Home advantage...

[Rozay]

Footballers, are you not over this by now?!

When you think about it, it makes such a big difference. We could be playing a rubbish to average team on a Saturday but even if it’s a Bournemouth, West Ham, Brighton or something - everyone starts crapping themselves if it’s away from home. Same teams at home are an easy game. We even set up to defend against a team away, and to attack against the same team at home.

I’m familiar with the concept, and obviously understand where it comes from, but I would have thought football teams would have overcome this more than they have by now. For professional footballers, surely it shouldn’t be a totally different game against the same team depending on what patch of grass you play on?

 

[Rafaeldagold]

It’s not as simple as that though.
Home advantage always will be important because mainly you have a great bipartisan support which can affect players mentally & also this influences the referee & his decision making which favours the home team.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

You'll always be more comfortable making a cup of tea in your own home then a strangers home.

 

[Rozay]

You'll always be more comfortable making a cup of tea in your own home then a strangers home.

Agreed. But if I’d been a professional tea maker for years, I’d like to think that a cup of tea would be a cup of tea to me.

 

[GazTheLegend]

I had a big chat about this with someone at work and they made a VERY good point about older stadiums being big advantages compared to the newer ones

The newer ones are much further from the game so it’s less intimidating and more of a leveller as footballing ability becomes more a factor than mental strength - the old grounds are much closer in and fans are right there in your face.

So when teams with previously intimidating stadiums move, they suddenly struggle. There’re quite a few examples I can think of off hand where teams home forms dropped off a cliff

Highbury, Upton Park, Tottenham... generally their newer stadiums it’s just about how good a football team you are when you play there. At Anfield, Old Trafford and suchlike you have to be mentally strong too.

It’s an interesting comparison to make.

 

[Judas]

You just feel more comfortable in surroundings you know better. I think you can put this way of thinking to basically every aspect of life.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

If the home fans stir up an atmosphere, I imagine that is daunting to play in. The fear of putting a foot wrong because you'll be jeered for a misplaced pass or skewed shot will have an impact. Then you've got the vast majority of the ground roaring for every decision, it puts pressure on the referee to give them the rub of the green.

Perhaps that's why we tend to struggle against newly promoted sides, the novelty of playing United for the first time in many years seems to get them right up for it, even though we're not where we used to be, the rep of the club is still enormous. Bramall Lane was booming the other week, and it hasn't been as loud as that for the other games I've seen them play this season. We struggled against Stoke when they were promoted, their place was rocking and we won it with a scrappy goal in the last 5 minutes IIRC. Burnley in 2009 as well, I was at that game, they won with an emphatic volley, and we missed a penalty. The roar when they scored was unbelievable. The noise was deafening for the full 90 minutes, you could feel the place rumbling.

And maybe that's why our record at the Emirates is decent, that place is probably the quietest ground in the league (though OT probably isn't too far behind)

 

[Pagh Wraith]

There is a study that claimed a significant part of home field advantage is caused by refereeing bias (which in turn could be down to crowd influence). Infact I have noticed a slight decrease in HFA in the big European leagues after the introduction of VAR. In the pricing of the home sides in the betting markets as well as actual results.

 

[DoomSlayer]

It's pretty obvious why there is a huge home advantage, if you think about the details more thoroughly.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Not only the crowd, but the travelling involved.

in high level sport only 5% can make the difference. If you’re staying in a hotel room, not sleeping as well, being away from your family etc. Can make a difference.

some players mentally cant handle hostile environments as well.

 

[Rozay]

It's pretty obvious why there is a huge home advantage, if you think about the details more thoroughly.

I wasn’t searching for a reason, as I said, I am very aware of it. The question is more as to why it hasn’t been better adapted to over the years.

 

[Pagh Wraith]

I wasn’t searching for a reason, as I said, I am very aware of it. The question is more as to why it hasn’t been better adapted to over the years.

But it has steadily declined over the decades. It is generally around ~0.3-0.35 goals in the top leagues now. Used to be twice as big 50 years ago.

 

[DoomSlayer]

I wasn’t searching for a reason, as I said, I am very aware of it. The question is more as to why it hasn’t been better adapted to over the years.

I see, sorry about that. I don't think there is some easy way to get over those factors that come into play, but as the poster above me has shown, it seems there has been a steady improvement in the modern game when it comes to dealing with away games.

 

[Snow]

But it has steadily declined over the decades. It is generally around ~0.3-0.35 goals in the top leagues now. Used to be twice as big 50 years ago.

Traveling has become easier. Lodging has become more comfortable. All of it more affordable so that plays a part in bridging the gap between home and away.

 

[rcoobc]

Footballers, are you not over this by now?!

When you think about it, it makes such a big difference. We could be playing a rubbish to average team on a Saturday but even if it’s a Bournemouth, West Ham, Brighton or something - everyone starts crapping themselves if it’s away from home. Same teams at home are an easy game. We even set up to defend against a team away, and to attack against the same team at home.

I’m familiar with the concept, and obviously understand where it comes from, but I would have thought football teams would have overcome this more than they have by now. For professional footballers, surely it shouldn’t be a totally different game against the same team depending on what patch of grass you play on?

It's as much to do with the referees as the footballers.

After the NFL introduced instant-replay review of close plays, the home team’s winning percentage dropped from 58.5% to 56%. This may indicate that prior to the adoption of instant-replay reviews, officials awarded more close calls to the home team.

http://theconversation.com/what-really-causes-home-field-advantage-and-why-its-on-the-decline-126086

Also travelling. Also the crowd. Also the adrenaline of playing at defending your home.