Is it true that a team down to 10 men is difficult to score against? Why dont teams request to start with 10?

Answer 1

The Laws of the Game do not state you have to start with 11 men. They state a maximum of 11 is allowed.

Teams don't want to start with 10 because to start a game, the more the better. One theory would be that if you are then reduced to 10 men (or women!), you know you are up against it, put in more effort, which then actually over compensates for the missing man (or woman!).

Answer 2

It's not that they're more difficult to score against...it is just that they rely soley on defence and play a defensive minded game. with 10 men it is much more difficult to generate an offensive game and create good build-up and the follow-up scoring chances. I believe it is mostly teams try harder on defence when they have a relegated player...because they know they must. With 11 men they may not give 100 %.

Answer 3

A match can start with one team having 7 players on the pitch.

Normally most teams play with 2 attackers up front and if someone is sent off, they often pull back one of these two players, or sub them to fill the position left by the player sent off.

If they have been playing with only 1 up front, the tatics will change (most of the time in midfield) to counter the effect of having one less player.

Many teams that have a player sent off should start to work harder to make up for the shortfall, just depends on how much they want to defeat the opposition.

Answer 4

cus the laws of the game states that a team has to start with 11 men

Answer 5

Well that is because they will only defend, bu think about it, they will never score either. And the other team will make a gal sooner or later.

Answer 6

No it's not true.

They might compensate for it by playing more defensively but they are still at a disadvantage.