Abrahams gives a working example of a current client of his, a Premier League footballer who plays for England. They use what Abrahams calls the “game face” technique to help the player maintain a consistent level of performance and focus on specific aims. “With the game face, I want him to think constantly on how it is he wants to play,” Abrahams says. “It’s about having a high-performance mindset and making sure you don’t lose sight of that.
“In the case of this particular player, his game face is relentless and dominant. That’s how he wants to play and that’s how he wants to be seen as a footballer. If you sat him down and asked him what type of player he was, he’d probably say exactly that: ‘I’m relentless and dominant.’
“It sounds simple but it’s what we’ve spoken about and I’ve worked with him to get him into a position where he’s always thinking about those two traits. He’s always looking to be relentless and dominant. On days when you feel lethargic, on days when an opponent’s getting the better of you or when passes are going astray, remind yourself of what you’re trying to be, no matter what. It’s a way or resetting and coming again. And it really works for him.”
Leeds are an unusual club. They live in the bubble of the Championship promotion race but with pressure magnified by 15 years of life in the EFL. Players and coaches come and go but the 15-year itch remains and there is no controlling the mentality of a crowd who are tired of being underwhelmed and subconsciously tuned to spot the first signs of an imminent collapse. Bielsa has felt the trickle of worry at Elland Road since Christmas, brought on by two wins in 10 (and both of those high-drama victories which drained everyone). “The supporters are not believing in our team any more,” he said on Thursday, a comment which was partially meant as criticism of himself.
“In difficult periods, we pretty much know that players are going to fall into two categories of responses,” Abrahams says. “There’s the threat response and the challenge response, one negative and one positive. If players go for the threat response, they feel inhibited and they’re on the back foot. They don’t play in the way they want to or how they know they can. And when that happens you’re in so much trouble.”
Bielsa refuses to accept that Leeds are flagging mentally. He sees his players taking the same risks and pushing the same tempo as they did when seven wins came back-to-back before Christmas but it is not happening for him and it wasn’t happening against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Forest scored on the half-hour when Sammy Ameobi wafted a shot inside the near post of Kiko Casilla, a goalkeeper who looks like he has negative voices in his head. Tyler Walker sealed Leeds’ 2-0 defeat in injury-time, tapping home on the counter-attack. There was plenty to pick at individually but Bielsa wasn’t having it. “We can’t demand more from the players,” he said. “Clearly it is not their responsibility. It’s mine.”
He does not nurture hearts and minds in a psychological sense, or not in the way a psychologist would. He pushes tactics and technique, his core strengths, in the belief that sticking to the project will win out in the end. It has worked for him in the main, with a win percentage of 51 per cent, but lining up promotion is not Leeds’ problem. Finishing it off is where doubt resides and where doubt took hold against Wigan and Derby County last season, games when Leeds appeared to be fighting with something internal. They are back in that uncomfortable zone, no more a source of fear in the Championship than any of the teams around them.
“We disturbed Leeds,” said Forest manager Sabri Lamouchi and something in Bielsa’s camp has been dislodged: from untouchable and 13 points clear in the live table on December 14 to a position where the gap has gone completely and the division smells blood. They know how Leeds play and they are finding solutions to it. Bielsa is craving some of his own — from the mind, from the feet or from the dugout.
Agree and Bamford would be an example, until yesterday he might have missed chances but his all round performance has been good, last night to me he looked beat and how bad it’s got I’m advocating big Kev playing on Tuesday, certainly looked a mental thing with him,
Sports psychologist are very much part of team sports now in all sports
on the opposite side of the coin I doubt if the likes of Paisley and Ferguson in the early days would entertain such a thing
Was pleasantly surprised by Kev.
Without a doubt, spot on, last season's fall from grace, is in all our heads, Bamford turns up expecting not to score and I think we all expect to lose, including the team.
The winning (and losing) habit gets into your head.
I am expecting a finish outside the top six now which for the best footballing team in the division is unthinkable.
The guys have got to get their heads straight.
It's the Leeds fans that need psychologists, always were a mad lot !
I relate a lot to the fans face. We work with players helping them identify what type of player they want to be seen as, ensuring that is realistic aligned with their skill set and then helping them develop that game style then it is always there to rely on.
I think the club is missing a massive trick here and if it’s due to Bielsa insisting we don’t leverage this angle then I think Bielsa is the problem.
Excellent article, 5 s from me, thanks for sharing!
Is it the entire content from the Athletic?
It is a huge factor and worth exploring. The mental side of pretty much anything a human ever does is a big factor and with our history as a club and the demands of a 9 month season I am surprised it isn't looked at.
comment by JonnyLosAngeles (My Dad was made in Leeds) עם ישראל חי (U9756)
posted 1 minute ago
Excellent article, 5s from me, thanks for sharing!
