Football Psychology: Marcelo Bielsa – An Uncommon Transparency!

It’s a week after the infamous Leeds United / Derby County spygate sage. And Marcelo Bielsa has called a press conference. Speculation mounts that Bielsa is about to resign on a point of principle. But it’s nothing of the sort. For ninety minutes the Argentine lays bare the reasons why he likes to find ways to observe his opponents in training and how he integrates the information into his pre-match planning. He’s meticulous. Obsessive. Fanatical about detail. Leaving no stone unturned in making sure everything is in place. His openness and transparency directly challenges the orthodoxy of conventional football management […]

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Football Psychology: Manchester City – Ruthless!

It’s the first leg of the Caraboa Cup semi final, and Manchester City are putting Burton Albion to the sword. Four nil up at half time, the match and a place at Wembley is already secured. Time to rest a few players. Play at a slower tempo. Control the game with plenty to spare. But Pep Guardiola is having none of that. If anything the intensity is greater in the second half. In a masterclass in Ruthlessness, City score a further five goals. But why? What’s the purpose to this demonstration of total superiority? It appears as if Guardiola has […]

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Football Psychology: Manchester City – Will!

it’s the Thursday night Premier League showdown. And it’s Liverpool’s big opportunity to stretch their lead at the top of the table. But to do so they have to overcome a Manchester City team who have no intention of lying down and handing over their title. It’s a ferocious encounter with nothing left in the dressing room. But it’s City’s desire that wins through as they close the gap at the top. But this is no ordinary desire that City drew on. It had a special intensity to it. Like everything was on the line. Everything mattered and had to […]

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Football Psychology: Claudio Ranieri – I Wanted To Kill Him!

It’s one of the most unseemly sights in football. A penalty has been awarded. Instead of the designated penalty taker picking up the ball and walking calmly and confidently to the spot, a melee breaks out. Another player has decided that he fancies it. And starts grabbing the ball off his team-mate. Players have to intervene to sort it out. But his will is so strong. He feels so certain. He has to have the ball. This was exactly the scene at Craven Cottage yesterday, as Aboubakar Kamara undermined his manager Claudio Ranieri and team-mates. In such a scenario, scoring […]

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Football Psychology: Leicester City – The Psychologist

It’s been a turbulent week at Leicester City. The sacking of Claudio Ranieri, has led to much comment and analysis as to the rights and wrongs of that controversial decision. Greedy players; Impulsive owners all incurring the wrath of the football industry, as the games favourite uncle is perceived to be hard done by. Without being inside the Leicester camp, it’s all speculation. But one interesting revelation came to light today. In an article in The Telegraph, it was revealed that Ranieri released sports psychologist Ken Way at the beginning of the season. Ken had been at the club a […]

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Football Psychology: Antonio Conte – Blind Faith!

It’s every managers dream. Where your players have blind faith in you as a leader. They trust in you. They feed off your man-management and emotional energy. They will go the extra mile for you. When the player – manager stars are aligned like this then everything is possible. And this is the dynamic that Antonio Conte has created at Stamford Bridge. Questions were being asked after the three-nil drubbing at The Emirates earlier in the season. Who was running the Chelsea dressing room….the senior players…the owner? Either way the passionate Italian’s finger prints were not visible on his group. […]

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Football Psychology: Claudio Ranieri – Problems!

It was only a few weeks ago that he was crowned World Manager of The Year. Taking Leicester City to an unlikely Premier League title made him the toast of world football. Now his position is under critical scrutiny, as The Foxes find themselves drawn into a relegation battle. The finger has been pointed at his under-performing players…the corroding of team-spirit because of the change in salary dynamics…the loss of N’Golo Kante’s midfield presence…the challenges of going again after the career peak of winning the title…and all of this are plausible reasons for Leicester’s decline. But ultimately it all comes […]

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Football Psychology: Paul Pogba – Emoji’s!

It;s Old Trafford. A damp January Sunday. A strong Liverpool team are in opposition. Everything is set up for a classic encounter. So what better time for United’s Paul Pogba to introduce to the world his new Emoji. The United media team have backed their player by displaying news of the emoji on illuminated advertising around the ground as the game is in progress. How unfortunate then that Pogba should have  a game to forget. A missed one on one opportunity. And then a shocking hand-ball to gift Liverpool a penalty. When Bruce Springsteen arrived at the Hammersmith Odeon in […]

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Football Psychology: Wayne Rooney – The Gift!

He announced himself in 2002.  A supremely confident sixteen year old. A teenager in a mans body. Right then, everything seemed possible for Wayne Rooney. Fourteen years later, having been jeered by the Wembley crowd, he finds himself dropped from the England team. No longer a potent attacking force, the best days appear to be behind him. There are many talented players that have played the game. But truly gifted players are fewer in number. Cruyff…Maradona…Pele…Messi…Ronaldo…all blessed by The Gift. And all have taken the game to a level that raised the stakes for everyone else. They are the trailblazers…the pathfinders…not […]

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Football Psychology: Sam Allardyce – Sacked!

And so Sam Allardyce, one game into his dream managerial job, is sacked. Drawn into a newspaper sting, his bluff views on third-party ownership, the FA, and his predecessor Roy Hodgson, weren’t fully appreciated by his employers. Big Sam, with his well developed track record in stabilising league clubs, was considered a known factor. One that would bring team-spirit and collective unity to England’s dis-connected individuals. And on paper it should have been. But when you walk into the most high profile job in English football, there is no hiding place. If there are elements of your character that aren’t […]

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