Arsenal are not mentally weak, insists Crevoisier

THE French psychologist who works with Arsenal’s young players has rubbished claims that Arsene Wenger’s side are mentally weak and insisted that the impact of Newcastle’s four-goal comeback against them — not to mention the memory of Lionel Messi scoring all four goals past them in last year’s 4-1 defeat at the Nou Camp — will have no affect on their preparations for tomorrow night’s Champions League clash against Barcelona.

Jacques Crevoisier, a former assistant coach to Gerard Houllier at Liverpool, holds a PhD in psychology and conducts psychological and motivational tests on Arsenal’s youth players every two years.

But he insisted that suggestions Arsenal have a frail mentality were way off the mark.

“If you are a good player playing in a top team in world, and Arsenal are definitely in the top ten teams in the world, then to do that obviously you must be strong mentally,” he told the Irish Examiner. “If you are not, then you cannot play for Arsenal, it’s as simple as that.

“Just look at Jack Wilshere, he’s so young, but able to play and cope with any game or situation. It’s not just about technical quality or tactical ability or physical strength, it’s also mental qualities and when you get through [to the first-team] you have that.”

Crevoisier gives his players a 117-statement test from which he can determine their levels of confidence and motivation. Statements, which are either agreed or disagreed with, include: ‘When I prepare a match, I prefer to have a plan of action; failure does not affect my determination; a footballer gets the most satisfaction from being a member of a team; when I play football my objective is always to get better.’”

But Crevoisier accepts that the results from that test only reflects a player’s state of mind at a given point in time, and that things might change even a week later.

“What happened to Arsenal in Barcelona last year [when Arsenal took an early lead but lost 4-1] is in the past,” said Crevoisier. “It should have no impact on what happens next week. When you are a higher-level player, you just forget about the past and focus on what you have to do. The past is gone, the team is not the same, and if it is, then the evolution of the team is not the same, so you can no longer compare the teams. It’s a different scenario.

“If [Arsenal] were to consider their last game against them that would make them anxious or frightened by them. I don’t believe it will be like that: Arsene Wenger will say, ‘Let’s play our game, we’ll do what we do, we will have a team against us that will attack, we might not have much possession, but it could be a fantastic game, and after that we’ll see.’

“What top players do is channel their focus onto the next challenge: golf and tennis professionals are particularly good at this, as soon as one shot is done, they have to focus on the next one. That is not easy to do, but you must try to do it every time, in order to be the best. So while you could say it was awful to concede four goals to Newcastle — even though Barton could have been sent off and their last goal was outstanding, so they were a little unlucky— the positive side is that Arsenal played wonderfully to score four goals.”