Is it the entire content from the Athletic?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Entire content of that article yes.
comment by HarlequinHebdo (U16981)
posted 16 minutes ago
It's the Leeds fans that need psychologists, always were a mad lot !
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You know what they say HH...
You can tell a yorkshireman... but you can't tell him much
If Leeds make it back to the P/L next season,
It's me and my best man getting tarty again Sheriff !
comment by HarlequinHebdo (U16981)
posted 11 minutes ago
If Leeds make it back to the P/L next season,
It's me and my best man getting tarty again Sheriff !
----------------------------------------------------------------------
old adversaries or not I'd love to see Leeds back in the premiership they need to be in there...
How does anybody on here know we don’t already employ one?
Kebab you clearly did not read the article.
Agree with this 100% Jonty. Football is all about the brain. The idea that a club like ours doesn't need psychologists' help, with the pressures on the whole club, is a huge oversight.
Maybe it can be resolved quickly
Has Bielsa said it is his job to undertake the players' wider psychological aspects, or was he solely talking about inserting his psychology of the way to deliver football? I get the feeling it was the latter
And maybe Bielsa could do with the psychologist's help too
comment by Jonty (U4614)
posted 1 minute ago
Kebab you clearly did not read the article.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Your right, I didn’t.
Richie Benaud used to say sport was 90% in the head and 10% ability, but you needed the 10% in the first place,
comment by AndDonRevieistheKing (U7852)
posted 2 minutes ago
Richie Benaud used to say sport was 90% in the head and 10% ability, but you needed the 10% in the first place,
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You need a damn sight more than 10%
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
It's ironic that football is making a big issue about promoting mental health, wearing t-shirts etc and here we are seemingly turning down the offer of professional help.
Who do our players turn to when they want a private chat about their own concerns?
If Bamford wanted to talk to someone, can he knock on Bielsa's door, or does he feel there's no point because Bielsa may be to distant/aloof, not to mention the possibility of a language barrier?
As much as the players are behind the coach for what he brings from the footballing side, I wonder how many feel they can really talk to him about personal issues?
If Bielsa thinks he's the go-to man and thinks he's qualified to take on the role of a sports psychologist when he possibly has enough of his own demons to deal with, who do the players turn to if they don't have that confidence in him?
Does the spotlight fall on the owners for a lack of leadership and care?
Or is it a salary too many because we've just handed a 4 year contract to an 18 year old keeper who has never played a senior professional game of football?
What's having a private one-to-one with someone not equipped to deal with mental health issues and with an interpreter present?
comment by Cal Neva (U11544)
posted 2 hours, 18 minutes ago
The mental side at the top of sport is huge imo.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
As a golfer of a decent level I can concur... Most club players are capable of decent golf on any given day... Depending on your handicap... golf is one of those games that when you know you're right in your head is so much easier
By the way, great article.
from me
comment by Elland White (U8323)
posted 41 minutes ago
It's ironic that football is making a big issue about promoting mental health, wearing t-shirts etc and here we are seemingly turning down the offer of professional help.
Who do our players turn to when they want a private chat about their own concerns?
If Bamford wanted to talk to someone, can he knock on Bielsa's door, or does he feel there's no point because Bielsa may be to distant/aloof, not to mention the possibility of a language barrier?
As much as the players are behind the coach for what he brings from the footballing side, I wonder how many feel they can really talk to him about personal issues?
If Bielsa thinks he's the go-to man and thinks he's qualified to take on the role of a sports psychologist when he possibly has enough of his own demons to deal with, who do the players turn to if they don't have that confidence in him?
Does the spotlight fall on the owners for a lack of leadership and care?
Or is it a salary too many because we've just handed a 4 year contract to an 18 year old keeper who has never played a senior professional game of football?
What's having a private one-to-one with someone not equipped to deal with mental health issues and with an interpreter present?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I said this when Bielsa joined, the language is a huge barrier, the character as well, Bielsa really likes to keep a distance to his players.
Sport is hugely mental, so there are obvious benefits from psychology to Sid performance, but also the pressures of life, fame, money, sportsmen are not immune to mental health issues because they have money in fact quite the contrary, so someone that players can talk to, in confidence can be hugely valuable to the mental health of players and therefore the team.
Sign in if you want to comment
Sports psychologist
Page 1 of 2
posted on 9/2/20
Abrahams gives a working example of a current client of his, a Premier League footballer who plays for England. They use what Abrahams calls the “game face” technique to help the player maintain a consistent level of performance and focus on specific aims. “With the game face, I want him to think constantly on how it is he wants to play,” Abrahams says. “It’s about having a high-performance mindset and making sure you don’t lose sight of that.
