Consistency is key

G’day

We are heading towards a very interesting stage of the season, where we can talk about players, coaches and teams’ positions on the log standings and what they’ve achieved or not achieved so far. We find ourselves having to deal with COVID-19, which has taken a lot out of everyone. Yes, you can say the players and teams must be used to the current circumstances, but it was only for a part of last season. Doing it for the whole season is a completely different story altogether. Being without the supporters for the whole season is a really long time and we miss the atmosphere and we hope that everything will be back to normal soon. If a chain is broken, it doesn’t run the way it should until changes are made. That’s exactly what is happening.

I had an opportunity to look at Dan Abraham’s writings last week. He’s a global sports psychologist and an author specializing in football. He’s worked with players from Crystal Palace, Fulham, Queens Park Rangers and West Ham, among others. It is so interesting to find that within a team that is excelling very well, there would still be individuals who are not pulling their weight and they can put a team in jeopardy if not checked. But because the machine seems to be working smoothly, that leads everyone to think that all is well. Dan is talking about one word and that is consistency. Who is supposed to be consistent within the team structure? Is it the board? The technical team? The players? Supporters and sponsors? Everyone has to be consistent in order for the machine to keep going. Let me just focus on players because that’s the only role I know the best from the list above. I don’t know much about being in the boardroom, although I have tasted coaching, but I have spent most of my football involvement as a footballer.

Dan says consistency equals to uniformity. Your consistency, regularity, eagerness, steadiness and stability is what makes a great player that any coach would want in their team. As a coach, you know that consistency will provide peace of mind, reliability, assurance and quality. These are qualities that every player’s career should be based on. That’s how they become great and to be consistent you need to have all the other aspects I have mentioned earlier. That’s how critical consistency is to any career, for that matter, and all top football coaches are looking for consistent players. They’re not just looking for players who will perform wonders today and have a bad game tomorrow. The coaches want their players not to be less than 6/10 in every game. Their main preference is to see their players regularly recording 8/10 because that shows consistency. When I look at Dan’s writings, he says a coach simply can’t trust an inconsistent player because you never know who shows up. You need reliable players, but it has to start with objectives that you want to have in the game. When that runs to the they should what they to achieve and the team’s obare. Ninepercent of players can eassay they want perform at their but the key to consistency is turning that sentence around. Dan says, “Yes, it may very well be beautiful to have a goal, to say ‘I want to perform at my best’, but that’s not enough. It is useful to have an objective to get the best for my performance and then do what you have to do.” You must understand that there will be days that will be a bit tougher than others and no one goes onto the field with an intention not to perform. It is not normal. However, if admin wasn’t taken care of, the players will go into the match absent-minded. If he was dropped from the team without any explanation, it is possible that player will not be fully focused. Remember, these are huma beings and it is all part of life to be worried and have an off-day.

I don’t care who says what, even the best players have had to struggle with their performances at times, especially when certain things were not taken care of. You must understand that sport is too tough and the human system is too complex to enable that to happen. Players sometimes get tired, tense and rigid. You might find that leads to frustration and anger. In this regard, this could easily affect awareness, anticipation, decision-making and see your game declining as the match progresses. This can ultimately damage a player’s confidence. Confidence takes constant nurturing, so it is like your bed. You have to make your bed everyday if you want to enjoy a peaceful sleep. If you don’t do that, then you’re bound to struggle to fall asleep because the bed won’t be fresh.

To get that much-needed confidence, there are three important steps to consider. 1. What does my best look like? 2. What does my best feel like? 3. What do others see and feel when I’m at my best? These are questions that consistent players need to have in their minds all the time. You sometimes find players that are relaxed, in their comfort zone, even when they are not at their best just because the team is winning. That means they’re not pushing themselves to their best and maybe they don’t even know what their best is. They get excited about giving a 6/10 performance and think that’s their best when they still have a huge room to improve. Dan has some words for such players. “My advice to you is, please go out there and try to play your greatest game of soccer ever. Practice and prepare to be awesome, but also be ready to get the best from the performance you take on the pitch with you. It is ok to be 6/10, it is ok to play an average game because that’s so much better than poor.” He says top coaches will be rushing for average players rather than poor players in the years to come. Mistakes will happen, you will have bad games at some point, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying to be the best at what you do. Be patient, be persistent, learn from your mistakes, but don’t dwell on them.

The most challenging moment is when you’re looking at yourself and asking questions about your own performance. This is not to say someone is not performing but just to highlight the importance of the mental factor side of things in the game. I thought I should share this information from this impeccable psychologist and hopefully you will learn something from this column so that you can take your game to the next level.