| Why is Playing Away Such a Big Deal? 18:12 - Oct 15 with 4341 views | Hadders |
One thing that mildly irritates me is how people talk about playing away as if it was a different game in which you were automatically at some massive disadvantage. Is that really true? If I were a manager, I might ban the word "away". There are only matches, with the same rules, and I suspect the difference in home/away results is mostly due to the self-fulfilling "play for a point" mentality of away teams and the way managers often set their teams out differently.
If I were a player, I suspect I might prefer playing away, feeling less pressure, enjoying quietening the home crowd and getting them on the home team's backs. Long coach journeys might not be perfect preparation for a match, but that must be a minor thing with all the modern comforts, and you could twist it to make players feel, " We've come all this flipping way, we need to win!" I suppose officials might be unconsciously biased a bit to give decisions to the home team, though the abuse we generally give them at Loftus Road would suggest that many feel otherwise. I wonder if there have been any studies of this, and of teams who have played as well (or better) away as at home? [Post edited 18 Oct 2017 21:59]
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| Why is Playing Away Such a Big Deal? on 13:01 - Oct 18 with 1027 views | CliveWilsonSaid |
| Why is Playing Away Such a Big Deal? on 11:23 - Oct 18 by TacticalR |
'Don't you know, little fool, you never can win?
Why not use your mentality - step up, wake up to reality?'
Frank Sinatra, I've Got You Under My Skin |
The trouble is it's basically irrational behaviour. There are no easy answers. All the positive thinking and all the Steve Blacks in the world won't solve it.
I've been thinking about something similar recently. Having suffered a horrific loss of form with my bowling on the cricket pitch this summer. What is form exactly and how do you lose it?
I've done a bit of searching but there doesn't seem to be much written about it. This is about the best analysis I found from some bloke on the internet.
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-science-behind-being-out-of-form-in-sports
"In my view, it starts initially with some hard luck. Slowly this hard luck translates to a shaken confidence and ultimately to the level of shattered confidence. The brain and the sub-concious which was earlier focused and assured of the result, tends to lose faith. Everything learnt seems to just wash away."
"So lack of form is predominantly a psychological issue after a technical issue" |  |
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| Why is Playing Away Such a Big Deal? on 14:01 - Oct 18 with 987 views | MoonshineSteve |
| Why is Playing Away Such a Big Deal? on 10:51 - Oct 18 by terryb |
What level of football does the "away" factor come into effect?
On the "local parks" the top teams in a league beat the bottom teams home & away with ease. This applies to youth & adult football & the quality of the pitch has no bearing.
By the time you reach the non league pyramid (Combined Counties League etc) playing away starts to have an effect. The reason why is something I've never understood!
IMO mentality is the only possible reason. |
This might be partly because of the disparity in abilities. In Sunday football, and to an extent lower level Saturday amateur football, some teams are just considerably better than others but the structures mean that they are lumped in together. |  |
| I am still Steve but no longer in Dagenham. |
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| Why is Playing Away Such a Big Deal? on 14:29 - Oct 18 with 970 views | HantsR |
| Why is Playing Away Such a Big Deal? on 13:45 - Oct 17 by thame_hoops |
I thought this was going to be a thread about marital affairs.  |
Me too...especially on our 42nd anniversary today! |  | | |
| Why is Playing Away Such a Big Deal? on 14:40 - Oct 18 with 961 views | ManinBlack |
Statistically whether you are bottom or top of the league over the course of the season teams will win more home games than away no matter how abject or good they are.
The biggest clubs generally have the view that they should beat lesser sides home and away and it is in their DNA to do so. Failure to do this and the manager and players won't last long with those clubs whilst the rest of us moderate clubs put up with weak mentalities. If Man Utd lose three away games in a row that is considered a crisis within the club and in the media whereas if QPR lose three in a row away it is deemed par for the course.
The big clubs always try to get in players who are winners and are strong characters that can stand up to the pressures of playing away games in Europe such as the Bernabeu with big and loud crowds. Therefore playing at the lesser Premiership grounds like Vicarage Road should not bother them as Man City demonstrated the other week.
Unfortunately for us we get players of lesser ability and weaker mentality and we accept these limitations as part of our culture. You only have to look at the dross we had in our recent Premier league squads and managers who appeared to reinforce into the players heads that we are a small club and anything we get away from home was a bonus. It gave the squad an excuse not to make too much effort in away games and in the final two Premiership away games we conceded 11 goals with the minimum of effort. There is no way any of the so called elite clubs would tolerate a manager referring to away matches as bonuses or such abject performances but clubs like us accept such nonsense.
QPR have generally produced their best performances at home and been a very different side away. Even our best ever team could beat Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal and Leeds at home but still managed to lose all of the away games to the same clubs in season 75-76 as well as losing the key match to nothing to play for Norwich that proved so costly. No doubt we would have beaten the Canaries that day had it been at home.
Even when Venables was our manager and we won the second division by 10 clear points and managed 10 away wins, we still contrived to lose away to Bolton and Burnley and drew at Rotherham, and as you all know all three of these clubs were relegated that season. Whether that was down to us being complacent or them raising their game because they were playing the league leaders is open to conjecture. Always a mistake to make QPR favourites to win in any away game even when we have a really good side.
The one aspect of our away performances that I have never really understood is how we can go an entire history without ever winning at the City Ground. Just because we couldn't beat Forest in 1972 at their place should not affect the 2016 team. Even when they are pants and get relegated we can't win there whilst other luminaries like Yeovil and Brentford win there with apparent ease. Presumably all Forest managers tell their boys before taking the field that they will be in disgrace if they become the first group of players to lose to us as some sort of motivational team talk.
Oh well last away win back in February and still counting as to when it might happen again... |  | | |
| Why is Playing Away Such a Big Deal? on 13:02 - Oct 19 with 830 views | dodge_stoke_r |
| Why is Playing Away Such a Big Deal? on 13:45 - Oct 17 by thame_hoops |
I thought this was going to be a thread about marital affairs. |
Me too! Must say something about how our minds work. Can't for the life of me think what though |  | | |
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