Combative: Captain Christopher Trimmel (2nd from left) should give the mentally weak Unioners a boost of motivation.
Photo: imago/Luciano Lima
Does the head decide between victory and defeat in football? From a sports psychology perspective, there is no doubt about it. Only the share is disputed. Mental trainer Ella Renz says it is 80 percent, her colleague Thomas Zerlauth says ten percent less. This Saturday, science will be refuted: the relegation battle in the Bundesliga has become so intense in recent weeks that the last matchday will be a dramatic finale. In the middle of it all is 1. FC Union. The Berliners are hovering between the worlds in the relegation ranking and can still be relegated directly or save themselves – to stay in the league or into relegation. And in the four-way battle with 1. FC Köln, Mainz 05 and VfL Bochum, it’s not just the home game in the Alte Försterei against SC Freiburg that decides.
Sports psychologist on the training ground
When the ball rolls in all stadiums from 3:30 p.m., the game this time is a 100% mental affair. All or nothing: There’s a lot to lose in these 90 minutes – a season’s or even years’ worth of work. That’s why special measures were taken in preparation for the psychological games in the relegation battle. VfL Bochum invited the fans to the final training session on Friday to send the team off to the away game in Bremen with a special feeling. In Berlin this week, sports psychologist Renate Eichenberger was seen on the training ground. Even the whole club came together again: on the initiative of the executive committee, all 1. FC Union employees met for a meal together on Wednesday evening. And as a “special motivational boost,” as coach Marco Grote explained, the contract extension with captain Christopher Trimmel was announced on Thursday.
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Clearly Union’s desperation seems to be greatest. No wonder: when they reached the bottom of the table in November, the club and successful coach Urs Fischer parted ways. President Dirk Zingler said at the time that the team’s “performance was a mental problem.” Fischer’s successor Nenad Bjelica didn’t even last six months in Berlin, his analysis before his dismissal: “The players have a mental problem.” There are enough reasons why nothing has really changed.
Relegation as an opportunity
For almost 20 years, since the last relegation in 2005, there was only one direction for the Köpenickers: up. After promotion to the Bundesliga and the conquest of Europe, relegation was sensibly repeatedly announced as the goal of the season, but the club may have forgotten what it feels like. And the current team is obviously not up to the pressure of the relegation battle. The many well-known newcomers in the summer suggested other goals, the unrest during the season with suspensions and subsequent departures in the winter are further results of a failed transfer policy.
The president draws the main line at 1. FC Union Berlin. Fear is not a good guide, said Dirk Zingler when asked by “nd” after the dismissal of coach Nenad Bjelica. And he wanted to convey to everyone in the club that “relegation is an opportunity to achieve our goal with two more games.”
It seemed a bit desperate when Union media director Christian Arbeit once again emphatically recalled the president’s words at the press conference on Thursday. And so Marco Grote then said: “I’m not afraid.” He believes in each and every one of his players. Indirectly, however, the coach doubted that the players also believed in themselves. Looking back on the last game lost in Cologne, he demanded the “final spark” from his team in the now decisive game against SC Freiburg: “It just doesn’t end after 85 minutes.” In the final phase, Union won against their direct rivals and therefore at least the certainty of relegation is lost. The Berliners had previously appeared just as unsettled against Bochum: the 3-0 defeat after a desolate first 45 minutes could no longer be made up despite a good second half.
Raging coach
If football now becomes a purely mental matter, then the Berliners seem to have the worst cards in the four-way battle to stay in the league. In Cologne they are excited about the duel against 1. FC Heidenheim: “We only have one direction: forward,” said striker Stefan Tigges. The Mainz team will be motivated again in Wolfsburg by their positive coach Bo Henriksen, the Bochum team will be motivated by their fans during the final training session. The Union team recently appeared paralyzed by fear.
After all, the Köpenickers are the only ones who have the home advantage in the relegation final. Here again, science is encouraging. British researchers Nick Neave and Sandy Wolfson have shown in a study that a loud crowd triggers a testosterone boost in the home team. “Testosterone is associated with dominance and aggression in animals,” they explained in terms of evolutionary biology: “Those who play at home are, in a certain sense, defending their territory.” However, the iron home strength also seems broken with the last four defeats in five games at the Alte Försterei. Maybe the football gods will help – there are enough of them in Köpenick.
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