Mental coach Tirelli: “The head counts more than tactics. Italy can do it”

Running, tactics, but above all… head. In Italy’s return to the World Cup, according to mental coach Stefano Tirelli, the mental aspect will also play a fundamental role. Tirelli, a professor at La Cattolica University of Milan, has worked or collaborated with teams, national teams or great champions for over thirty years. He knows the world of football well and is well aware that the two eliminations suffered by the Azzurri in the World Cup play-offs could have a weight above all in the thoughts of Donnarumma and his teammates this evening against Northern Ireland.

Tirelli, how much will the memory of the two eliminations in a row weigh on the Azzurri?

“It will certainly have a weight, but it will not be the same for everyone. For some players it could turn into a significant emotional load, almost into an additional responsibility. For others, however, it can become an element of clarity: a reminder not to underestimate an opponent who, on paper and in history, has a lower track record than that of Italy. The fundamental point is that history is always written in the present. The past can only be useful if it becomes awareness, if it helps to prepare the match better. If instead it becomes fear or a mental burden, it risks being a limit. Even if being afraid is not in itself a problem as this feeling can emerge in all of us. The ‘plus’ is knowing how to use this emotion as a positive element translated into the right emotional charge (the correct ‘arousal’ as it is defined in the matter). However, there is one aspect that I consider a great advantage for the national team: having a coach who knows what it means to qualify and win a World Cup. This experience is not just something on the CV, it is something that is transmitted. The words of those who have lived through those situations have a different energy, because they are imbued with real experience.

Does the risk of a new sporting failure risk affecting the team on the pitch?

“The risk of a new failure can certainly appear in the minds of the players. At the beginning it can manifest itself as fear and, if the match becomes more complicated as the minutes pass, it can also transform into fear. But we must distinguish carefully: fear, in sport, is a natural component. Almost all athletes feel it when they know they are playing a truly decisive match. The point is not to deny it, but to know how to live and manage it. The team must not enter the field with the anxiety of those who immediately think about the final result, perhaps imagining closing the match with a or two goals already in the first half. This type of pressure risks stiffening the game. The key is another: playing well minute after minute, expressing your physical, technical and mental qualities to the maximum, when the focus becomes the quality of the performance, the result comes as a consequence.

Does the head risk having more of an impact than tactics?

“Yes, the mind can have an even more impact than tactics. Tactics are a rational, analytical fact: you study the opponents, prepare movements, solutions and strategies. But then there is the real match and that’s where the emotional dimension comes into play. In life and therefore also in sport, we know well that theory is one thing and practice is another. You can prepare a match perfectly from a tactical point of view, but if a player is unable to manage the emotions of the ninety minutes, he risks losing focus and losing precisely those tactical indications prepared by the coach and his staff. For this reason, mental preparation in the previous days becomes fundamental. You must train beforehand to manage the different scenarios of the match: the expectation of a positive episode such as a goal, the reaction to a disadvantage, the ability to maintain clarity when you are in the lead, you must prepare for everything: the management of a victory, a draw and even a temporary disadvantage excessive comfort zone, unconsciously lowering the level of attention which can be fatal if continued for a long time during the race”.

What should Gattuso do to arrive at the match with the right mentality?

“To arrive mentally prepared in the correct way for events of maximum importance, the coach, the leader must always be a point of reference, indicate the direction and the strategy while paying attention to a fundamental element of awareness: certainly using his experience without automatically thinking that this management method can be naturally expressed by all the players. Having been a great footballer is an enormous advantage but it can also become a risk if you think that everyone can react to situations as they reacted subjectively on the pitch as a player. Each athlete is a universe himself: he has his own history, his own emotional sensitivity as well as different technical-tactical characteristics. The coach’s task is precisely this: to know his players and calibrate his experience to the group but also to each of them. The coach can certainly convey a lot of what he has experienced in big matches: the ability to stay within the event, to withstand the pressure, to remain clear in decisive moments or to remember mistakes made personally (which is natural in every career) and try to transfer the relevant indications in order to limit them. the repetition of such experiences by his players. However, there is a quality that naturally belongs to the current coach Rino Gattuso and which in a match like this can become decisive: the ability to transmit confidence and energy, constantly, minute after minute. In moments when tension can cloud the clarity of the players, the coach should in fact always be the point of reference because this is the element of recognition of a leader: choosing the path to follow and knowing how to communicate it. If the sea becomes rough and the horizon does not sees more, the players must still be able to see that light. And it is precisely the leadership (on the pitch or off) that must continue to point it out as if it were a lighthouse, the direction always and in any case until the last second of the match”.

Have you ever personally experienced this type of event?

“Yes, it has happened to me many times. In many years of working as a physical trainer and mental coach I have followed teams and athletes involved in finals, semi-finals or continental competitions, both with national teams and with clubs or individual champions. They are moments characterized by a very particular emotional intensity. I always remember with great clarity the meeting held before getting on the bus to go to the stadium. Generally it takes place in the place where one is ‘in retreat’ or in the changing rooms of the stadium. It is an almost suspended moment: one perceives a level of attention total, an absolute concentration in which the coach defines the final directives and then communicates the formation to be put in place. In those moments the players and staff feel that they are part of something unique, it creates a collective strength that can become decisive. At the same time, the staff knows well that it must not overload the athlete coach, preparation is almost always the result of a journey built over time, often in previous months or years with certain athletes. Being able to help a new athlete, even close to a final, means having to work with essential and effective tools: breathing, relaxation techniques, attention management exercises, visualization. The most important thing is to explain to the athlete what useful and positive aspects these techniques can bring and understand if he is ready to accept them at that moment no. And in sport, as in life, we must always respect the specific subjectivity of each athlete, trying to help him go beyond the limits with the qualities of determination and patience.”