“APPROACH TO THE GAME”©
by Graham Ramsay
This article was written by Danny Blanchflower (Tottenham Hotspurs & Northern Ireland International)….one of the greatest captains that soccer has ever known. He captained both his country, Northern Ireland and his club, Tottenham Hotspur. Under his leadership he took his country to the quarter finals of the World Cup and his club to win the highest honors in English soccer, the Premiership and FA Cup in the same season. It was the first time in nearly a 100 years that a club had won the “double.” He also led Spurs to win the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, making it the first time an English club had won a major European trophy.
He knew how to make “his” team win above all else. It’s a trait of all great players whatever sport they play – Jordan & the Bulls, Montana & the 49er’s, Keane and Manchester United to Zidane with Juventus, Real Madrid & France.
The pessimist thinks that the glass is half-empty; the optimist thinks that it’s half-full. Whatever the situation, the result and satisfaction you achieve will bear relation to your own attitude of mind. For people seem to do well the things that they enjoy—or is it that they enjoy the things they do well? More likely it’s a combination of the two factors.
The more someone enjoys a game the more he will play. With more play and practice, his game will naturally improve. With improvement, more satisfaction will be gained –it’s a cumulative process.
Real success, however, is usually hard to achieve and the path of progress is not often a joyous procession. If doing well were easy, then everyone could do it, and success would be no real achievement.
Therefore, as in other things, many obstacles and disappointments must be overcome in learning to play football well, and many problems solved – which calls for much thought, patience and hard work.
I’m trying to suggest that there is a definitive pattern of behavior that you must cultivate to help you to success; enthusiasm to play football in any conditions, and as often as you can; an imagination that will help you think of endless hours of practice as pleasant rather than monotonous.
Try to be thoughtful and honest in your judgment. Give credit to others and try to learn from their ability. Admit your own mistakes and practice to correct them.
Don’t let criticism discourage you; accept it as a challenge to spur you on to better efforts. You will achieve very little without determination of purpose. If at first you don’t succeed then try, try, try again. In any line of work or play, a worthwhile discovery is usually the outcome of endless hours of trial and error.
Something you must try to build up is power of concentration. Lack of concentration is usually the reason why even experts make elementary mistakes. What’s more, concentration fades with tiredness – and this brings us to the question of fitness.
In any game where the opponent can tackle and directly challenge a player, pace and speed of movement and thought are vital. The fitter a player is, the faster he can force the general pace of the game. Fitness can very often overcome better ability.
In my experience of players and training, not enough attention is paid to mental attitude. To be completely fit, one must be in good mental as well as good physical condition. If things seem to be getting monotonous, a change in routine will sometimes help the mental condition a lot. It is my belief that, with progress in training, a little more attention will also be paid to dieting!
Now what about moral fitness – conduct, and temperament to play in the real spirit of the game. Do certainly, cultivate the will to win. It is a very natural and necessary desire. But learn to win, not at all costs, but within the limits and spirit of the rules. To cheat the rules is only admission of defeat to yourself. Accept defeat without despair and try to find reasons, not excuses, for your failure. Remember, only one team can win any game and everyone must face defeat sometime or other. The better you accept those defeats, the more you will learn, and the better you will appreciate your victories.
Football managers often say that it is possible to judge a player by his behavior off the field. No doubt that our habits tend to influence our trend of thought and vice versa.
Discipline yourself to form neat and timely habits. Learn also to respect team discipline and organization. Every little detail helps to build your character. For instance, if you always turn up at the team meeting-place in good time you will soon be considered reliable – and in fact you will be.
By similar habits try and develop other sound characteristics, and you will be surprised how much they are reflected in your play.
To sum up this “Approach to the Game,” let me quote you part of a verse I once was taught:
To take what comes of good or ill;
To cling to faith and honor still;
To do my best and let that stand
The record of my brain and hand;
And then, should failure come to me,
Still work and hope for Victory.
Proud partner of Boot Room Soccer School, Inc.
Graham Ramsay © 2003 First printed in 1976/revised in 1980, 1990 & 2003 email: ramsaysoccer@yahoo.com