The pressure took it's toll last night
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| Germany buckled under a different type of pressure last night |
Last night we had an example of pressure and once again the so-called experts read the situation all wrong, not one of them mention the type of pressure there was on Germany.
Before the game I Tweeted about it, I said Germany have not faced this type of pressure before, at least not these players. This was not a knockout stages game, this was a Group stage game where defeat meant going home in disgrace.
That is an entirely different pressure and one the Germans didn't handle very well, indeed without the referee's help (clear penalty in the first-half to Sweden) they would have been out. I was amazed this different pressure wasn't discussed before the game, instead, the pundits trotted out the usual time filling rubbish.
Watching the German bench when the ball hit a players knee and went in was instructive, the outpouring of relief was palpable, that shot alone showed the pressure was getting to them, the nerves were evident.
It was left to one man to produce a moment of magic with virtually the last kick of the game after a Swedish substitute gave away a needless free-kick. He succumbed to the pressure and made a stupid tackle when all he had to do was usher the attacker to the line.
I'll say it again, mentality is sport is everything. How you handle pressure determines your success, we haven't handled it well enough at Tottenham yet, we are getting better but we still have hurdles to cross.
You can be taught how to handle it, quite frankly you should be and it should be compulsory, part of training, not a personal choice option as it is now.
For some 5 years now I have advocated the use of performance specialists, sports psychologists I have called them, to help overcome the mental barriers a player faces and to maximise his performance.
At the same time, I have been suggesting that we embrace the science and become world leaders in football in mentally assessing players we are scouting and to use that in the decision-making process when finalising who to buy.
For me, it is a no-brainer. It gives us an edge others don't have and it's these tiny things that can make the difference between success and failure, a fine line we have been on the wrong side of.
Improving the success of our purchases has multiple effects, it means we have to buy fewer players, thus immediately saving money and we can scout targets even more extensively. Players themselves will improve and be focussed on achieving, thus making them better players than they might otherwise be. We would create more players with the mentality of Gareth Bale, Ronaldo or Harry Kane.
The Football Association appointed Dr. Pippa Grange full-time in January and is out in Russia with the England team. She is tasked with changing the culture and mindset of the England set-up. Much has been made of how happy this group is and people were impressed with the opening 30 minutes of our World Cup campaign, until Tunisia scored and we went back into our non-creative, just keep the ball, shell.
It is at this crucial stage that our mentality has to change when we are under pressure. Mauricio Pochettino talks about no fear football, he talks about being brave enough to take chances. That is difficult to embrace at a national level when the players don't play together regularly enough and friendlies are treated as a distraction.
Harry Kane has immense personal pride at representing his country and in a previous article I questioned whether others had the same drive, specifically mentioning Raheem Sterling as one who has consistently shown he doesn't.
Again, this is where mental assessment must come in, a player without that passion for his country isn't worth picking, they will produce a mediocre performance, once in a blue moon producing the goods. Inconsistency is down to mentality.
I will take you back to my cricket days, where I played at a higher level than my natural ability would have suggested, a bit like Kevin Keegan, who won European Footballer of the Year. I defined my role, I arrived before everyone else and went out to train on my own to get myself feeling in the best shape for the game. Mentally I was a winner, I had a burning desire to win and thus I would do more than others to hone my skills to maxmise my performance.
It is that mentality you have to possess, I'll do whatever it takes to be the best I can be. Do you see that in Marcus Edwards or Josh Onomah for instance? I would suggest you do in Harry Kane and Harry Winks.
It would improve Spurs, it would improve England is every player had that same burning desire. If this direction change has come from Gareth Southgate then maybe I have underestimated him, maybe he hasn't been given the tools to succeed in club management before.
A few months of work with Dr Pippa Grange isn't going to instantly turn us into world beaters, that will take time, but it tells you why we have a young squad. The old guard will be set in their ways, they won't embrace new technology.
Youngsters are being selected who will embrace new methods with a positive attitude and work with them over time. England it seems are now starting to take the mentality of football more seriously, where in the past they have tried to use outside organisations without much success.
If you want to change a culture though, you have to change the culture of the whole organisation, you have to change the culture of the environment you operate in and this is why Gareth Southgate and Kyle Walker have told the press, you either want to help your country or you don't.
Guess what the response of reporters is, protect ourselves, we have done nothing wrong, it's our job to hinder you, it's our job to tear you apart, but heh, we want you to be successful. It's double standards, it's hypocrisy.
I bet England would perform better if no British press were allowed anywhere near them and if they were hidden away from them all, just allowed to concentrate on football and the foreign press.
Dr Pippa Grange has her work cut out, she has to change the culture of the FA, the culture of the team and the culture of the media. Good luck, you'll need it, but what a challenge to undertake.
COYS
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