Mental fatigue

[BringBackSwales]

Yeh, I just replied to Cleavers. Cardiff I forgot. Absolutely comfortable after scoring an early goal. Basel I left out on purpose

Left out on purpose? Because it didn’t support your post? How very balanced

 

[The Riot Club]

I agree we've lost some games because of our own fuck ups...but that's about as obvious a sign of mental fatigue as there is.

We're making more stupid fuck ups. Burnley, Newcastle, Wigan, Liverpool x3, Vardy's goal, letting Bristol back into it in the League Cup.

Sounds just like mental fatigue.

That's backed up if anything by the fact we absolutely twatted Basel and Leicester immediately after the squad all went on holiday and had what Pep called a much needed break from each other

Interesting that apart from Liverpool it seems to be the shit teams we struggle against the most. Isn't it only Wolves that held us to no goals at home this season too? And Palace away until Monday's injustice against the worst team we've faced all season.

Maybe it's better that we are playing Arsenal in the final and not someone like Norwich or Bolton!

But why do we seem to fuck up more when the opposition are shit?

 

[Deleted member 77198]

I don't know about the players but, like SETD, I'm finding the season exhausting. Every game is crucial and seems to be a matter of hours away meaning I'm struggling to focus on non-footballing matters.

I think I'm ready for the international break next month.

I was thinking that as well and it’ll stop me spending money [i don’t have] for a couple of weeks n’all

 

[SebastianBlue]

It's not mental fatique. This team goes as far as De Bruyne and to a lesser degree Sterling carry them. City have good set pieces but without table setters, they can't score. Other than the two I mentioned, they have very few players that can make accurate passes in tight spots on the field. It's painful to watch those carefree kicks into the box that are easily swatted away by the defense.

So, have you been watching City long, then?

Couldn't agree more. I'd throw in the attritional value of the outrageous challenges that have gone unpunished. May be it's my imagination but I'm sure some of our usually measured passing is hurried because our players fear they are going to get flattened with a career-ending challenge.

And I suspect one or two players have started to choose the healthy option and pass backwards when there is a chance to break away quickly.

For me, attrition, as you’ve put it, is a more impactful factor than basic mental fatigue right now (though, I do think the latter has played a part in some of our more frustrating moments as of late, as infrequent as they have been). There is an argument to be made the former is a form of the latter, though.

How many times have we seen Leroy, David, Ilkay, Kevin, and Kun “anticipate” an impending bad challenge in the last few months, sometimes to the detriment of their immediate ideas and play in the match? Ilkay is especially apprehensive (unsurprisingly—I don’t think you can really fault him for that) and often employs tentative, “hop” controls of the ball in midfield when he sees an opposition player already going to ground to try and win the ball off him. I am convinced that Kun—now ever-vigilant—saw that knee high challenge coming and jumped every so slightly right before contact to prevent it from very possibly being another season-ender; had that not been coming he would have been able to break with the ball straight at two pretty flat-footed CBs. That sort of fouling is one of the few ways opposition teams (and not just those languishing in the third division) think they can stop us. And the players’ awareness of that tactic makes them pause briefly each time they see a player coming to assess whether they can actually execute their idea without the potential of injury. That slows down play (slightly or considerably, depending on the situation) and disrupts our system which, as we all know, is heavily reliant on quick, incisive passing.

Thankfully, we’ve already progressed far enough in the league, where the vast majority of these attritional forces reside, that we should be able to overcome them. We are out of the FA Cup now, where this would have also reared it’s ugly head (which may end up being a small blessing in disguise), and we have Arsenal in the League Cup final, who even when trying to apply the dark art aren’t particularly good at it (excepting that one game where they managed to see off David... still fuming about that). And we won’t see much of it in the Champions League, especially in the later rounds.

So, to answer @Exeter Blue I am here ‘s question, I think we will push through this rough patch (if we can even really call it that—every other team would kill to have this sort of “position of adversity”). Players are starting to come back in to the team, several have been rested here and there in the last few matches, and I think opposition teams’ resolve (outside of one off knockout matches) is starting to wane in the league.

As I said in the pre-match thread, I am actually strangely confident we will win the final this weekend as I think the players will have a point to prove after the Wigan loss.

