The "Freeola Customer Forum" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
After watching my beloved Liverpool slump to yet another disappointing defeat, I got to wondering about the confidence of football players, and how it would affect them.
I will use Liverpool for the example, because I think a root to their problems has been confidence.
When they were riding high at the top of the table, points ahead of others with games in hand, the people (most notably the tabloids) got on their backs. First it was "they are too boring and defensive minded". Can someone tell me how someone so boring can score 124 goals in a single season? Or maybe this will confuse you more; "they rely totally on the counter-attack". Again, I must go back to the number of goals we scored, I mean, does that mean to say that roughly 120 goals were scored on the break?
No chance. And then most recently, “when Michael Owen plays so do Liverpool”.
A certain amount of all this criticism must weigh heavily on the players minds, thus taking them off their game plan. To make it easier to understand, look at it this way, if everyone says to young Michael “you are the best, and I have no doubt that you will score”, then he will go in to a game thinking not “if” he is going to score, but “when” and how many. The reverse is also true. Say to him “you are rubbish and will never score in your life”, then he will start to believe it, no matter how strong his will is to deflect such comments (I think somebody has already said this to a certain Leicester striker ;) .
The burden of playing in front of literally thousands of people also brings great pressure, half of them hold you responsible for their league expectations, whilst the other half are baying for your blood.
My next point is, if nobody mentioned that when Michael plays, Liverpool play, do you think that it would be true? Again, it must play on the players’ minds, because I certainly don’t believe that only one person in a team is capable of scoring goals. It has got in to the teams mentality, the now believe it, and the consequences are that it is now appearing to be true, and it is morally demoralizing to the players who have to hear it being said about them, and their teammates. Does anyone else out there find the comments unfair? I don’t mean to Liverpool, but a football team in general, maybe the team who you support. The comments are certainly unfair when you think about what they have accomplished over the past year; five trophies, Champ-league qualification, European team and player of the year.
Thanks for reading this, and I want you to not think of Liverpool in particular, but other teams, and how confidence would affect them.
I will use Liverpool for the example, because I think a root to their problems has been confidence.
When they were riding high at the top of the table, points ahead of others with games in hand, the people (most notably the tabloids) got on their backs. First it was "they are too boring and defensive minded". Can someone tell me how someone so boring can score 124 goals in a single season? Or maybe this will confuse you more; "they rely totally on the counter-attack". Again, I must go back to the number of goals we scored, I mean, does that mean to say that roughly 120 goals were scored on the break?
No chance. And then most recently, “when Michael Owen plays so do Liverpool”.
A certain amount of all this criticism must weigh heavily on the players minds, thus taking them off their game plan. To make it easier to understand, look at it this way, if everyone says to young Michael “you are the best, and I have no doubt that you will score”, then he will go in to a game thinking not “if” he is going to score, but “when” and how many. The reverse is also true. Say to him “you are rubbish and will never score in your life”, then he will start to believe it, no matter how strong his will is to deflect such comments (I think somebody has already said this to a certain Leicester striker ;) .
The burden of playing in front of literally thousands of people also brings great pressure, half of them hold you responsible for their league expectations, whilst the other half are baying for your blood.
My next point is, if nobody mentioned that when Michael plays, Liverpool play, do you think that it would be true? Again, it must play on the players’ minds, because I certainly don’t believe that only one person in a team is capable of scoring goals. It has got in to the teams mentality, the now believe it, and the consequences are that it is now appearing to be true, and it is morally demoralizing to the players who have to hear it being said about them, and their teammates. Does anyone else out there find the comments unfair? I don’t mean to Liverpool, but a football team in general, maybe the team who you support. The comments are certainly unfair when you think about what they have accomplished over the past year; five trophies, Champ-league qualification, European team and player of the year.
Thanks for reading this, and I want you to not think of Liverpool in particular, but other teams, and how confidence would affect them.
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
After watching my beloved Liverpool slump to yet another disappointing defeat, I got to wondering about the confidence of football players, and how it would affect them.
I will use Liverpool for the example, because I think a root to their problems has been confidence.
When they were riding high at the top of the table, points ahead of others with games in hand, the people (most notably the tabloids) got on their backs. First it was "they are too boring and defensive minded". Can someone tell me how someone so boring can score 124 goals in a single season? Or maybe this will confuse you more; "they rely totally on the counter-attack". Again, I must go back to the number of goals we scored, I mean, does that mean to say that roughly 120 goals were scored on the break?
No chance. And then most recently, “when Michael Owen plays so do Liverpool”.
A certain amount of all this criticism must weigh heavily on the players minds, thus taking them off their game plan. To make it easier to understand, look at it this way, if everyone says to young Michael “you are the best, and I have no doubt that you will score”, then he will go in to a game thinking not “if” he is going to score, but “when” and how many. The reverse is also true. Say to him “you are rubbish and will never score in your life”, then he will start to believe it, no matter how strong his will is to deflect such comments (I think somebody has already said this to a certain Leicester striker ;) .
The burden of playing in front of literally thousands of people also brings great pressure, half of them hold you responsible for their league expectations, whilst the other half are baying for your blood.
My next point is, if nobody mentioned that when Michael plays, Liverpool play, do you think that it would be true? Again, it must play on the players’ minds, because I certainly don’t believe that only one person in a team is capable of scoring goals. It has got in to the teams mentality, the now believe it, and the consequences are that it is now appearing to be true, and it is morally demoralizing to the players who have to hear it being said about them, and their teammates. Does anyone else out there find the comments unfair? I don’t mean to Liverpool, but a football team in general, maybe the team who you support. The comments are certainly unfair when you think about what they have accomplished over the past year; five trophies, Champ-league qualification, European team and player of the year.
Thanks for reading this, and I want you to not think of Liverpool in particular, but other teams, and how confidence would affect them.
I will use Liverpool for the example, because I think a root to their problems has been confidence.
When they were riding high at the top of the table, points ahead of others with games in hand, the people (most notably the tabloids) got on their backs. First it was "they are too boring and defensive minded". Can someone tell me how someone so boring can score 124 goals in a single season? Or maybe this will confuse you more; "they rely totally on the counter-attack". Again, I must go back to the number of goals we scored, I mean, does that mean to say that roughly 120 goals were scored on the break?
No chance. And then most recently, “when Michael Owen plays so do Liverpool”.
A certain amount of all this criticism must weigh heavily on the players minds, thus taking them off their game plan. To make it easier to understand, look at it this way, if everyone says to young Michael “you are the best, and I have no doubt that you will score”, then he will go in to a game thinking not “if” he is going to score, but “when” and how many. The reverse is also true. Say to him “you are rubbish and will never score in your life”, then he will start to believe it, no matter how strong his will is to deflect such comments (I think somebody has already said this to a certain Leicester striker ;) .
The burden of playing in front of literally thousands of people also brings great pressure, half of them hold you responsible for their league expectations, whilst the other half are baying for your blood.
My next point is, if nobody mentioned that when Michael plays, Liverpool play, do you think that it would be true? Again, it must play on the players’ minds, because I certainly don’t believe that only one person in a team is capable of scoring goals. It has got in to the teams mentality, the now believe it, and the consequences are that it is now appearing to be true, and it is morally demoralizing to the players who have to hear it being said about them, and their teammates. Does anyone else out there find the comments unfair? I don’t mean to Liverpool, but a football team in general, maybe the team who you support. The comments are certainly unfair when you think about what they have accomplished over the past year; five trophies, Champ-league qualification, European team and player of the year.
Thanks for reading this, and I want you to not think of Liverpool in particular, but other teams, and how confidence would affect them.