There is a theory among sports psychologists, bizarre as it may sound, that sometimes people just do not want to win. They are unwilling or not coached to go through the emotional pain and struggle it takes to prevail and cannot cope with the attention that challenging for a title brings. And so they find excuses as subconsciously they prefer the comfort zone of mediocrity where anonymity and safety reside.
It is most marked in individual sports, like tennis and golf, particularly these days when even lowly ranked players can make millions without ever winning anything. It can occur, though, in team games, too; sometimes to the collective and sometimes to a few members who can thus undermine the whole group. And, as we know in the modern Premier League, players can also make millions there without ever winning anything.
You have to wonder whether the dynamic is starting to apply to Liverpool. Ever since they hit the top of the table, there have been a series of events that render it more than coincidental that results tailed off and they ceded the leadership to Manchester United, who in the 19 years since Anfield last saw the title, have pulled to within one win of equalling their record of 18.
All seemed to be going well in December when the brinkmanship of their victories in autumn looked to have disappeared with heavy defeats of Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United.
Then came Steven Gerrard's Southport shenanigans, which are likely to hang over the club for the rest of the season with him being bailed on Friday until March 20, the week following Liverpool's confrontation with United at Old Trafford and the day before a game against Aston Villa.
To follow that, there was Rafael Benitez's berating of Sir Alex Ferguson for venturing to suggest that Liverpool might lose their nerve. Much of the conflict since has been internal but spilling out on to a public stage. Benitez wants full control of transfers before he signs a new contract, reopening his rift with chief executive Rick Parry. Daniel Agger is awaiting a contract offer, while Emile Heskey is allowed to slip through the net and join Aston Villa.
Amid it all, they have failed to profit from United's trip to Japan for the World Club Championship by drawing games they should have won. Now they face an in-form Wigan away in midweek before hosting Chelsea next Sunday.
Topping it all are yet more manoeuvring and machinations with the owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, as they court a buyer in the Kuwaiti billionaire Nasser Al-Kharafi.
Cue yet more glee at Old Trafford. Can Liverpool do anything more to sabotage themselves? From boardroom to boot room, it seems as if they need to ask themselves: Do we really want to win this?
If so, Hicks and Gillett, Parry and Benitez need to assemble for a meeting to set aside differences and renew their vows of silence. Benitez, 'surprised' at the ownership moves, needs to concentrate anew on instilling in the dressing room a winning mentality if the title is not to slip away.
Anfield has always housed the finest singers in the English game in its stands. Perhaps they could lend those inside the club their song sheets. That way, they might all be singing from the same ones.
It is most marked in individual sports, like tennis and golf, particularly these days when even lowly ranked players can make millions without ever winning anything. It can occur, though, in team games, too; sometimes to the collective and sometimes to a few members who can thus undermine the whole group. And, as we know in the modern Premier League, players can also make millions there without ever winning anything.
You have to wonder whether the dynamic is starting to apply to Liverpool. Ever since they hit the top of the table, there have been a series of events that render it more than coincidental that results tailed off and they ceded the leadership to Manchester United, who in the 19 years since Anfield last saw the title, have pulled to within one win of equalling their record of 18.
All seemed to be going well in December when the brinkmanship of their victories in autumn looked to have disappeared with heavy defeats of Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United.
Then came Steven Gerrard's Southport shenanigans, which are likely to hang over the club for the rest of the season with him being bailed on Friday until March 20, the week following Liverpool's confrontation with United at Old Trafford and the day before a game against Aston Villa.
To follow that, there was Rafael Benitez's berating of Sir Alex Ferguson for venturing to suggest that Liverpool might lose their nerve. Much of the conflict since has been internal but spilling out on to a public stage. Benitez wants full control of transfers before he signs a new contract, reopening his rift with chief executive Rick Parry. Daniel Agger is awaiting a contract offer, while Emile Heskey is allowed to slip through the net and join Aston Villa.
Amid it all, they have failed to profit from United's trip to Japan for the World Club Championship by drawing games they should have won. Now they face an in-form Wigan away in midweek before hosting Chelsea next Sunday.
Topping it all are yet more manoeuvring and machinations with the owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, as they court a buyer in the Kuwaiti billionaire Nasser Al-Kharafi.
Cue yet more glee at Old Trafford. Can Liverpool do anything more to sabotage themselves? From boardroom to boot room, it seems as if they need to ask themselves: Do we really want to win this?
If so, Hicks and Gillett, Parry and Benitez need to assemble for a meeting to set aside differences and renew their vows of silence. Benitez, 'surprised' at the ownership moves, needs to concentrate anew on instilling in the dressing room a winning mentality if the title is not to slip away.
Anfield has always housed the finest singers in the English game in its stands. Perhaps they could lend those inside the club their song sheets. That way, they might all be singing from the same ones.
No comments:
Post a Comment