Van Der Sar Talks His Way Out Of Slump
TURIN, Italy, April 26 (Reuters)(DS) - As goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar
has found out, loss of form can happen to sportsmen at any level.
Usually it is dismissed as a poor run and when the player rediscovers
his touch the bad patch is forgotten, written off as a hiccup.
But for some it becomes a slump, the confidence seeps away, the doubts
get stronger and in the world of sport, where the present is everything
and the past quickly forgotten, the player finds that his hard-earned
reputation is under threat. Perhaps no-one is as exposed to such dangers
as a goalkeeper and when he is the last line of defence for Juventus,
one of the most famous clubs in the world, there is no hiding place.
Late last year, Dutchman Van der Sar, widely considered one of the
finest keepers in the game, was making errors in almost every game.
His admired handling became sloppy. His noted confidence at claiming
crosses appeared to have vanished and he was costing his side crucial
points in Serie A and the Champions League -- all live on television,
all debated at length in the media. But Van der Sar has emerged from
that traumatic time to once again take his place among those at the top
of his profession. Juventus are back in the hunt for the Italian title
and their goalkeeper looks as dependable as ever.
ABILITY QUESTIONED
Refreshingly, in a sport where talk of fallibility and failure is often
taboo, Van der Sar is prepared to reflect on the time when his ability,
honed from years of practice and dedication, was being questioned.
"It was the first time anything like that has ever happened to me," he
told Reuters. "It was strange and you don't expect that something like
this can happen to you. You don't want to believe it. But there comes a
point when you have to believe it. You have to recognise that you are
not playing like you used to, like you are capable of."
Surprised by such a sudden and dramatic loss of form, Van der Sar admits
he may have added to his problems by attempting to make changes to his
game. "You ask yourself things and you start to want to try different things
and then you lose your points of reference," he said.
"You start to think and when you think you lose that fraction of a
second and it affects you when you need to take action. That happened to
me and it was a very strange feeling, I really don't want to feel it
again."
Many sportsmen turn to intensive training to work their way out of a
crisis but Van der Sar says such an approach is not right for a
goalkeeper.
"When you are in a situation like that to work more or to do more is not
the answer. It is about concentration and faith in yourself and you
don't get that back by training three hours or something. Not for a
goalkeeper anyway.
"For a tennis player it is obvious if your backhand is not functioning
then you play three hours on backhand, that's logical. But for a
goalkeeper it's not the case. In training I focused on doing things to
get my confidence, some good
exercises but not training hard or more."
CONFIDENCE RETURNS
Instead Van der Sar discovered the importance of simply talking about
his problems, seeking out a sympathetic ear. "I was talking to people,
talking to trainers, to players, anyone I could -- old goalkeepers like
Hans Van Breukelen, (Netherlands coach Luis) Van Gaal and people here at
Juve.
"The people here at Juve, the players and board of directors, all had
faith in me wich is very important when you have a moment when you are
not playing well.
Slowly Van der Sar rediscovered his form and his confidence began to
return.
He said the turning point was the Netherlands' 2-1 win over Spain in a
friendly in Seville in November.
"After that, step by step I got better and I got more faith. I was
taking my corners, going out for high balls, confident to grab that
ball, step by step building up my confidence and all the other things
you need to perform at this level."
The 'keeper says there is no way of knowing if such troubles could
return but he says he has learnt from his experience and has some advice
for others who face similar problems.
"I think it's going to just hit you -- it hit me -- and you don't have a
clue why it is hitting you. The most important thing is first of all to
keep the damage to as little as possible. For a goalkeeper that's hard
because every mistake is always a goal.
"But it's important that every time you have a problem you don't keep it
to yourself and say 'I'll solve it later'. It's important to speak about
it right away and not three months later. That's the biggest lesson I
learnt."
