- Football has resumed behind closed doors in most European championships.
- An exceptional configuration that works better for teams playing outside
- Is the notion of sports equity questioned?
Does the home match - and by extension away from home - still exist? Or, to quote the immense Patrick Vieira, “the team that will receive [does it always have] the advantage at home of playing at home? This is the question that observers have been asking since the resumption of football behind closed doors almost everywhere in Europe. Nordea bank chief investment officer and football fan, Robert Naess noted a change in usual trends: according to his calculations, the 56 matches played in the Bundesliga since mid-May have only resulted in 13 home wins and twice as many visitors' victories, an unprecedented trend and almost diametrically opposite to that observed over 20 years. Special mention for the 31st day of the German championship, a real recital on the part of the away teams: six wins, two draws and a single defeat. Host clubs can thank Bayern for saving their honor.
"It can be psychological," Naess ventures. For the hosts, it is a little sad because they are used to playing in front of their audience which stimulates them. »We pass you the verse on the players who prefer to play in front of 50,000 people than 12 leaders and four ball pickers, obvious in the evidence. Note, however, that the environment of the home match usually has real physiological virtues. Fabrice Dosseville, professor at the University of Caen Normandy and specialist in decision-making in sports contexts: “studies have shown that there was an increase in testosterone levels in those who play at home, in particular linked to the notion of defense of territory ”.
From there to saying that this data disappears completely with the total and prolonged absence of supporters, there is a step that science cannot yet allow itself to take. “This is a completely new situation that needs to be studied. "
Upset habits and devolution
Since we have to theorize, let's theorize. First, on the concept of habits. If the away team expects to have little or no support from the stands, the receiving team may find themselves helpless in the face of loss of audio and visual cues. Hence the installation of devices that some have perhaps too quickly described as gadgets. Fabrice Dosseville, always: “In the stands in Spain, they put tarpaulins and audio tapes to modify the environment. Instead of having an empty stadium, we therefore have an empty stadium but with a general atmosphere. Not great, but everything is good in this context to maximize the involvement of the player who, according to FC Porto coach Sérgio Conceição, tends to ramble because of the clearing of his natural habitat. “I did not think that the absence of supporters would be felt as much. We have seen a lot of concentration errors. "
"There is a form of stress around the matches," explains the academic. The public participates in a form of vigilance through its reactions. The public not only has an encouraging role, it also puts pressure. On his own, therefore, but also the opponent. This is even more true when the player plays in a large club. Accustomed to the warm atmospheres of Lisbon and Porto, Yohan Tavares (Tondela) has already been able to play behind closed doors against Benfica and Sporting and notes a big change since the recovery.
"When you lose the ball in the midfield against these big teams, you usually feel the pressure from the opposing supporters pushing, you feel the waves, I'm not sure how to describe it. And that we did not feel against Benfica behind closed doors. "
Tondela was finally able to leave Estadio da Luz with a draw (0-0) without succumbing to the hell of the last quarter of an hour, which traditionally gives rise to Portugal "hand matches" between the big team which push to equalize / mark the goal of the victory and the little one who parks the bus as best he can. "There is much less pressure in the last quarter of an hour," continues Tavares. Usually you feel the stage pushing against you until you finally say to yourself "we will take one in the last minutes". While in camera, we knew we would come out of there with a draw. We were more serene. "
"It's the same football, but it changes the players. "
The referee must also be more calm and partial without these supporters who overwhelm him with all the evils (words) with each whistle against the local team. Fabrice Dosseville. “At a high level, I consider the professional and neutral referee from start to finish. But when you take the audience away, there is no longer that extra pressure. The public does not consciously impact the judgments and decisions of the arbitrator. But some studies have shown in particular situations that the arbitrator can unconsciously take account of the public. We can say that it remains an impacting factor, that the absence of supporters allows the referee to focus a little more on the game "and therefore supposedly make fewer errors favorable to the premises.
It is difficult to quantify the number and the exact nature of advantages which the private training deprives the training at home, but one can suppose that this deprivation generates a placebo effect at the visitors. "They benefit from additional energy because they see their adversaries deprived of these advantages", believes Robert Naess. The university professor abounds. “The players who play outside say that they are playing on neutral ground and see it as an opportunity. The idea of neutral ground is validated by Yohan Tavares. "You can say it like that, yes. There is the same energy as in a friendly match ”.
Once this has been established, what remains of sports equity? Dosseville opens a breach to conclude. “As soon as we change a factor and it changes the results, is it the same championship? Would we have the same results at the end and the same rankings? In camera, will the teams with the most advantages at home have the same number of victories? It's the same football, but it changes the players. "
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Sex-dolls, zoom-parties, cardboard portraits… We tried to classify the fireworks for the games behind closed doors
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