Abstract
Background The aim of this study was to analyze the variation between within-week and between-playing positions on the locomotor and mechanical demands of soccer players. Methods 19 elite soccer players of a team competing in the Turkish First League were included in the research. 86 training sessions of this team were evaluated via GPS datas. The differences between training performance metrics among microcycles for each position are revealed with repeated ANOVA and the differences between training performance metrics among positions in each microcycle are revealed with ANOVA. Results All the number of deceleration and acceleration per minute variables show statistical differences among the cycles for the defenders and midfielders but not for the forwards. Conclusions These data suggested that there is a need to plan for different position-specific training stimuli in elite soccer teams for high performance outputs. We believe that these results can be used to determine positional demands by sports scientists and data analysts.