How much do soccer players run in a game?

Question

OK, here's the scoop. A gropu of students from our university just started a club team. The problem is that they don't feel running is vital to the game (which anyone with half a brain would know they are wrong). A few years back, I saw a thing during a game on tv that was talking about GPS tracking of certain players and saying how many miles they covered. Anyone have an idea of where I can find these types of stats? I would like to have something like this to prove to people that running IS important since they don't view their lack of winning ways have anything to do with not working on conditioning. Thanks.

Apparently a few people didn't read the whole explanation/question. I'm looking for actual stats, not guesses. This was recent too. I've see the Everton thing before, but I was talking about something I saw with Figo and then I've seen a few times with the US women's team (also wanted something in our players' lifetimes! haha). Thanks.

Answer 1

I never train just running. How good is running if don't know how to play the game? Play the game, instead of running. That's all you need.

Answer 2

Running is a vital part of soccer training. When I played on a club team we started practice with a 5 mile run and after practice we ran at least 2 miles. That does not include the running during the practice session and the countless suicides. We hated it, but when it came to game time we were extrememly conditioned compared to our opponent. We would play keep away for most of the first half and tire the other team out. Towards the end of the first half we would start scoring and keep a fast paced game. The second half we would run circles around the other team. We were undefeated that season and not because of the talent but because of our conditioning.
On average I would say you run 5-7 miles over the course of a 90 minute game. Most of that is a combination of jogging and walking while a small portion is composed of strong sprints. I coach a youth soccer team now and I make them run a lot but not just at one speed. I have them do interval training where you jog, side step, go backwards, jump over cones and sprint. These are all movements that are done during the course of a game. As far as the GPS study, that was Everton FC in the 70's ( I think). They plotted just under 9 km during the game. Hope this helps. Tell your team running is extrememly important and you need to do lots of conditioning, it will help during a 90 minute long game.

Answer 3

I would imagine around 10 km

Answer 4

i play defence for that same reason, you run, but not so much. or you could play goal keeper.

Answer 5

depends on how hard they try to be involved in the game i guess