The power of the mind and the panic of the Spanish are studied at the university

Barcelona“We have to be optimistic and positive. We are very clear about what we have to do”, declared Ramon Terrats after the defeat of Espanyol against Madrid. His hopeful phrase was going in one direction, but his gestures in another. He looked deeply afflicted, desolate. “Each person deals with it in their own way. I consider myself guilty of what happened because I had chances and didn't score”, admitted Terrats, Espanyol member 5,894, a reflection of the state of mind of a team that has gone 18 games without a win and has gone from fighting for Europe to being very close to the abyss of relegation, now two points away.

"We don't deserve what is happening to us", said Manolo González, also in a very low tone, after Sevilla's comeback. The blow from Pizjuán left the 'periquitos' mortally wounded, who this Wednesday against Athletic Club (7:00 PM, Movistar Plus) must pick themselves up if they do not want to fall back into the hell of the Second Division.

The diagnosis of Espanyol's ills

“You’re not bad physically, you look capable and you compete; it’s clear the team hasn’t let themselves go, but, even so, victory isn’t coming and you don’t know why. There isn’t a clear footballing diagnosis. And this has an evident effect on the players’ confidence and their emotional state”, explains former player and communicator Jofre Mateu, who also experienced the risk of relegation in 2006, the year of Coro’s goal.

“I had never seen a losing streak like this. The situation already transcends the footballing sphere, it’s a psychological issue. And this isn’t resolved by playing low block or high block, it’s not a set-piece issue. No, no, none of that... it’s in the head”, adds Àngel Morales, a former Espanyol player who also avoided relegation on the last matchday in 2004. It’s not new, the periquito club has been taking care of and working on this aspect for some time through the mental performance area, called El Niu, led by Mar Rovira, psychologist for the first team and the reserves. Some players also have their own personal coach. This is the case for Edu Expósito.

“The accumulation of matches without winning, the urgency to change it, and the noise from the environment, among other factors, generate a situation of sustained block. An invisible backpack is created, to which weight is added each day”, analyzes Lorena Cos, sports and high-performance psychologist.

How does this translate onto the field?

“A few days ago we talked in class about the Espanyol case”, says Marcela Herrera, sports psychologist at the Centre for Studies of Physical Activity and Sport at the University of Vic. She is a professor of the performance psychology subject: “The players are experiencing mental fatigue and blockages. There is demotivation in intensity, they are physically and mentally constrained. It is perceived in their gestures, physical posture, and decision-making, without conviction. This is called choking under pressure”.

“Nervousness during the week and the match, frustration, fear of making mistakes, and anticipatory anxiety, meaning they ask themselves ‘What if we lose again? What if I don’t do well? What if, what if...?’”, cites Lorena Cos

as some of the emotions that players usually experience in a context like this. “On the pitch, it translates into more haste, taking fewer risks, or a loss of technical fluidity, as tension and rigidity lead to errors. But the most important thing of all is the lack of confidence”, adds the sports psychologist, who has experience in the Sabadell coaching staff.

Jofre Mateu confirms this: “All technical executions in football depend on trusting that it will go well. If you are on a good streak, you make successful decisions due to the positive momentum you have. But if before executing, you have the possibility of failing in mind, you make many more mistakes”.

The remedy is three points

“A golf psychologist said: «Play to play well, don't play to avoid playing badly». And that sums it up a bit. Focusing on what not to do to lose is a deadly trap”, says Herrera, who points in the same direction as Cos: “The Espanyol player starts playing with the fear of the future in every present action”. Morales recalls Luis Fernández's formula to save the team in 2004: “He took all the media pressure and during the week we had short, light training sessions to relax and isolate ourselves mentally. It worked well for us”.

One thing is theory and another is practice. And the medicine for Espanyol's current woes is evident: to win again. Against Athletic, they have the opportunity and the need to do so. If they succeed, the Periquito team will be freed from the mental burden they carry on their backs and will distance themselves from their panic of relegation, which is studied at university.