PL title is just mental conditioning away
Good morning folks and happy Birthday to me.
The frogs are hibernating, the garden is windswept, the Jag is a delight, Spurs are in a final.
José Mourinho talks a lot about mentality, openly and subtly.
The higher the level of competition, the less success is about the physical skills and the more about the mental side of the game.
It is the vast gap from Sunday morning football to Premier League football that many can't bridge, they apply their Sunday morning play to the professional game, but it doesn't equate.
They are different worlds that have different skills to master.
To be at the peak of mental conditioning you can not lie to yourself, you can not be in denial, you can not be in an unhappy person environment.
Previously it was Tanguy N'Dombele who had to change his mental approach, now it is Dele Alli, who, quite frankly, has lost sight of what it takes to be at the top of your game.
He will never be at the top of his game until he buys into and I mean otally buys into what his coach is doing.
Jessie Linguard was an England player who became to obsessed with his profile on social media, his image, his ego and didn't focus on his football.
He can't get a game now and needs to either totally buy into his coaches ideas at Manchester United or leave and totally buy into another coaches ideas.
He can not move and expect to place as much importance on his social media image if he wants to return to the top of his game.
He and Dele need to mentally recondition themselves.
Let's face it, all the players have the physical skills to play the game, it isn't fitness that is holding them back.
They also have the talent to play at the top level, certainly in the case of these two.
So if they have the talent and the physical ability, what is there left?
Mentality.
Those with the right mentality perform, those without don't.
Yes, it is a vicious cycle, yes confidence dips, but this is where the mental toughness comes in, this is where the winning mentality kicks in.
Do Tottenham spend enough time on mental coaching?
We have improved but, we go into our shell when we take a lead, we don't have the confidence to continue playing as we are.
Fear enters the players heads and we drop too deep inviting pressure.
I understand that is part of our tactics, but there are different levels and we haven't found the right level yet, we have gone too defensive.
That is mental, that would change with improved mental conditioning, but it is also something that can be taught.
If so, why are we not teaching it, why are we leaving up to individuals to figure it out themselves and put it right.
Remember, players do not see mental faults within themselves, they do not see the need for a sports psychologist so wouldn't use one to solve the problem.
If it were part and parcel of training they wouldn't have a choice and when they saw the results of it would buy into it and improve further.
Discipline breeds consistency and consistency is the father of success.
This, I would suggest, is the mantra that José Mourinho adheres to.
We have a discipled team who are consistent, 2 defeats in 19 games.
It is the basis that needs to developed and improved upon, be that through mental conditioning or purchasing a mentally higher grade of player.
Little point buying a player of greater talent if he will only produce that talent on his terms.
He had to change to suit the team, not the other way around.
Let me throw this point at you and then ask you a question.
Demanding the best possible performance from your body is a characteristic of all great athletes.
OK, so now take Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and dele Alli, are they both demanding the best possible performance of themselves?
I would say Højbjerg is demanding and Dele is asking, hoping, trying.
They both want a top level performance but one has the mental side of the game, demanding that performance whereas one has misplaced it.
Would you produce your best for your employer while you were searching for and applying for a new job, attending interviews.
It is natural that your performance will dip because your mind isn't totally on your role, the role you no longer want.
If you want to be the best of the best, then doing the physical training is simply not enough.
Let me take you to American Football for a moment, a sport way in advance of Association Football when it comes to mental training.
This is the start of the Wikipedia article about Paul Brown, a member of the Hall of Fame.
He is said to hold this view.
“The best teams were first and foremost made up of quality people. He was convinced that with diligence, wisdom and teamwork, an assemblage of average players formulated from high-character individuals could, while working in unison as a close-knit crew, achieve much greater success than a group of all-star individuals who were incapable of functioning in harmony.”
Which Spurs players are of high character, Son certainly and which are not?
Dele is not functioning in "harmony" thus is not functioning as he has the ability to do.
Brown understood that mental conditioning was essential in order to gain an advantage over their biggest competitors.
Are we developing that mental edge over our closest rivals?
With it we can beat them, we can play with less fear, thus not dropping so deep and being more able to kill games off.
We hit the post against Liverpool, we hit the post against Sheffield United before a moment of brilliance made the game safe, did we not hit the post against Fulham as well.
A small improvement in mentality could have seen a different outcome, there is still room for improvement in ALL our players.
Peak performance only occurs when the mind and the body are working together to maximize performance.
To reject mind over matter is a folly.
There are countless examples of prisoners of war achieving amazing feats that they had only mentally practiced.
Do you think you could lower your golf handicap by ten shots just by thinking about it, a prisoner did.
How about playing the guitar when you had never played it before simply by mental conditioning yourself?
Another did that too.
As mentioned in a previous article, Pele and other truly world class footballers used visualisation before games to achieve greater things on the field.
The human mind is the most powerful too in the world and football clubs don't even scratch the surface, why?
Simple exercises on a regular basis, doing a little a lot, not a lot a little will condition your brain, your mental toughness.
You develop physical muscles, why are mental muscles left rather much to chance?
Harry Kane is pushing himself to compete for a Ballon D-Or, is Dele?
To control your performance you must be in control of yourself. Mistakes occur because you are not in control.
Davinson Sanchez cracks under pressure, Bergwijn cracks when through on goal.
Areas for improvement.
Improve self-control and you'll improve performance.
Our players need to mentally condition themselves like those prisoners of war
Mental conditioning gives you the techniques to develop control over the beliefs in your mind.
Those positive and negative beliefs shape our behaviour, they create our
experiences, and determine our results.
A Premier League title is simply mental conditioning away.
COYS
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