Mentality of Home and Away matches

Why does a team that plays in its own stadium essentialy play better than away matches? You see them dominating at home but away they are just pathetic and very poor. Does this have to do with the number of fans? or possibly the chants/jeers that are going around? Discuss

I guess it has to do with having to save face before the own fans - the players will likely put some extra energy into their performance as not to disappoint their fans who came in numbers to watch them.

Barca do come close to playing the same way home or away.

That's arguable Gondov, if you take a look at last season, we were 17-1-1 at home, and 11-6-2 away in La Liga.

In general, it's the crowd being the 12th man, and the environment- the cheers, chants, jeers, and expectations of the fans no doubt play mentally into the players minds. Plus, it's the home field, all the players are used to it, they love it, they play there often- it's a familiar place. All sorts of things, it's simply easier and more comfortable to play at home, and that in addition to the crowd gives the players motivation and the proper mindset to play better at home.

There may even be subtle things- like the ref being (perhaps) more likely to call in favor of the home side because of the crowd- although that's very debatable, and I don't agree with it necessarily.

At home, you have everything going for you, playing away...not so much.

gondov wrote:Barca do come close to playing the same way home or away.

Because they can easily have a comfortable sleep on bus' seat....

I read a book called "soccrenomics" that argues that home advantadge has nothing to do with home fans, as statistically results don't vary depending on the number of fans that go to the stadium. They said that home advantadge probably comes due to the discomfort of traveling, the familiarity of all, and a sense of territoriality by the home team that leads to a higher testosterone in blood.
Also, home advantadge has been eroding progressively in all sports, probably due to easier travel methods and globalization (cities, stadiums etc. are becoming more alike).

free_cat wrote:I read a book called "soccrenomics" that argues that home advantadge has nothing to do with home fans, as statistically results don't vary depending on the number of fans that go to the stadium. They said that home advantadge probably comes due to the discomfort of traveling, the familiarity of all, and a sense of territoriality by the home team that leads to a higher testosterone in blood.
Also, home advantadge has been eroding progressively in all sports, probably due to easier travel methods and globalization (cities, stadiums etc. are becoming more alike).

Very well said and 100% true, so theres ur answer OP.

Well, the German NT strangely hasn't lost any away qualification matches for ages, so they are probably traveling more comfortably

I guess at home they feel more comfortable.

While away it's an underdog type feeling maybe.

Then again at the end of the day the match is still on a football pitch.

I find it hard to believe that the number of fans doesn't make a difference.
In sports like hockey or basketball, home advantage doesn't make as big of a difference as it does in football. Their stadiums are usually in the 20,000 range whereas football is easily upwards of 50,000+ , and more intimidating.

The conscious energy of the fans will definitely make a difference.

Discomfort of traveling, the familiarity of all, and a sense of territoriality are all present in hockey/basketball.

I disagree with the concept.

Chelsea beating Bayern on their own soil last season....

Whenever I played I never felt it was an advantage, it's just a mindset, you get your players out of it and it becomes a thing of the past.

Juventus has a new home called 'Stamford Bridge'.

highburied wrote:Juventus has a new home called 'Stamford Bridge'.

Jealousy has a new home called the Emirates, stop being childish.

i think it goes both ways
the away team has the delusion in the first place of being in an"unknown ground", that eventually trips into each player like a domino.

its not anything more than actually how both teams approach the game

the home team tries to controll the game cause they know they are at home and believe that they can
whereas the away team plays more carefully and stays back falling into the trap of thinking that they are in the disadvantage of the ground while the only difference is that they opponent team will just try more

so in conclusion the home team tries more in every action whereas the away team stays back and plays more carefully
this combination bounces and the difference of home and away matches for each team looks unbalanced