“In the case of this particular player, his game face is relentless and dominant. That’s how he wants to play and that’s how he wants to be seen as a footballer. If you sat him down and asked him what type of player he was, he’d probably say exactly that: ‘I’m relentless and dominant.’
“It sounds simple but it’s what we’ve spoken about and I’ve worked with him to get him into a position where he’s always thinking about those two traits. He’s always looking to be relentless and dominant. On days when you feel lethargic, on days when an opponent’s getting the better of you or when passes are going astray, remind yourself of what you’re trying to be, no matter what. It’s a way or resetting and coming again. And it really works for him.”
Leeds are an unusual club. They live in the bubble of the Championship promotion race but with pressure magnified by 15 years of life in the EFL. Players and coaches come and go but the 15-year itch remains and there is no controlling the mentality of a crowd who are tired of being underwhelmed and subconsciously tuned to spot the first signs of an imminent collapse. Bielsa has felt the trickle of worry at Elland Road since Christmas, brought on by two wins in 10 (and both of those high-drama victories which drained everyone). “The supporters are not believing in our team any more,” he said on Thursday, a comment which was partially meant as criticism of himself.
“In difficult periods, we pretty much know that players are going to fall into two categories of responses,” Abrahams says. “There’s the threat response and the challenge response, one negative and one positive. If players go for the threat response, they feel inhibited and they’re on the back foot. They don’t play in the way they want to or how they know they can. And when that happens you’re in so much trouble.”
Bielsa refuses to accept that Leeds are flagging mentally. He sees his players taking the same risks and pushing the same tempo as they did when seven wins came back-to-back before Christmas but it is not happening for him and it wasn’t happening against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Forest scored on the half-hour when Sammy Ameobi wafted a shot inside the near post of Kiko Casilla, a goalkeeper who looks like he has negative voices in his head. Tyler Walker sealed Leeds’ 2-0 defeat in injury-time, tapping home on the counter-attack. There was plenty to pick at individually but Bielsa wasn’t having it. “We can’t demand more from the players,” he said. “Clearly it is not their responsibility. It’s mine.”
He does not nurture hearts and minds in a psychological sense, or not in the way a psychologist would. He pushes tactics and technique, his core strengths, in the belief that sticking to the project will win out in the end. It has worked for him in the main, with a win percentage of 51 per cent, but lining up promotion is not Leeds’ problem. Finishing it off is where doubt resides and where doubt took hold against Wigan and Derby County last season, games when Leeds appeared to be fighting with something internal. They are back in that uncomfortable zone, no more a source of fear in the Championship than any of the teams around them.
“We disturbed Leeds,” said Forest manager Sabri Lamouchi and something in Bielsa’s camp has been dislodged: from untouchable and 13 points clear in the live table on December 14 to a position where the gap has gone completely and the division smells blood. They know how Leeds play and they are finding solutions to it. Bielsa is craving some of his own — from the mind, from the feet or from the dugout.
posted on 9/2/20
Agree and Bamford would be an example, until yesterday he might have missed chances but his all round performance has been good, last night to me he looked beat and how bad it’s got I’m advocating big Kev playing on Tuesday, certainly looked a mental thing with him,
posted on 9/2/20
Sports psychologist are very much part of team sports now in all sports
on the opposite side of the coin I doubt if the likes of Paisley and Ferguson in the early days would entertain such a thing
posted on 9/2/20
Was pleasantly surprised by Kev.
posted on 9/2/20
Without a doubt, spot on, last season's fall from grace, is in all our heads, Bamford turns up expecting not to score and I think we all expect to lose, including the team.
The winning (and losing) habit gets into your head.
I am expecting a finish outside the top six now which for the best footballing team in the division is unthinkable.
The guys have got to get their heads straight.
posted on 9/2/20
It's the Leeds fans that need psychologists, always were a mad lot !
posted on 9/2/20
I relate a lot to the fans face. We work with players helping them identify what type of player they want to be seen as, ensuring that is realistic aligned with their skill set and then helping them develop that game style then it is always there to rely on.
I think the club is missing a massive trick here and if it’s due to Bielsa insisting we don’t leverage this angle then I think Bielsa is the problem.
posted on 9/2/20
Excellent article, 5 s from me, thanks for sharing!
Is it the entire content from the Athletic?
posted on 9/2/20
It is a huge factor and worth exploring. The mental side of pretty much anything a human ever does is a big factor and with our history as a club and the demands of a 9 month season I am surprised it isn't looked at.
posted on 9/2/20
comment by JonnyLosAngeles (My Dad was made in Leeds) עם ישראל חי (U9756)
posted 1 minute ago
Excellent article, 5s from me, thanks for sharing!