Interesting that apart from Liverpool it seems to be the shit teams we struggle against the most. Isn't it only Wolves that held us to no goals at home this season too? And Palace away until Monday's injustice against the worst team we've faced all season.

Maybe it's better that we are playing Arsenal in the final and not someone like Norwich or Bolton!

But why do we seem to fuck up more when the opposition are shit?

See my post above for a *possible* reason (which is even more prevalent with the **** teams, including Spurs).

 

[LHarper]

I'm currently doing some scientific research on mental fatigue across a season with a Premier League football club (players doing short questionnaires in the days before and after games), and taking into account variables such as training and match load (i.e., distance covered etc.), scoreline, level of opposition, travel time, final result to see how they may influence their responses.

I'll be writing the paper in May when the season has finished.

Experimentally induced mental fatigue (i.e., getting players to do 30 mins of a cognitively tiring task) reduces physical and skill performance...

https://www.researchgate.net/profil...erformance/links/569f8c0908ae4af52546b306.pdf

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02640414.2016.1156241

 

[SebastianBlue]

I'm currently doing some scientific research on mental fatigue across a season with a Premier League football club (players doing short questionnaires in the days before and after games), and taking into account variables such as training and match load (i.e., distance covered etc.), scoreline, level of opposition, travel time, final result to see how they may influence their responses.

I'll be writing the paper in May when the season has finished.

Experimentally induced mental fatigue (i.e., getting players to do 30 mins of a cognitively tiring task) reduces physical and skill performance...

https://www.researchgate.net/profil...erformance/links/569f8c0908ae4af52546b306.pdf

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02640414.2016.1156241

I would be very interested in reading your findings — be sure to let us know when/where it is published. This is very much in line with the current trend in finite cognitive resource management research in my field.

I plan to read through those write-ups you’ve linked to later this week, as well. Cheers!

 

[Bluster]

For me any combination of Sane, Sterling and Silva not in the team, we aren't as good.

I would go slightly further. I don't think we can play the two Silvas and Gundogan in the same team as there isn't a goal threat from them. Sane, Sterling and De Bruyne are all more direct and far more likely to score whereas, as good as they are, the first three all want one more touch or pass.

I don't think we were unlucky against Wigan. Considering the amount of possession we had, we were not very threatening.

Back on thread, I have also noticed that I'm wishing my life away. I keep thinking if we can maintain this lead 2/3/4 more games then I'll feel confident or safe. I never do, mind.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

Left out on purpose? Because it didn’t support your post? How very balanced

Because it was European football. A whole different kettle of fish. Where we aren't facing parked buses and leg breaking challenges every week. If you think the players aren't mentally fatigued, feel free to say so.......

 

[SebastianBlue]

I would go slightly further. I don't think we can play the two Silvas and Gundogan in the same team as there isn't a goal threat from them. Sane, Sterling and De Bruyne are all more direct and far more likely to score whereas, as good as they are, the first three all want one more touch or pass.

I don't think we were unlucky against Wigan. Considering the amount of possession we had, we were not very threatening.

Back on thread, I have also noticed that I'm wishing my life away. I keep thinking if we can maintain this lead 2/3/4 more games then I'll feel confident or safe. I never do, mind.

I keeping thinking that if we can maintain this lead for 7 or 8 more games I’ll feel fairly confident and safe.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

I would go slightly further. I don't think we can play the two Silvas and Gundogan in the same team as there isn't a goal threat from them. Sane, Sterling and De Bruyne are all more direct and far more likely to score whereas, as good as they are, the first three all want one more touch or pass.

I don't think we were unlucky against Wigan. Considering the amount of possession we had, we were not very threatening.

Back on thread, I have also noticed that I'm wishing my life away. I keep thinking if we can maintain this lead 2/3/4 more games then I'll feel confident or safe. I never do, mind.

I agree up to a point, because Gunders and Dave do score now and then, but I think it's more when they play together (particularly Gundogan and Bernardo) there's a lack of power, pace and directness in the team. I know that's not how we play particularly anyway, but we just look powderpuff when Kev and to a lesser degree Leroy are out of the picture