Psychology And Wingers

I’ve a lot to talk about this week, what with big days for Millwall, Manchester United and myself personally too.

I’ve had a couple of weeks away, down in Florida with my family for my birthday, before returning to Cleveland for work. I had a brief stop over in Canada on Friday where I was delighted and honoured to be a guest speaker at the Hamilton Soccer Hall Of Fame; I was presented with a beautiful plaque and I had a wonderful time up there catching up with some old friends. It was organised by John Gibson, a great friend I’ve known for many years and it really was a special night.

Against The Wall

My old club Millwall had a special day of their own on Saturday but of course the FA Cup semi final was marred by the scenes of violence. I still have a lot of friends at Millwall and I have so much fondness for the club which I’m sure is evident with how often I speak of them, but I was absolutely appalled by what I saw on Saturday. It does nothing for the game and it does nothing to help the reputation of Millwall fans; it only adds fuel to the fire, and it is really sad as they really didn’t need to do it. Everyone knows Millwall fans are tough but they really didn’t need to do that; what was even sadder was to see them fighting among themselves and then the police. It’s their historical reputation and that’s where it should be kept, in history. A game of football should be one that families are encouraged to go and attend, not just men, but families, mothers, sons and daughters, and you can’t have that kind of thing happening – especially at our national stadium.

I was so disappointed by those events, a scar that has been opened up again. Even though they would have been disappointed by the team not quite pulling off another miracle, they should have been revelling in what should have been one of the proudest scenes in the club’s history. The Millwall supporters are some of the best and most loyal when they get behind their team but Harry Cripps and Barry Kitchener would be turning in their grave at the scenes at the weekend. Win or lose, that should have been a day of celebration, but instead there is just shame.

United

You can’t underestimate the power of psychology in football and nowhere has that been more evident than at another of my old clubs, Manchester United, in recent weeks. That red card to Nani against Real Madrid really seemed to have knocked the wind out of their sails, it was a disgusting decision (by the way – there have been numerous episodes of that nature since, but not one red or yellow card) that sapped the confidence out of the team.

In 1976 we were robbed by a bad decision in the FA Cup Final and we had a summer afterwards to wallow in it, besides a game against Manchester City in the league. I don’t think it’s a secret that I was disappointed with my performance in that game against Southampton but psychologically I wanted to get out there and put the record straight as soon as possible. City were no pushovers, coming to Old Trafford with a great recent record, but I was able to exercise some demons at least by scoring and playing really well.

The best way to respond from the defeat to City and the recent form is to do what they can and they got off to a great start of doing that by winning at Stoke yesterday. The only thing that did concern me was Robin van Persie saying afterwards that the team wanted to get to the points record in the league. It’s great to have ambitions but speaking about them is only going to put a spanner in the works – don’t forget, we still haven’t actually won the league yet and that’s the most important thing! In any event, it shouldn’t be about looking at records and trying to beat them that way, it should be about just playing your own game and making your own records.

It’s all about psychology – I know as much as anyone the impact that it has. I recently had the pleasure of reading some very kind words about me from my old manager Tommy Docherty and that reminded me of the impact his encouragement had on me throughout my career. He did sign me three times, after all, which showed the faith he had in me! When I had my low times – after the 76 Cup Final, when I got a serious injury at Derby, when I was feeling broken and damaged – the encouragement from Tommy and his staff was vital in getting me back to my old self. It’s not about being nice – you can’t be “nice” at Manchester United, but you can cajole and encourage to get the best of players.

Everything with our current wingers seems to be psychological. You get confidence from your team-mates, the crowd, even the opposition. When we played Juventus in 1976 Trapattoni was very public about putting two players to man mark me – that inspired me to play a great game and score a great goal too. You think, “Wow! They must be worried!”. You look at Antonio Valencia, a terrific fast player but not a confident or natural dribbler. He had a great spell last season where he really utilised his pace and looked the part so how does he get back to that? Frank Blunstone, who was a good winger himself, would say to me, “Gordy, no player will get near you if you move quick enough”. I’d look forward to teams putting two on me, it came me encouragement! Stewart Houston and Arthur Albiston were absolutely brilliant to play in front of, they would tell me “Hey Hilly, go on, take ‘em on”.

I’ve read a lot of my old team-mate Brian Greenhoff’s views of wanting that kind of encouragement from the player behind Valencia, maybe that might help. He’s got every reason to be confident with the quality of right backs behind him – he just seems to be playing in slow motion. Let him go at full pelt because that’s the dream, any touch from a defender and you’re winning free kicks or penalties. You don’t even need to dive like the Liverpool man Suarez, you just play your natural game and it will come. I would have absolutely loved it in todays game, though I would not go down like the bloody actors you see in the game. Being a winger is a true art in the game, yet is so simple – look at the best in the British game, Gareth Bale, who I really enjoy. Let him be a winger, don’t convert him in to a centre forward. If United got hold of him that would be truly scary.

The funny thing is that you can be so aware of the impact of psychological treatment and yet it still works! It’s what they say, isn’t it, mind over matter!