Is it the entire content from the Athletic?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Entire content of that article yes.
posted on 9/2/20
comment by HarlequinHebdo (U16981)
posted 16 minutes ago
It's the Leeds fans that need psychologists, always were a mad lot !
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You know what they say HH...
You can tell a yorkshireman... but you can't tell him much
posted on 9/2/20
If Leeds make it back to the P/L next season,
It's me and my best man getting tarty again Sheriff !
posted on 9/2/20
comment by HarlequinHebdo (U16981)
posted 11 minutes ago
If Leeds make it back to the P/L next season,
It's me and my best man getting tarty again Sheriff !
----------------------------------------------------------------------
old adversaries or not I'd love to see Leeds back in the premiership they need to be in there...
posted on 9/2/20
How does anybody on here know we don’t already employ one?
posted on 9/2/20
Kebab you clearly did not read the article.
posted on 9/2/20
Agree with this 100% Jonty. Football is all about the brain. The idea that a club like ours doesn't need psychologists' help, with the pressures on the whole club, is a huge oversight.
Maybe it can be resolved quickly
Has Bielsa said it is his job to undertake the players' wider psychological aspects, or was he solely talking about inserting his psychology of the way to deliver football? I get the feeling it was the latter
posted on 9/2/20
And maybe Bielsa could do with the psychologist's help too
posted on 9/2/20
comment by Jonty (U4614)
posted 1 minute ago
Kebab you clearly did not read the article.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Your right, I didn’t.
posted on 9/2/20
Richie Benaud used to say sport was 90% in the head and 10% ability, but you needed the 10% in the first place,
posted on 9/2/20
comment by AndDonRevieistheKing (U7852)
posted 2 minutes ago
Richie Benaud used to say sport was 90% in the head and 10% ability, but you needed the 10% in the first place,
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You need a damn sight more than 10%
posted on 9/2/20
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 9/2/20
It's ironic that football is making a big issue about promoting mental health, wearing t-shirts etc and here we are seemingly turning down the offer of professional help.
Who do our players turn to when they want a private chat about their own concerns?
If Bamford wanted to talk to someone, can he knock on Bielsa's door, or does he feel there's no point because Bielsa may be to distant/aloof, not to mention the possibility of a language barrier?
As much as the players are behind the coach for what he brings from the footballing side, I wonder how many feel they can really talk to him about personal issues?
If Bielsa thinks he's the go-to man and thinks he's qualified to take on the role of a sports psychologist when he possibly has enough of his own demons to deal with, who do the players turn to if they don't have that confidence in him?
Does the spotlight fall on the owners for a lack of leadership and care?
Or is it a salary too many because we've just handed a 4 year contract to an 18 year old keeper who has never played a senior professional game of football?
What's having a private one-to-one with someone not equipped to deal with mental health issues and with an interpreter present?
posted on 9/2/20
comment by Cal Neva (U11544)
posted 2 hours, 18 minutes ago
The mental side at the top of sport is huge imo.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
As a golfer of a decent level I can concur... Most club players are capable of decent golf on any given day... Depending on your handicap... golf is one of those games that when you know you're right in your head is so much easier
posted on 9/2/20
By the way, great article.
from me
posted on 9/2/20
comment by Elland White (U8323)
posted 41 minutes ago
It's ironic that football is making a big issue about promoting mental health, wearing t-shirts etc and here we are seemingly turning down the offer of professional help.
Who do our players turn to when they want a private chat about their own concerns?
If Bamford wanted to talk to someone, can he knock on Bielsa's door, or does he feel there's no point because Bielsa may be to distant/aloof, not to mention the possibility of a language barrier?
As much as the players are behind the coach for what he brings from the footballing side, I wonder how many feel they can really talk to him about personal issues?
If Bielsa thinks he's the go-to man and thinks he's qualified to take on the role of a sports psychologist when he possibly has enough of his own demons to deal with, who do the players turn to if they don't have that confidence in him?
Does the spotlight fall on the owners for a lack of leadership and care?
Or is it a salary too many because we've just handed a 4 year contract to an 18 year old keeper who has never played a senior professional game of football?
What's having a private one-to-one with someone not equipped to deal with mental health issues and with an interpreter present?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I said this when Bielsa joined, the language is a huge barrier, the character as well, Bielsa really likes to keep a distance to his players.
Sport is hugely mental, so there are obvious benefits from psychology to Sid performance, but also the pressures of life, fame, money, sportsmen are not immune to mental health issues because they have money in fact quite the contrary, so someone that players can talk to, in confidence can be hugely valuable to the mental health of players and therefore the team.
Page 1 of 2