Aston Villa supporters were treated to arguably the best performance of the season at Anfield last Saturday. In fact, it was almost spooky as the whole team looked like they had entered the “zone” simultaneously. They were on fire from the off, pressing and dominating and ripping through the Liverpool defence.
By contrast, Liverpool looked like they had just woken up to find their house had been burgled – something that isn’t an impossibility given several Liverpool players have had their houses raided as they played football matches previously. Getting back to the game though, the question now is how Aston Villa can use this game to improve their confidence when playing at home.
Managers have said in the past that they don’t dwell on the losses or spend too much time celebrating the wins. Roy Keane commented recently “the enjoyment was very brief I’m afraid, too brief, because before you know it you’re going into another game and the fear creeps back again”.
If they do go rapidly on to the next game, then they are missing not just one trick, they are missing a whole box of them. By a box of tricks I, of course, mean the mental skills and techniques that top athletes and sportsmen use to improve their game.
Where you have two athletes of equal skill and ability, the one with the stronger mental outlook will come out on top. For some, confidence (or less anxiety) is part of their genetic makeup. There are others who do instinctively what others need coaching in. Muhammad Ali was using positive self- talk and affirmations long before the self- help industry populated it. Johnnie Wilkinson and Wayne Rooney instinctively mentally rehearsed their game from an early age.
Looking back at at mental toughness, whether self-taught or coached, it is clear that working on developing the mental side of the sport pays dividends. For instance in a study of Olympic athletes, those who mentally rehearsed improved their performance by at least 25 percent compared to those who didn’t.
For Aston Villa, the psychological benefits from Anfield should be used to form the nucleus of the team’s and the players’ self-belief. By watching the game on DVD repeatedly they will recreate the confidence, and euphoria that they felt whilst playing. This emotional response is the most important motivator and confidence booster. They can also watch it together to create the “we can do this” thinking which is missing at home. What better proof can there be that this is what they are capable of?!
They can then hopefully then go one step further and cement those confident feelings by repeatedly reliving the good parts of their individual performance. How so? By using a technique used heavily in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) called anchoring. With practice and guidance, they will be able to reproduce this confident state when they need it, i.e. when they are waiting in the tunnel at Villa Park or when the other side scores!
Clive Woodward used a form of the ‘anchoring’ technique with the English rugby team. He got them to put on clean shirts at half time. The aim was to replicate the feeling of energy and excitement that putting on clean kit evoked at the beginning of the game. The players thought he was mad: but Woodward said it corrected the second half slump that they had suffered from previously.
In that sense, it is the same as the Pavlov’s dogs association response – it is all about identifying, and controlling, our natural reaction to associate positive and negative experiences with the context in which they occurred.
Similarly, in the 1966 World Cup, when England went back to the dressing room before extra time, Alf Ramsey would not let them sit down even for a minute. The act of simply sitting down sends messages to the brain that it is time to relax. By staying standing up, the brain is directing the body to keep going. Commentators at the time said England definitely appeared more energetic than Germany.
Such a technique isn’t just relevant in a team setting – players can also apply it to their visualisation practices. Visualisation has been used by athletes and sportsmen for many years. It basically rehearses the mind for the event: situations that are more familiar are mainly less threatening. In addition, practicing visualisation can also be useful when trying to replace negative thoughts
There are a variety psychological aids that the players can try. Using small triggers like putting up photographs of their best performance can recreate that feeling of strength, or even an item which connects them to a positive feeling. Picturing someone important to them can be incredibly powerful and inspiring. These triggers need to be something that connects with each one emotionally so they will be different for everyone. However, whilst reminders of the 1982 European cup victory in the tunnel may inspire some, it may not be the best tool for others who weren’t even born then.
Choosing and playing a team “anthem” i.e. an up-beat and energetic song which is played after successful games will anchor the euphoria and feelings of competence to that tune. If the song is played before games then the good vibes reappear. Music is a terrific energizer and with positive personal emotion laced on will be even more powerful.
Michael Owen used to replay his best goals the night before a game to psyche himself up for the game. Teams can benefit from having a DVD made up of their bests bits and playing this before the game or night before. However, by the same token, there’s a balance that needs to be struck – over-confidence can be as damaging to a player’s psyche as under-confidence.
The players should also ensure that they celebrate dramatically each good move or success. This can be done internally or publicly where appropriate. The aim should be to intensify the positive feelings to recall them at a later date.
There are also things that the club can do to improve playing at home. One method is to try and make training as similar to the match day experience as possible. Players will be more able to cope with high pressure situations if they have to deal with them in training. Russian athletes train to piped booing noises to prepare them for negative crowd reactions. NFL teams also train to reproduced crowd noises for the same reason. The ideal preparation would be to train some of the time at Villa Park and with the noise of the crowd played over the PA system. This can also be done at Bodymoor Heath and set pieces practised under as much pressure as possible.
The match at Anfield has provided the Aston Villa coaches and players with an invaluable resource to build confidence, self belief and strength. They will be looking for a mental game plan, a special technique or practice regime to improve the home performances. This has to be their main priority given the huge disparity between their home and away form, and surely the West Bromwich game at Villa Park will be the ideal opportunity for them to show what they can do with this newly found confidence and belief.
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