Oberdorf, Müller and more on the importance of mental health

Top-level footballers talk a lot more openly now about the issue of mental health than just a few years ago. How do you manage not to let hate messages online get you down after missing a penalty? How do you gain strength? To mark World Mental Health Day on 10 October, players from Bayern’s men’s and women’s teams shared their thoughts and feelings, and explained why team spirit, calmness and being open also help in everyday life.

In my head

What went well? What went badly? (Self-)analysis in professional sport is a key factor in future success. But what does healthy reflection actually look like?

Sarah Zadrazil: “I'm actually very rarely satisfied with a game.”

Kingsley Coman: “I'm my biggest critic. Nobody is tougher on me than myself. I always want to be at the top. That's why self-criticism is standard for me.”

Thomas Müller: “Reflection is extremely important if you want to be ready to perform at your best again the next day. But you have to reflect without losing your self-esteem and self-confidence. I just say to myself: Okay, I've played a bad game, but that doesn't make me a bad person or a bad footballer, otherwise I wouldn't be at Bayern. In other words: I have skills. Why didn't it work out?”

Sydney Lohmann: “It really helps me to look back at the game and especially my scenes so that I can put it behind me. I think this analysis, also with the team and the coach, is really important so that I can then concentrate on the next game.”

Leroy Sané: “After defeats, I try not to let my anger get out, but to look at things. What can I do better personally and what can we do better as a team?”

Sydney Lohmann: “Backing up success is difficult. After a failure, I find it easier to motivate myself because the goal is clear. You want to do better!”

Thomas Müller: “I then carry out a detailed analysis: What was the reason? And can I change these things? In terms of fitness or shooting, for example. And then I work on that for weeks and months. At the same time, you have to run a parallel programme and tell yourself every day anew: Today is another new challenge. And a new opportunity.”

Pernille Harder: “I've been talking to a sports psychologist regularly since I was 18. I think it's important to talk about your feelings. Of course I also talk to my family. But sometimes it's easier to open up when your contact person comes from outside.”

Magdalena Eriksson: “For me, mental strength is having the courage to be vulnerable and talk about it instead of always wanting to be strong and hide your weaknesses.”

In the changing room

You can't win a football match alone. Together we are strong. Talking? That helps. But how does a team find the language and the courage to exchange ideas?

Mathys Tel: “It wasn't always easy for me because it's a new country and a new language. But things are going much better. I've learnt German. That gives me a good feeling. Kingsley is also always there for me. He already knows his way around Munich very well and always helps me when I need advice.”

Pernille Harder: “I'm one of the ‘emotional leaders’ in the team, even though I'm rather quiet myself. On the pitch, I want to cheer everyone up. Away from that, I try to get into dialogue with those who I think have something going on.”

Thomas Müller: “As a leading player, you naturally look at how the others are doing. This dialogue is very important to me personally. Sometimes it's worth entering a teammate's comfort zone. For example, with factual corrections, but always with the tenor: Yes, maybe that wasn't so good, but hey, do better, the next chance will come!”

Mathys Tel: “Sometimes I'm a bit impatient and want to just run at goal on my own straight away. I've talked a lot about that with Thomas. I've learnt so much from him. He's like a big brother to me. Thomas is a super person. Really super.”

Kingsley Coman: “I'm more the positive type. But you also need players in the team who say: You've messed up, you need to do better.”

Leroy Sané: “Especially when things aren't going so well for someone, you naturally try to give them a helping hand, build them up and motivate them. So that he realises that he's not alone. I often pass on tips to younger players that I used to get from experienced players myself. It's important that the younger players have the feeling that there's someone watching, helping and supporting them.”

Sarah Zadrazil: “I always want everyone in the team to do well. I also notice when someone isn't doing so well and I see it as my responsibility to ask if everything is okay and lend a sympathetic ear. I also see myself as a link between the team and the backroom staff.”

Sydney Lohmann: “Some of my teammates are also friends who I do things with off the pitch. They understand me and experience similar things. They may have a different opinion, but they can empathise with me.”

Magdalena Eriksson: “My partner and fellow player Pernille Harder has always helped me the most. How I deal with the pressure and keep going after low points in my career. She's always been there for me. She understands what I'm going through, she knows so much about me and about football. That's why she always has good advice.”

