The banter between the home fans and the visiting goalkeeper is warming up, and has been that way since the first whistle. The goalkeeper is giving as good as he gets, and the joviality is tinged with testosterone – some of the quips from the spectators can be comical but some can be acidic and close to home.
As a human being, it is natural to react however as a sportsman then reaction isn’t permissible in today’s game. We are meant to take the abuse and walk away….
It would be a fair comment to suggest that I was a ‘character’, and as such was a target for the opposing fans. I have always had a shaved head (Match Day was always ‘Head Shave’ day!) and also I have arguably always been a vociferous communicator, so I was always likely to be a target.
I am lucky in that I have great self belief, and in turn this has generated a thick skin as I have always followed my philosophy of making sure that I was happy with what I was doing first and foremost, any detractors simply wouldn’t matter to me. Every goalkeeper needs to develop this thick skin and “deaf ear” to the crowd.
You do hear the abuse though; I’d be lying if I said that you can blank it out, however whether you choose to listen to it or not can only be decided by you. Whether it’s abuse about you, your team mates or (more scathingly) your family then it has to be ignored. Any comment made is designed to get inside your head, it’s said for a reaction to give their team the upper hand. If the supporters can take the goalkeeper away from the game mentally, then their side has an increased chance of being the victors.
What you must do is steely focus on your game, you need to prove to the aggressors that you aren’t letting them affect you and that actually you are a very good player! I’m afraid that verbal abuse is part and parcel of our position, and you also need to be prepared for the physical abuse of items being thrown at you, or spitting and even being punched as you retrieve the ball from in front of the advertising hoardings. No one said being a goalkeeper is easy, and this is often an unseen side of our game.
As you get older, the abuse is easier to handle and you can allow small reactions – I have a lovely stare in my locker, which was used for the particularly nasty abuse. It may not sound a lot, but the perpetrator knows when he’s gone too far and often a stare is just enough for them to take the edge of it. Strangely enough, it’s the same stare that I use now when the kids are playing up at home!
It is not a crime to show that you are human, football fans can be the funniest people in the world at times so if the comment made you laugh, don’t be embarrassed to show them!
Sadly, this aspect of goalkeeping cannot be trained but it is something that must be developed. Younger players can begin by ignoring any body that stands behind their goal, even if that is their Dad (which is simply wrong on all accounts! Don’t get me started…)
This mentality must be developed otherwise your performance will suffer; the only voice allowed inside your head MUST only be yours.
No comments:
Post a Comment