TABLE 2.

The evolution of technical performance in the Chinese Soccer Super League over 6 seasons (from 2012 to 2017)

	2012–2017	2012 (478)	2013 (480)	2014 (478)	2015 (478)	2016 (470)	2017 (474)	F	Sig.	CV
Shots	12.5±4.9	12.2±4.7	12.7±5.0	12.4±5.2	12.3±4.9	12.3±5.0	13.1±4.7*	2.12	0.060	4.9
Shots on target	4.8±2.6	4.3±2.3	5.2±2.7***	4.9±2.8**	4.6±2.7	4.7±2.7*	4.8±2.5**	5.88	<0.001	2.6
Corners	4.7±2.7	4.6±2.7	4.6±2.8	4.8±2.8	4.6±2.8	4.4±2.5	5.0±2.8	2.59	0.024	2.7
Crosses	14.3±6.7	12.8±6.0	13.7±6.3	14.3±6.8**	14.5±6.6***	14.9±7.2***	15.6±6.9***	10.72	<0.001	6.7
Possession in opponent’s half	44.5±7.5	43.9±7.6	44.6±7.4	44.2±7.6	44.3±7.5	45.0±7.9	44.9±7.2	1.51	0.182	7.5
Passes	369.0±94.3	357.2±92.0	387.4±91.8***	379.2±92.9**	362.7±94.7	367.0±101.1	360.0±90.0	7.67	<0.001	93.8
Pass accuracy	78.9±5.8	77.3±5.9	79.7±5.6***	79.8±5.5***	79.6±5.7***	79.5±5.9***	77.8±5.8	17.75	<0.001	5.8
Forward passes	124.7±25.3	122.1±27.2	127.1±27.4**	128.3±24.5***	122.9±24.9	123.0±24.7	124.7±22.3	4.71	<0.001	25.2
Forward pass accuracy	63.4±8.5	62.7±8.8	65.6±9.1***	64.1±8.3*	63.8±8.2	62.7±8.5	61.3±7.7	14.62	<0.001	8.5
Opponent 35-m entries	44.6±14.1	43.4±14.1	45.7±14.4*	45.6±14.6	44.0±13.9	45.1±14.8	43.9±12.9	2.29	0.043	14.1
Opponent penalty area entries	6.9±3.8	6.4±3.5	6.9±3.8	6.7±3.7	6.9±3.8	7.2±4.2**	7.1±3.7*	2.55	0.026	3.8
Fouls committed	16.4±4.7	16.9±4.4	15.6±4.5***	16.7±4.6	17.1±5.1	15.7±4.8**	16.1±4.6	8.76	<0.001	4.7
Offsides	2.2±1.8	2.2±1.7	2.3±1.9	2.2±1.8	2.3±1.8	2.2±1.8	2.3±1.7	0.80	0.547	1.8
Yellow cards	2.0±1.3	2.1±1.3	2.0±1.3	1.9±1.3	1.9±1.4	2.0±1.4	2.1±1.4	1.91	0.089	1.3

^*p < 0.05

^**p < 0.01, and

^***p < 0.001 denote a significant difference from the 2012 season

CV = square root of estimates of covariance parameters.