Soccology Sunday: Footballers That Hide

Thousands of players hide on the football pitch, from Sunday League to Premier League, hiding can be such a prominent part of a players game that many will not realise that they are hiding.

I use the term “hide” to describe how players strategically make themselves unavailable for a host of what they perceive to be emotional burdens. Players hide in different ways, some hide from getting the ball and others hide from moments that warrant them committing to a tackle. In short they hide from moments that will reveal the weaker parts of their game or parts of the game that they find emotionally taxing e.g. a striker that has doubts about their first touch is likely to run in behind the opponents defence to receive the ball, rather than making themselves available to receive the ball to their feet. Michael Owen hide in the reverse of this example, CLICK HERE TO READ.

I’ve made no secret of a time when I was playing that I hid on the pitch, I had become anxious. I felt anxious because I had a manager that micro managed me and that led to me becoming indecisive on the pitch. My indecisiveness led to my decisions not being as good as they once were, my performances dipped as I tried to show my manager I was the player I thought I was and not the player he thought I was. After a while I gave in and became the player he wanted me to be, a limited version of myself.