Football and the Pandemic

March 2024 Forums General discussion Football and the Pandemic

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 48 total)
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  • #209702
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    It has been customary for many clubs to credit their support for their success, claiming a home fan advantage or a vocal away crowd is worth at least a goal in their favour.

    With few in the stadiums during the restrictions, what has been the consequence on results? Has home sides prevailed. Has there been more away victories?

    Also i’m wondering without the pressure of spectators if players are being more imaginative and daring in their play, taking more risks? Has this resulted in increased goals per matches?

    Just my idle curiosity that others might have answers for.

    #209706
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I do not know too much about Football because my favourite sport is Baseball. I have seen players playing in a normal way without any spectators

    #209707
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Apples and oranges, MS. Is the fan emotion contagious enough to determine results?

    I never seen a baseball crowd chanting and singing like this before.

    (apologies but this topic should be off-topic)

     

    #209708
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    This rivals football, i think, MS

    #209719
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Alan

    Baseball was a sport created by the Tainos natives and the USA turned it into a profitable business and the best baseball players are from the Caribbean islands. In the Caribbeans, baseball has been affected by the pandemic because peoples are not attending to the baseball stadiums and the teams  have been forced to take loans to pay for the events without spectators, and the pandemic has also affected the livelihood of many peoples who depends on this sport because they are allowed to sell foods, drinks, alcohol and musicians play in the events

     

    #209722
    rodshaw
    Participant

    Until recently, this season there has been a glut of goals in the Premier League (average nearly 4 per match, up from less than three), but right after this was reported in the press a couple of weeks ago, perversely the average went back down to about normal. Goal increases often happen after some kind of change to playing conditions, e.g. a rule change, then after a while things go back to normal. Some analysts attributed the increase this time mainly to less pressure on the players to perform, with some matches having the quality of practice matches.

    But there again there have been more goals from penalties, which is possibly down to VAR and not to the lack of intimidating crowds.

    The increase in goals doesn’t seem to have happened in the lower leagues, or at least not as much.

    Some clubs have been lamenting the effect of no home crowds on performances, notably Man U (but if true you’d think this would decrease the number of goals, which seems to contradict the finding above).

    I think the statistics do show an increase in the number of away wins but I haven’t checked closely.

    #209724
    Bijou Drains
    Participant

    Rodshaw, The cynic in me thinks that perhaps the impact of no crowd at Man United having an impact on the results for them, might have more to do with the more neutral performance of referees, rather than their players losing the backing of the crowd.

    I know players often say the crowd can lift them, but perhaps the impact is more mixed, you often hear whispers that certain players are brilliant in training, but find it difficult in front of a crowd. It might make for an interesting season, as presumably the players who are most highly priced are those, who to quote numerous football punters “can produce the goods on the big occasions” there might be a bit of a levelling out of teams.

    It’s not just the crowd who add to home advantage though, familiarity with surroundings must also help, subconsciously you must be using less cognitive  energy in familiar surroundings, than you would in non-familiar surroundings. I know from my illustrious career in the Newcastle and District Welfare League Division 2, there was still an advantage in being on your own turf, and it wasn’t the one man and his dog watching that provided it!

    I would have thought that certain clubs (Sunderland for example 😀 😀 ) would be quite familiar with playing in practically empty home stadiums.

    #209725
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Just to raise another aspect of football and crowds, we also have women’s football to compare and their lack of crowds and media attention

    #209727
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    It would be the same impact of taking classes in classroom and online classes or to read electronic books instead of the physical book. I have tried both and I used to them, we have to open the doors and windows of our minds. I do not eat inside of any restaurant, I have like a small table that can be attached to the  driving wheel and that is my dining table

    #209729
    rodshaw
    Participant

    Bijou Drains: “there might be a bit of a levelling out of teams.”

    It’s certainly looked a bit that way so far in the Premier League, quite open at the top with only three of the usual mob in the top six and the Manchesters and Arsenal fairly low down but it’s early doors (as they say) and there are signs that the big guns are creeping up as they adapt. (When the crowds do come back they’ll probably have to adapt all over again).

    I think it’s much the same as ever in the Championship and below though. Although I really marvel at the fact that all the clubs are still going. Some have had to postpone quite a few games because of positive Covid tests. While the big clubs can carry on while they get just one player to isolate, lower clubs have to isolate the whole team and postpone matches, as is happening currently to York City. That said, they wouldn’t be getting any income anyway by playing with no crowds.

    #210000
    L.B. Neill
    Participant

    The night Diego Maradona’s Argentina came to Australia to play the Socceroos in Sydney – ABC News

    Farewell Maradona, That goal was the Hand of God- Never handball!

    Things are tough with the COVID situation in Argentina…

    3 Days of national mourning in Argentina for Maradona…

    #210024
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Can we be surprised that he died at such an early age. After all, they had been drugging him up he was in his pre-teens, ignoring the physicians calling to first do no harm…getting him fit for the field always had priority.

    #210026
    L.B. Neill
    Participant

    Alan,

    A great footballer, was he. It is sad that the exploitation of working class athletes ends in this way. He would have still been great without the cocktail of drugs. 🙁

     

    #210049
    Anonymous
    Inactive

     

     

     

    Maradona died in Argentina and his funeral became a peoples protests, and now peoples on the streets are fighting with the police, and the police are shooting rubber bullets. Human being continues rendering worshipping to heroes, presidents, leaders and martyr, they are human gods. Galeano said that Maradona was a  human hero, he was a human god, with human defects,   he was a cheater, a liar, a womanizer and peoples loved him, like Trump he said that he can kill a person on 5th avenue in New York and he will not lose a vote, and he obtained 11 millions more votes

     

     

    #210058
    L.B. Neill
    Participant

    He was good at football. Yes… He used gender based violence ‘womaniser’ I think you said MS.

    Complex world indeed. I just reflected on society’s need for heroes: it maintains the apex structure of power (work hard and you can be like the hero we generated)- food for thought. So besides the pandemic, it is now rubber bullets.

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