At Hannover 96 the pressure is mounting in view of their recent winless streak. But that’s why there was no mental coach at the club this week.
It’s always a question of perspective when assessing recent results. They have been unbeaten for three games and offensively have not been that bad, thinks 96 coach Jan Zimmermann. But you could also just look at the last few league games and come up with a meagre tally of six games without a win and a meagre three points.
Zimmermann knows this ahead of Friday night’s game against SC Paderborn: “Of course the pressure is on. We are now on the brink of relegation. Of course we have pressure and are putting ourselves under pressure and also know that if we don’t win the game on Friday, the pressure will be even greater. We don’t need a mental coach to figure that out now. “
A mental coach was nevertheless invited at the beginning of the week. But there, he said, the talk was more general. “How does everyone deal with their job? How do they deal with their career? The response from the players was very positive. I also got some totally positive things out of it. I think it can’t hurt anyone to reflect and get input. We try to use it to develop the players as well. “
“Of course, you also get mentality with a sense of achievement “
In general, however, the topic of mentality is very complex. Because self-confidence is part of mentality. “Of course, you also get mentality with a sense of achievement. Self-confidence drops if you don’t have a sense of achievement,” Zimmermann knows about the connection and sees this as a challenge for the coach. “It’s also my job to create a positive mood and atmosphere so that the players go into the games with confidence. If you don’t have positive moments, it’s also difficult to exude a strong mentality. “
Zimmermann feels Kind’s backing
So the players get the backing of the coach, who is convinced of his team’s character. But what about the backing for Zimmermann? “I’m not worried” that we want to manage this together.” After all, he said, they have common medium-term goals.
However, Zimmermann himself knows that the first thing is to be successful in the short term. Because if they don’t manage another win against Paderborn, there is even the threat of a relegation place if the competition wins.
