How will players handle the North London derby pressure?
2 min read
The North London derby this weekend is all about pressure, how each player handles the unique pressure the occasion presents them with. You can have played internationals or Cup finals but neither prepare you for the intensity of Arsenal verses Spurs.
The Ryder Cup is under way with the unique pressure that brings to golfers, a team sport where they have to perform for someone other than themselves. The world best player for the last 10 years couldn't handle it having lost more games than he has won.
This time round a game between Rory McIlroy and Sergia Garcia verses Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley in the morning fourballs summed up pressure. McIlroy and Garcia went 1 up as Mickelson messed up a put, Bradley then produced a superb shot to tie the match at the next. McIlroy and Garcia messed up their opening shots at the next, the 17th hole but McIlroy produced a superb shot to ensure the hole was tied. The final hole was badly played by everyone, but Mickelson produced the telling shot and from a losing position the Americans had won the match.
These were four of the best in the world making mistakes. When your partner plays a bed shot the result of that hole is then on your shoulders, all the pressure is heaped on you. Arsenal verses Spurs produces the same team intensity. It's a game you can't let your side down by not performing, it's a game where the nervous energy the tie produces has to be channelled to produce a better performance in each player.
They all react differently but the players who can handle that pressure are the ones who produce that something special when it matters. Each player has a role to play and they have to perform it to their optimum to get the optimum team performance. It's a tie you can't carry players. Those who struggle under pressure will make mistakes, then it's a question of how they react to those mistakes. Do they worry and make more, do they forget it, refocus and up their game.
It will be a new experience for Eric Dier, Erik Lamela only had 15 minutes, Christian Eriksen didn't play. The team last year will look different from this year, there could be only 5 players starting who started last corresponding fixture. Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Rose, Capoue (Sandro), Paulinho, Townsend (Lamela), Dembele (Defoe), Chadli, Soldado was the full line-up and of those, Lloris, Rose, Capoue, Dembele and Chadli look like the only survivors.
How will Dier handle the pressure, how will Chriches and Kaboul react, will Rose continue his good form, will Dembele return to his best and will the front four remember to interchange or go into their shell?
We'll find the answers tomorrow.
The Ryder Cup is under way with the unique pressure that brings to golfers, a team sport where they have to perform for someone other than themselves. The world best player for the last 10 years couldn't handle it having lost more games than he has won.
This time round a game between Rory McIlroy and Sergia Garcia verses Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley in the morning fourballs summed up pressure. McIlroy and Garcia went 1 up as Mickelson messed up a put, Bradley then produced a superb shot to tie the match at the next. McIlroy and Garcia messed up their opening shots at the next, the 17th hole but McIlroy produced a superb shot to ensure the hole was tied. The final hole was badly played by everyone, but Mickelson produced the telling shot and from a losing position the Americans had won the match.
These were four of the best in the world making mistakes. When your partner plays a bed shot the result of that hole is then on your shoulders, all the pressure is heaped on you. Arsenal verses Spurs produces the same team intensity. It's a game you can't let your side down by not performing, it's a game where the nervous energy the tie produces has to be channelled to produce a better performance in each player.
They all react differently but the players who can handle that pressure are the ones who produce that something special when it matters. Each player has a role to play and they have to perform it to their optimum to get the optimum team performance. It's a tie you can't carry players. Those who struggle under pressure will make mistakes, then it's a question of how they react to those mistakes. Do they worry and make more, do they forget it, refocus and up their game.
It will be a new experience for Eric Dier, Erik Lamela only had 15 minutes, Christian Eriksen didn't play. The team last year will look different from this year, there could be only 5 players starting who started last corresponding fixture. Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Rose, Capoue (Sandro), Paulinho, Townsend (Lamela), Dembele (Defoe), Chadli, Soldado was the full line-up and of those, Lloris, Rose, Capoue, Dembele and Chadli look like the only survivors.
How will Dier handle the pressure, how will Chriches and Kaboul react, will Rose continue his good form, will Dembele return to his best and will the front four remember to interchange or go into their shell?
We'll find the answers tomorrow.
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