by stmichael » Tue May 17, 2011 1:44 pm
I think we need to take a step back and remember that whilst at the moment confidence is high and the team is performing really well, that when it wasn't, the same players, (bar the Kids and the new arrivals) generally lacked the mental strength to dig themselves out of the hole we were in. Think back to the capitulations of Wolves, Blackpool, Northampton at home and numerous awayday horror shows. Yes, things are different, Hodgy and Torres have gone, Kenny and his team have lifted them , and we are playing a different brand of stuff, but just remember that when the going got tough in the first half of the season, too many of our side couldn't handle it and went missing.
Next season, as I said, I think we are all hoping that the team does have to play under the pressure of competing at the top. Personally I harbour doubts about the mental strength of a number of the current senior squad, they're good when things are going well, but go AWOL when they aren't. Chuck in the pressure and expectation of getting close to challenging for the league, or in a cup , then there have been enough of the squad who have buckled when the chips have been down in the past to give us some cause for concern.
Winning the league is as much about mental toughness as it is about the quality of the side. it's about the refusal to accept defeat when you are 1-0 down at the Emirates in the 96th minute, not when it's only three points on offer, but when those three points matter. Look at Arsenal, fantastic players, great football, mentally weak. My contention is that we still have questions to be asked about the mental strength of many in the squad, especially at the business end of a tournament.