To play with or against the wind???

Western Pomise

With the year that's in it weather wise I think this is a relevant debate.Was at an underage girls semi final the other eve,drizzly rain and strongish breeze blowing towards one goal.Our team chose to play against the wind in first half,struggled to get into game and were 6pts down at halftime,conceded first score in second half but rallied very well and lost by 2pts in end.
Arguments can be made for playing for or against the wind if given choice in a game.Which would you go for?

eurokev

I'd always choose with. Gives the best chance of a half time lead, and the wind might not last in to the second half. Case of one in the hand worth two in the bush for me

bruschi

eurokev wrote: »

I'd always choose with. Gives the best chance of a half time lead, and the wind might not last in to the second half. Case of one in the hand worth two in the bush for me

yeah same as that. I used to prefer having it in the second half, as I thought you would be slow starting into the game, and if you keep it tight to half time, then you have a good shot in the second half.

have changed my thought on it tho, and would go with it first. I'd prefer to hold onto a lead, rather than be chasing it. Also, some players/teams may think they have it won if they have the wind in the second half and the workrate drops when they expect the wind to do the work for them.

commonsense.

Western Pomise wrote: »

With the year that's in it weather wise I think this is a relevant debate.Was at an underage girls semi final the other eve,drizzly rain and strongish breeze blowing towards one goal.Our team chose to play against the wind in first half,struggled to get into game and were 6pts down at halftime,conceded first score in second half but rallied very well and lost by 2pts in end.
Arguments can be made for playing for or against the wind if given choice in a game.Which would you go for?

Assuming you've done your research and the elements are not expected to change for the better, then 'against' always.

Boom__Boom

commonsense. wrote: »

Assuming you've done your research and the elements are not expected to change for the better, then 'against' always.

Wind rarely lasts all the way through a game though in my experience, unless the weather is really shocking. Take the wind in the first half if you can imo.

Can be a different situation if it's seaside pitch and it's an on-shore breeze.

danganabu

Boom__Boom wrote: »

Wind rarely lasts all the way through a game though in my experience, unless the weather is really shocking. Take the wind in the first half if you can imo.

Surely there is an equal chance that the wind will get stronger as the game goes on??

Danno

Against in the first half, use your fitness to hook and block to keep their lead to a minimum. A few fresh subs in key positions during the second half can open up a tiring defence and give space for scores that float on over in the breeze.

Connorzee

Flip another coin to decide with or against the wind...

Theres arguments for both. You're relying on guess work, and the fitness levels of both yours and the other team. It's a psychological thing at the end of the day. Go in at half time with a lead and u feel great, but go in at half time having had the wind and not being up by much and it'll be negative.

Boom__Boom

danganabu wrote: »

Surely there is an equal chance that the wind will get stronger as the game goes on??

Not in my experience of the wind in Ireland.

RoyalCelt

Against the wind first half. Get everyone up for it more and understanding that you need to run with the ball. drop a man back too. Sets the tone for the match with hard grafting and high work rate.

Hammer Archer

I'd always play with the wind in the first half. Build a lead and you know what you have to do in the second half. Plus the chance of the wind dying down is always a possibility.

Always remember a league game in the 90s in Navan against Kildare. Kildare played with the aid of hurricane like conditions in the first half and we failed to score. Half time came, the sun came out and the wind disappeared almost completely.

galwaylad14

I think if your team are either very large underdogs or strong favourites to win the game then I'd want to play with the breeze in the first half for the following reasons:

Underdogs: You want to try to get a lead and keep yourself in the match as long as possible. If you play against the elements then there's a reasonable chance you could have the game lost within 15 minutes. Where as if you play with it you have a far greater chacne of staying in the game longer and thus making your opponents get edgy.

Favourites: The same thinking just in reverse. You want to try bury your opponents as quickly as possible and not give them any hope.

If the two teams are fairly evenly matched I don't think it matters hugely, I'd probably lean slightly towards playing against it first. Drop back a player as a sweeper and make every effort to slow the game down.