Saturday’s loss at Arsenal was to be expected; however, the manor of the defeat certainly gave hope to most Villa fans. I, myself, clapped them off the pitch following a battling performance. As it has been said, “If we play like that…”

Monday’s upcoming game against City should be seen as the Arsenal game was: a bonus point. If we get something out of the game, fantastic. But, for me, I’m looking for a hard working performance.  I hear you say “we need points” and you’re absolutely correct. Still, even if we lose these games against the Sky big teams, all is not lost.

Our battles present themselves in the form of Reading, QPR, Stoke, Fulham, Sunderland, Norwich, and Wigan. These are the games we need to be up for! Yes, everyone likes to see the spectacle against the big teams; but, as it is, they represent the ‘bonus’ points. We should all get behind them, particularly at these games, and not bemoan dropping points to the Sky teams.

Villa’s mental strength between now and the end of the season is paramount, and we, as fans, play a significant role.

Whilst we supporters have every reason to be frustrated by Villa’s losses, we have to wonder if it is really matters of: players not being fit enough to wear the shirt, showing no passion, being lazy, not caring, or not putting in a proper shift. Or, instead, are there other factors at play? It is important to assess what is happening with the players’ mindsets.  Sadly, a catch-22 situation is at play: the worse the results, the less willing supporters are get behind the Villa, which only adds pressure.

Confidence: Shaken, Not Stirred

Aston Villa are a team which had a disappointing run of results over the Christmas period.  They played Spurs after their defeat to Chelsea (where 8 goals were conceded).  The Villa v Spurs game is good to observe: Spurs had a reasonable run and were confident, and Villa were at their most vulnerable in terms of self-belief.  The difference in body language between the Spurs and Villa players at this game was staggering.  As they came out of the tunnel, it was surprising to see five Villa players nervously swigging from drink bottles.  It could be argued that they were merely thirsty; however, it looked to me like a nervous gesture which is commonly used by people when they feel self-conscious.  It is termed as ”avoidance behaviour” in psychology.   Certain gestures will be picked up subconsciously by opponents – and, at that point, the Spurs may have been getting their first smell of blood.  Villa did not look energised or in the important “arousal state” that sportsmen strive to be in, and should be achieving, at the start of the game.

Nerves affect decision making.  As Agassi’s coach said: “Pressure can make a person stupid.  You do stupid things because your mind starts thinking about the wrong stuff.”  (E.g., getting booed, letting the team down, making a mistake, conceding another goal.)  He went on to say, “You can’t be thinking about winning or losing before or during a match, or it’s over before its ever started because you are focusing on the wrong things.”  Players need to focus on the right things to perform properly.

We know that adrenaline makes the heart beat faster. Research shows that a nervous player will speed things up, which has a negative effect on performance.   Some players might get a large number of offside decisions, for example.  This is not because they don’t know the offside rule, but because the pressure is getting to them.  They are panicked into making their runs too soon.

The Right Attitude

Whilst a strong mental attitude will not make a player with average talent great, a weak mental approach will make a talented player poor.  Look no further than Torres.

Hostility at a team’s home ground can also be “anchored” (i.e., ingrained subconsciously)  and this will affect the players’ future home games.  As soon as the player steps out of the tunnel and faces the crowd again, the physical and mental feelings of anxiety automatically return. One can only imagine how hard it was for the Blackburn players to play when there was such vitriol directed towards Steve Keen.

When teams do get a win,  players must dwell on success and use it to anchor positive and powerful feelings. They need to work hard at mentally closing the door on past defeats, and at banning negative feelings.  Good mental routines must be implemented to make them resilient to stress.

As the great Muhammad Ali said, “Inside of a ring or out, isn’t nothing wrong with going down.  It’s staying down that’s wrong.”  The first step towards getting back up again is believing that you can!

Do you believe in the Villa?

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