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Will Jurgen Klopp from Liverpool, Man City from Pep Guardiola or Mauricio Pochettino from Tottenham be the first?
As the Premier League title race heats up, we are talking to former winners and a sports psychologist about the pressure exerted by the run-in …
Manchester City and Liverpool are neck and neck at the top of the Premier League table with Tottenham not far behind, and the pressure will only increase as the final draws nearer.
Pep City Guardiola aims to become the first team to retain the Premier League title since Manchester United in 2009, but Liverpool is already a piece of history as he pursues his first title in three decades.
With the Spurs on their shores, it could happen to which side is able to hold their nerve. But how do you handle the pressure of a title race in the Premier League? And what can this year's candidates learn from the past? We gather the views of people who have taken part in title battles and an expert in psychology to find out …
Closes the noise
For Liverpool in particular, one of the biggest challenges will be facing the constant attention that comes with trying to end a long wait for the title. Manchester United have experienced the same thing before his success in 1992/93 under Sir Alex Ferguson – the club's first in 26 years.
"What can be a problem for them, I've experienced it, is that they have not won the league for 28 years," said Ryan Giggs, a regular starter. of the season, in a recent interview. "This pressure, when it comes to confrontation, when everyone talks about it, you have to be lucky, you have to have things that go for you and you just have to keep your concentration.
Man Utd against Liverpool
February 24, 2019, 1 pm
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"Remember what brought you there, what challenged you for the Premier League, and the big players have to come in. There is still a long way to go and strangely, the closer it gets to from the end, the further away he is. "
Former Giggs teammate Gary Neville remembers the widespread pressure of those early years.
"What will happen in Merseyside, as he did in Manchester all these years ago, is that you will walk down the street and people will say," I think we can do, let's continue, do it this year, "he said. on the Gary Neville podcast Last weekend.
"You can walk down the street, take a break and relax, then all of a sudden, your mind is ejected by the title and you can not escape it – it hits you every minute.
Liverpool must be prepared every time he drops a point on which it will be suggested to feel the pressure.
Gary Neville
"I remember those early years of obtaining titles and the weight of expectations and thinking" we must try to break the line. "You take it with you every minute of every day. becomes psychological and you get tension with it and you get a little bit more closed and safer with your pbades and do not play with the same freedom. "
This pressure is growing in the era of social media. That's why many clubs and Premier League players are now calling on sports psychologists. According to Bradley Busch, a sports psychologist at Inner Drive, the key to maintaining high performance in such challenging circumstances is to find ways to stay focused and avoid distractions.
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"A sports psychologist can help the team focus during a title race by focusing on the basics," he said. Sky Sports. "One of the things the brain needs is a sense of control and certainty, but as the pressure increases with each game, the temptation to focus on poor performance increases.
"By focusing on aspects such as their preparation and how they execute their game plan, players will increase their sense of certainty and control of the situation, which will result in greater self-confidence, more emotional control. and better performance in the field. "
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Getting more certainty and control is a different challenge for each player, according to Busch. "There is no single solution in sports psychology," he said. "For some players, it 's a matter of preparing in detail and thinking about the upcoming match, while for others, it may mean leaving football not to think about it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. days out of 7.
"Basically, it's about knowing what state allows you to achieve your best performance, using proven techniques to do it, and being able to manage and detect potential distractors."
Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs have had many victories in the Premier League with Manchester United
Kick complacency
Complacency may be another major trap for all title supporters, especially those who are accustomed to winning trophies. Manchester City has shown in his recent defeat against Newcastle at St James' Park and it's still something Ferguson has warned against Manchester United.
"I was angry at City in the first half of this match [against Newcastle] because I felt that they were off and that they were bored, "Neville said. Sky sports recently. "Sir Alex accused us," You drive me crazy, you're bored in games. "
"When you win titles and you try to win another, you get a point against the Crystal Palace at home and you just say," We're better than these. " slap around the face. "
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According to Neville, this is a problem that usually surfaced in the middle of the season rather than during break-in itself. "Sir Alex used to say:" I can not wait for the months of March, April and May, when the heat will be high and the pressure will be strong because I know you are going to do the necessary." You are on your courage then. The accent is there. But in mid-January, you are bored. "
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Even for this US team, the attention has always been strong, and Ferguson knew it. In April 2012, after a 2-0 victory over QPR, which earned them eight points in the lead with six games to play, he said he was disappointed by their performance after their opponents switched to 10 men. "We were too relaxed after that," he said.
