Gareth Southgate walked through the gates of the charming castle in the heart of Blankenheim with a coffee in his hand. He crossed the cobbled courtyard of the main courtyard smiling and waving to everyone left and right. The calm he has maintained despite the harsh criticism he received for England’s poor performance in the group stage and in the round of 16 against Slovakia is his greatest asset against a squad of players to whom he has instilled that somewhat stoic calm.
The control of emotions through adequate psychological work in the face of adversity has been fundamental for England to decide tomorrow with Spain in Berlin who rules Europe in national team football. “Gareth is very relaxed. He makes you feel that he is really like that. And, obviously, there is a real unity in this team that we have built over a long period of time,” explained yesterday Ollie Watkins, Harry Kane’s substitute who put England in the final with his goal against the Netherlands when the match was heading for extra time. For Southgate, Watkins is not a substitute. The term he has imposed to refer to the reserves is “match finishers”. This is one of the semantic tricks that the England coach uses to reinforce the mentality of the group.
In the cosy fortress chosen by the English Football Association (FA), the internationals who appear at a press conference challenge a journalist to a round of darts before answering questions. The challenge is a tradition imposed by Southgate since the 2018 World Cup to ease relations between reporters and players. In the bucolic grounds, they coexist among screens with video games, the aforementioned dartboard, a Subbuteo, an American pool table and even a mini greento practice the putt. All this with the aim of making their players feel that they can express themselves in a relaxed environment.
Since taking charge of the England national team, Southgate has been very concerned about the psychological aspect, both individual and collective. His intention, still present at this European Championship, was to clear his players’ minds of the excessive pressure of winning a major title, something England has not achieved since 1966.
The English coach met with many specialists and became familiar with the mental work carried out by athletes outside of football. The psychological adaptation to high-performance sport of the Mercedes Formula 1 team, the English hockey coach Danny Kerry, and the cricket legend Ed Smith have all been the subject of study by Southgate. In 2018, he appointed Ian Mitchell as head of psychology and performance because his experience as a player for the national team told him that the team had neglected the fourth leg, the mental one, which together with technique, tactics and physics support a team.
The other appointment was high performance specialist Owen Eastwood, who had been with the FA since 2016. Eastwood’s work focuses on the ancient Maori idea of whakapapaIf you don’t inherit a legacy, you create your own. To ease the pressure of not having won a title since 1966, it’s common to hear England internationals say “we can write our own history.” This Euro was all about qualifying for a final outside England for the first time, and it worked.
Southgate, who has mastered these techniques, has not brought either of his two head mental coaches to this Euro. He himself has diagnosed the problems that have prevented his players from expressing their talent. According to the English coach, the expectations created by the potential of the squad blocked his players due to fear of failure and of what others will say. “I have spoken to many psychologists over the years. One of the things that human beings want to avoid is public embarrassment. We had a bit of that mentality in the group stage. We have lost that fear that gripped us,” he told ITV after eliminating Switzerland in the quarter-finals. The first half of the semi-final against the Netherlands was the best for England in this tournament. In the second half, the fear of the public consequences of defeat re-emerged. Before tomorrow’s final, the mantra of “writing our own history” is repeated over and over again by Southgate and his players.
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