Win In The Mind And You Win On The Pitch

Football teams with winning reputations like Barcelona, Juventus or Bayern Munich have a serious approach to the mental game. They think victory, and positive thinking dominates the club. They are winners and winning inspires positive thought. But even if you coach a losing team you can inspire your players to victory.

That good feeling

To create a winning attitude individuals in the team must all be working with the same aim, both in training and in matches and your players must all appreciate that football is fun. The way to win at football is to enjoy it. Get your players to realise this and they are more likely to play confidently especially on the ball. This atmosphere creates a mental strength throughout the team which should not be underestimated.

Remember

It’s important your players feel proud when they pull on the team shirt, important that they go out onto the pitch thinking about the one thing they are there for, football. Remember to make your players feel special and individual.

Build winning teams through leadership

It’s important that your captain supports you on the field. Negative thinking can spread quickly, particularly if the one who represents the negative thinking is the captain.

5 tips to creating a winning mentality

Training should be positive fun and get everyone pulling in one direction.
The team has a common goal but not one that is too unrealistic or ambitious like “our goal is to win the league”. Our goal is to play well for each other and have a chance to win every game.
Let the leaders lead and the others play out secondary roles because some are natural leaders and some players like to be led.
Put players who do not see the team as a whole on the bench. You may be tempted to play your prima donna but team spirit will suffer. NO ONE WINS MATCHES ALONE.
Everyone accepts mistakes as long as players do their best. Encourage risks, let everyone express themselves within the framework of the team: If a defender wants to run out of defence with the ball let that player do it and let them learn from it.

Your players will appreciate the responsibility you have given them and respond to you far more than if your rules strangle their creativity.

Make your training sessions SMART

If you want to make sure you’re giving your players targets that they have to meet, do it the SMART way.

SPECIFIC
MEASURABLE
AGREED
REALISTIC
TIMED

So you make the target Specific: Defender will not tackle. His target therefore is 3 tackles in the first half of a match. Is it Measurable? Yes. Have you Agreed it with your player? Yes. Is it Realistic? Three tackles is not a lot but if he will not tackle at all maybe it is too much. You decide. And yes it is Timed because it is in the first half.

Taylor the SMART sessions to your individual players and get them to tell you if they have reached the target.