The Confidence Coach's Sports Psychology Articles
On The Couch With Dr. Martin
he Confidence Coach's monthly Sports Psychology Article in 442 magazine. An article that analyses the reasons why teams concede late goals.
Why Teams Concede Late Goals
The fourth official is poised pitch side. His board highlights three minutes of added time. In the sagging shoulders of a poor side defending a slender lead you can sense the fear. The fear of making the mistake that will cost them the game. The fear of the late goal.
Bobby Williamson's Hibernian know this feeling intimately.
Hibs conceded 23 goals in the last fifteen minutes of games this season, depriving Williamson's team of a UEFA Cup place. Are they physically tired. Or mentally weak?
Is it possible that a side doesn't care about losing because they have no cause to fight for? So, they have no reason to win. Instead of finding ways of winning they look for ways of not losing.
A cause is vital for a successful team. A cause is built by the management team; it gives the players power; it imbues a fighting spirit and a passion. So, the cause = belief = victory.
A positive cause is an alignment between player's, fans and club. Create a powerful cause and late goals conceded become late goals scored.
Think Man Utd snatching the 1999 Champions League from Bayern's grasp. The cause built the power, which built the will, which built the ability to never give up, which was stronger than Bayern's hold on the cup.
Once a side starts conceding late goals then this becomes a habit, so much so that they expect it,almost look forward to it in a perverse kind of way . The late goal virus has set in, This virus takes root in the minds of the players both individually and collectively. Thus when they expect to concede late goals, they do.
Bolton Wanderers season has been blighted by the concession of late goals. Premiership safety would have been assured earlier if they had managed - in a significant number of games -to keep out the opposition late on.
Sam Allardyce had been tearing his hair out because his team didn't seem to listen to his advice on how to keep the ball from the opposition and close out a game.
The reason for the problem is simple. Naturally creative players, which Bolton are blessed with, don't feel comfortable with a defensive mind-set. It's alien to them. The defensive mind-set can make players nervous, as they know that one mistake can cost the game. They fear making that mistake, which increases their chances of making one.
The task is to engender a different spirit. Set the players the challenge to score in the last minutes. Creative players will thrive on this. Instead of trying to keep the opposition out in the 90th minute, instead they actively seek out scoring opportunities. Bolton learnt this lesson just in time.
The defensive mind-set works if you have players who are totally comfortable in this mode. Adams and Keown used to like nothing better than having their backs to the wall. It inspired them. But some players need a different challenge and a good coach knows how to exorcise fear from his players.
It's this crippling fear which inhibits teams and leads to weakness and the inevitable mistakes which, inevitably, costs games. Fear of failure is fear of losing. Remove the fear and kick the habit.