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Who would choose to be an elite-level, Ballon d’Or nominated footballer?
From the outside looking in many of us would switch places with the likes of Kylian Mbappe or Lamine Yamal in a heartbeat, conjuring up images of glory, adoration and riches. To possess their rare talent, and enjoy their lifestyle, would be akin to winning the lottery.
Yet we must also consider the day-to-day realities that make up their existence. A multi-billion pound enterprise proverbially rests on their shoulders, and literally thrives or fails at their feet. A mistake sees them criticised by a vast volume of strangers who attack their character as much as their ability.
On several occasions, along their journey, comes a moment – just a split-second really – that can define their whole career, for good or very bad.
We must acknowledge too their route to the top. The overwhelming expectation to succeed. Dealing with the hangers-on and opportunists. The constant scrutiny to the nth degree, and should they fall short of exceptional standards their long-held dream comes under threat.
Suddenly, a nine-to-five office job starts to sound a lot more appealing.
Each and every year thousands of talented young footballers sign professional forms and to make that manifest requires a mental fortitude and deep reserves of self-belief that sets them apart.
To then excel in their chosen field, and remain at the very zenith of it, is a psychological feat indeed.
Mental Rehearsal and Mental Arousal: Recreating the Pressure
It begins with a roadmap, a compelling vision of the plateau they want to reach, and how they’re going to get there.
For young, emerging talents visualisation is a key practice that helps construct a foundation of mental fortitude, acting as a Sat-Nav that bolsters self-belief.
Mindfulness and journalising are encouraged too.
In due course a rewiring takes place, with players taught to lean into positive thinking and positive self-talk, with consistent routines creating thought patterns that become second nature. Triggers are identified and worked on.
Only then comes the moment of truth, a sink or swim scenario whether that be a league debut or a cup final. Long gone, however, are the days when a player is thrown into such an environment with their mental capacity for it unknown. In the modern era, such has been the advancement of sports psychology, preparation is painstakingly undertaken and processes established.
Data box – Goal-setting in sports psychology typically adheres to a set of criteria shorted to SMART. These are trackable objectives that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.
Ian Foster has been the head coach of England’s Under 18s and 19s, leading the latter group to Euro success in 2022. Having helped bring through outstanding talents such as Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka he is well versed in mentally equipping youngsters for their biggest challenges.
“You go from competition to competition and these bring their own pressures. There is the day-to-day Premier League football, which is watched by millions across the world. That’s probably the easiest one to deal with, in terms that you get 38 goes at that per season.
But then you get to latter rounds of knock-out games in cup competitions, and they are away at different cultures you are not used to. You think of the San Siro, or Camp Nou, or even more hostile arenas, such as Celtic Park or in Istanbul. These stadiums and supporters bring their own sense of trepidation.
What you need in those moments, and what you can do in training, is create social models and leadership. So you pair developing players with confident seniors. Then you can celebrate resilience, responses to set-backs, create safe risk-taking, which will help them when they go into these games.
If you’ve got Jarell Quansah for example, then you’re pairing him with Virgil Van Dijk in training. So when you’re in the last 15 minutes of a Champions League final, and now you’re next to one another, it’s something that is familiar. You can lean on those experiences in training.
It’s about creating something in our own culture that will help him when he steps into those environments. You can build a culture of controllables, emphasising effort and ensuring the processes are correct. Players can link that clarity with belief.”
Modesty Aside: Overcoming New Challenges
Fast-forward on Foden and Saka’s development to who they are today: Elite stars in contention for Ballon d’Or honours most seasons and chasing down trophies every season.
Naturally, with the benefit of experience, they are fully attuned to the mental demands of big games, relying on routines that trigger a focussed state. For some this may consist of watching clips of career highlights prior to kick-off. For others, a moment of solitude and reflection.
Whatever it takes to anchor their belief.
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Now though comes a different set of mental challenges, namely dealing with lofty expectation and pressure to make a meaningful impact.
Developing arrogance is a necessity in these regards, a trait that has negative connotations in almost every other walk of life but not when you are duty-bound to perform in front of baying rival fans and an opponent hell-bent on defeating you.
By every account, Lionel Messi is a decent, humble individual but does anyone seriously believe he doesn’t enter every field of play without an iron-clad certainty that he is the greatest player of all time?
Nurturing high level emotional control is another given, a systematic approach that regulates emotions in-game. This allows players to reframe doubts when they arise and suppress panic. To ultimately maintain a state of calm focus under pressure.
Adaptability is also a crucial aptitude, controlling the controllables but also bending to the will of a match that contains a hundred thousand variables.
If may seem counter-intuitive but routine and ritual play a big part in a player’s ability to improvise and be flexible. When they know their processes inside-out only then can they change them.
Coaching Cornerstone: Utilizing Expertise
These disciplines and more are invaluable building blocks in the construction of a champion and recognising this has taken sports psychology to the centre ground of every football club’s training ethos.
Ian Foster is one such coach who acknowledges its importance.
“We always talk about a four-corner model in football. There is the technical/tactics, social, physical, and psychological. For the elite players that last one is huge which is why I would always want a psychologist in my group. There are positive scripts that these guys can help with. There is a lot of imagery they use as well."
"I’m not here to criticise the great Sir Alex Ferguson but a lot of people used to say, ‘well he is a psychologist. He doesn’t need one’. Say that to someone who has studied psychology for seven years.”
Neutral Thinking: Parking the Self-Criticism
If all of the above converges to success, what about when an elite talent fails? After all, even the greats drop the ball on occasion meaning that learning to overcome adversity becomes a fundamental aspect to forging an accomplished sporting mindset.
Learning to overcome it when there are still large tracts of the game to play elevates that hurdle all the higher.
We saw this scenario play out recently in a critical Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal, a title race showdown no less.
Early in the contest City took the lead but just moments later, with the home fans still celebrating, the ball was passed back to Gianluigi Donnarumma who took a heavy touch. An attempt to clear in time was thwarted by Kai Havertz, the ball ricocheting into an unguarded net.
It was an uncharacteristic blunder made by a two-time Yashin Trophy winner but few watching on questioned his ability to mentally recover. The giant Italian is of a stature where crumbling under scrutiny is an entirely alien concept.
Instead he deployed neutral thinking, accepting the situation for what it was, without judgement. In effect, he ‘parked’ the self-criticism for later.
Data box – Physical triggers can help when a player errs. Even a small act such as adjusting their gloves or boots can represent a ‘moving on’ from the error.
“That type of goal happens in training constantly,” Foster points out, insisting that Donnarumma’s immediate response will have been to focus on the next save or pass.
He goes on to espouse a fascinating theory that directly relates to dealing with adversity in an age where every mishap is micro-analysed online and beyond.
“These guys aren’t bulletproof, by any stretch of the imagination, but in a funny way social media has helped them develop better resilience. Because the pressure now has just intensified.
Back in the day, fifty thousand fans would watch you play, form an opinion and that was that. But now it never stops. There are 24 hour news channels and supporters who think they can actually touch these players via social media. Suddenly, everyone is a goalie coach. So, along with the psychological skills training, that will help him build resilience.
And if you’re not mentally resilient in today’s game then it would be pretty evident.”