Sydney Lohmann: “You also often hear that someone from the team is having a session with a mental coach. It's important to be able to talk about it openly.”

Magdalena Eriksson: “Almost every team has someone who works on this aspect of football with the players. We talk so much about tactics and technique and the physical aspect - and fortunately more and more about mental strength.”

 

In the eye of the storm

FC Bayern is surrounded by a storm of news, fan expectations and a busy fixture list. How do the players manage to deal with the pressure to succeed and the hostility from social media?

Sydney Lohmann: “I don't feel much pressure from outside, from the media or anything like that. I put most of the pressure on myself because I want to perform for the club.”

Kingsley Coman: “The pressure is good for me. You always have to give it your all if you want to win every league title and Champions League. You need a lot of self-confidence to cope with that. And I have that. I like the most important, decisive games because the level of emotion is at its highest there.”

Pernille Harder: “After moving from Wolfsburg to Chelsea, I was the most expensive player in the world and was named the best player in Europe for the second time. I felt those expectations and that pressure extremely keenly. I first had to learn how to stop these feelings from affecting my game.”

Sarah Zadrazil: “I try to see the pressure as a privilege. That's what we wanted in women's football for years. We've worked hard for it.”

Alexander Straus: “Everyone is insecure at times. You have to embrace this feeling. It's the best way to deal with pressure.”

Thomas Müller: “I think there are many parallels to normal life. Everyone feels fear, joy and hope. Of course, things are a bit more extreme in professional sport. Everything happens like under a magnifying glass. Lots of people watch and are interested in your work and form their own opinions. We're overly celebrated, but of course we're also overly criticised.”

Kingsley Coman: “I don't care about criticism from people on the outside. I know best what to do myself.”

Magdalena Eriksson: “I try not to think about what's going on around me. You can never control what other people think about you. But you can control your own actions.”

Leroy Sané: “For me, mental strength means being clear in your mind. Focussing and blocking out certain things. Staying calm, being in the here and now.”

Mathys Tel: “I listen to music before the game. It helps me to concentrate and take the pressure off. Then I only have the game on my mind.”

Lena Oberdorf: “Football is my passion. I think back to when I started playing football. There was no pressure then either. So why should I have it now?”

At the top

Getting to the top is great. But how do you manage to stay there? What healthy strategies are there to keep pushing and motivating yourself?

Kingsley Coman: “The biggest mental challenge for a professional footballer is to maintain this high level. We all have a lot of qualities, but you have to perform over five, six or 10 years - and that's not easy. You have to have that hunger inside you. Nobody can give you that from the outside.”

Leroy Sané: “To stay at the top, you definitely need that mental strength. In the first few games at professional level, you're nervous and try to get yourself up there. You have to be positive and confident and tell yourself: I can do it.”

Pernille Harder: “My most important maxim is consistency. You can only be successful if you stick to what has made you successful. You have to stay true to yourself. Every day.”

Mathys Tel: “I once read a book about concentration. It said: Stay calm. If you keep working on yourself, your moment will come. But above all: stay calm.”

Alexander Straus: “Some professional players also go through difficult times, for example when they don't start a game. I always try to be empathetic and worry about the person, not the player.”

Kingsley Coman: “Sure, there are times when you're less motivated or tired. I had problems sleeping for a while. After two days without a night's sleep you're no longer fresh for the next game. To switch off, I spend time with my family or my good friends.”

Thomas Müller: “There are lots of tips and tricks on how to manipulate yourself in a positive way so that you're ready to perform at your best the next day. Because that's when the job is the most fun.”

Magdalena Eriksson: “At the end of the day, what separates the successful professional from the many super-talented players who don't make it is mental strength. In other words, the ability to be vulnerable, to accept help, to open up to others. The professional players with the right mentality are often the ones who go the furthest and win the most.”

Pernille Harder: “You really have to believe in yourself, in what you're doing. If you have the slightest doubt, it's hard to perform.”

Alexander Straus: “To play well, you have to be happy. That's how it works. Not the other way round.”

Lena Oberdorf, Pernille Harder and co. talk about mental strength and what you can do to achieve it: