jiu 6 2 118 32 6 66 14 1,95 Very
good
7 Football School
G. Popescu L.P.S. Viitorul Pitești 2 1 102 29 2 76 21 1,37 good
8 Football School
G. Popescu L.P.S. Slatina 4 2 106 25 4 80 17 1,39 good
9 Football School
G. Popescu C.S.S. Craiova 1 3 71 22 1 75 17 1,02 unsatisf
ying
1
0 Football School
G. Popescu C.S.S Tr. Măgurel e 6 0 120 35 6 68 13 1,98 Very
good
Total 1010 273 29 769 152 14,35
The mean of the games 101 27,3 2,9 76,9 15,2 1,43 good

Journal of Sport and Kinetic Movement Vol. I, No. 23(2)/2014
96 opponents' in all 7 games (see Table 1).
In terms of the efficiency indices of the 7 matches won,
these were between 1.32 and 1.98, that is between good
and very good (see Table 2). This means that achieving
game fluency is a determining factor in obtaining
sports performance.
Attacks initiated.
Gica Popescu Football School team had an average of
110.4 attacks initiated and the remaining teams an
average of 90.6 (see tab. 1). The difference between the
average of Craiova team and the other teams does not
seem very high 19.8, but, as we analyze the heading
'interventions in the attack', the team played a more
organized game, a more collective, constructive play,
which enabled it to get closer to the goal.
Interventions in attack.
Craiova Juniors had during the 10 matches, an average
of 290.8 interventions in attack, by far superior to the
average of other teams, that averaged 191.8. This
proves that most Craiova footballers have had a top
possession of the ball, which allowed them to approach
the goal for completion.
The fluency Index.
And in terms of interventions in with initiated attacks
attack, that is of the fluency index, Craiova team
presents better average results , that being 2.91 for
Craiova and 2.22 for the other teams. This difference
means that, compared to the number of ball recovered
by various procedures had more opportunities to
approach the goal, to initiate through various forms of
attack (counter attack simple attack, but particularly
through the attack combination) the actions
completion.
The Efficiency Index.
The Juniors of the experimental group scored 29 goals
and received 18, 152 missing opportunities to
complete, thereby being able to conclude that in
Craiova players there is a poor accuracy in shooting to the goal. We could base the imprecision of the goal
shooting, on the ground of the so called 'stage fright'
that a national competition of "A" Republicans juniors
gives to the athletes, on the lack of experience at this
level of competition and, why not, the fear of
committing errors.
If, as shown in Table 2, out of 1010 balls recovered,
only 273 were to be decisive passes, which means that
the team prepared too much the pass for completion .
From the same table, where it appears that the Gica
Popescu Football School juniors lost 769 balloons,
during the course of the 10 games, or an average of
76.9 missed balls per game, we can conclude that the
game relations within the team are not yet
consolidated.
Conclusions.
In the seven won matches, the Gica Popescu Football
School team had a game fluency average, superior to
those of other teams, which confirms the hypothesis
stated. If we make an analysis of the game fluency
indices in the match played with Craiova School Sports
Club team, a match lost by a score of 1-3, we can see
that Gica Popescu Football School team has a lower
fluency index, than that of the opponent team, which
strengthens the hypothesis of the paper.
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Sportului, Editura FEST, București, pag. 317.
[2]. Călinescu G., (2007), Fotbal –Teorie și Metodică,
Editura Universitaria, Craiova, pag. 191.
Teodorescu S., (2009), Antrenament și competiție,
Editura ALPHA MDN, Bu zău, pag. 162 -163.
[3] Cernăianu C -tin., (1997), Fotbal – Teoria și practica
jocului și antrenamentului sportive, Editura Fundației
"România de Mâine", București 1997, pag 36.
[4] Motroc I., Motroc Fl., (1996), Fotbalul la copii și
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