It turned out that Ferguson was right to be worried. United's complacency surfaced a few days later, when they were beaten 1-0 by Wigan, which cost them the title. The last title of the season was won by Manchester City.
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Team spirit and experience
It is during tough times that winning teams tend to rely on their experienced players to carry them out.
"Winning the title is obviously a matter of performance, but the mental side is huge," said Neville. "Our first Manchester United title, I had never looked forward to it, and I struggled with it, as did other young players Eric Cantona, Peter Schmeichel, Roy Keane. taken over the line, what it was about. "
You must forget all the noise of the media and fans, put pressure and say that if you lose a match, the title race is over.
Ryan Giggs
"It's at this point that the experienced players and the manager are really important," added Giggs. "Because you have to forget all the noise of the media and the fans, put the pressure and say that if you lose a match, the title race is over."
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It is natural that more experienced players have developed stronger mentalities than their younger teammates, but it also separates the best players.
"At the top, every athlete has talent, and every athlete is physically fit," said Busch. "What separates the best shape from the rest often comes back to the state of mind and mentality, and from my experience, those at the highest level embrace this kind of situation and consider the pressure as a privilege.see moments of pressure as a better stage to really showcase their talents help with that. "
0:26 Jurgen Klopp is now focusing on Sunday's match between Liverpool and Manchester United after his team's draw against Bayern Munich in the Champions League
Manchester City certainly has an advantage in terms of experience, since he won the title last season, but they are not the only ones to boast a strong team spirit. Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino have not yet won the silverware at Liverpool and Tottenham, but they have managed to create close ties between their players. These links can be invaluable in a title race.
"The team spirit is one of those things that everyone knows is important, but notoriously difficult to measure," Busch said. "It can not be manufactured or reproduced, it is an essential intangible element.
"Being able to call on a teammate to pick you up after a setback is an important aspect of team sport to work on." Likewise, look through the locker room and know that everyone will go out and giving it all can be really motivating. "
Team spirit is one of the things everyone knows is very important but notoriously difficult to measure. It can not be manufactured or reproduced. It is an essential immaterial.
Bradley Busch, Sport Psychologist
Other ways to win
Experience is not always decisive in a Premier League race, of course. If Liverpool or Tottenham need inspiration this season, it is enough for them to look back on the extraordinary success of Leicester in 2015/16. The only Premier League medals in this team belonged to Robert Huth, a marginal player in Jose Mourinho's first visit to Chelsea.
The success of Leicester was an anomaly in many ways, but that does not mean that there are no lessons to be learned. The Foxes had a limited experience of the title, but a winning formula and a manager who found the right balance in the field.
When you do something special, you must encourage balance.
Claudio Ranieri
"When you do something special, you have to encourage balance," said Claudio Ranieri Sky sports recently. "All managers must be balanced with their team and with their results, of course, if you have a team that wins, why change, but if you lose, you have to do something to help your team."
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Ranieri has rarely changed his starting lineup this season, but he has mostly kept his team players motivated enough to step in and do a job if necessary. Leonardo Ulloa, for example, scored vital goals against Norwich and West Ham in the second half of the season. Even Nathan Dyer and Andy King have made valuable contributions.
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Another area in which Ranieri excelled was to keep the pressure on his players. This is a difficult skill for a manager. Ferguson was talking about the victories and defeats of the press conferences, and it is fair to say that Ranieri has mastered them at the arrival of Leicester on the finish line, his light behavior erasing the players while They played freely until the end.
Klopp insisted that Liverpool had already proved his ability to withstand the pressure, while Guardiola recently insisted that the pressure "does not exist" after Chelsea's 6-0 defeat of City. But the real tests are yet to come. We will find out what they are really made in the weeks and months to come.
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