"Are you kidding?", he asked in disbelief. "Psycho Joe Šimunić?" "The very one!" I replied.
"Who would want it?! He's the most hated player in the league!"
That made me sad. Joe is such a nice man, a gentle giant off the pitch, well spoken and polite guy, and a terrific footballer.
He just... sometimes sees red when he sees an opponent coming towards him. And sometimes it takes even less than that. His flipping outs are the stuff of legends. He's the pillar of defense, our Joe, it's either the ball or the player that can go past him, but never both of them together.
I understand why he was the most hated player in the league. He got sent off three times in five months, and when Joe comes charging, it doesn't look nice at all :-(
His other, more entertaining blackouts include playing heel passes in his own penalty box with three opponents on his back. Sometimes it works... and sometimes it doesn't.
You may also remember him as the only footballer ever to receive three yellows (Croatia vs Australia, WC 2006).
For all his great technique, natural talent and die-hard dedication, more often than not he was seen as a liability, and even those who supported him shuddered every time when the ball was in his possession - because you never ever knew just what he might do.
Well anyway, Crazy Joe is not crazy anymore.
I (and pretty much everyone else) already noticed a significant difference during the Euro last year, when he was our best player by a mile. Not to take anything away from the other guys, they were all great as far as I'm concerned (grrr Petrić!), but Joe was head and shoulders above everyone else. I thought Slaven got him on some kind of medications... but then he was voted the best defender in Bundesliga this season, with impressive stats of over 70% successful tackles.
And these days he revealed us his secret.
I always had the feeling that some people, like me, were there to be blamed for things. I was mad at some people, and disappointed in others. It made me a very frustrated man and a very aggressive player.
However, I realized that the point is not about who's guilty, but that a man is constantly improving himself. He must know how to channel properly his negative feelings and unhappiness. A disatisfied man cannot achieve good results. So in the end I only did harm to my team, opponents but mostly to myself. My past had two sides: it hardened me, but it also hurt me.
Whoa there! Where did this philosophical insight come from?
People from the club have already suggested I should work with psychologists. Like most other people, at first I thought it was silly and unnecessary. However, I soon changed my mind. I discovered psychology in the full sense of the word. I began to buy books and thoroughly study this complicated science.
I came to the conclusion that psychology is by far the most important aspect of professional sports. The difference between Nadal, Federer or Tiger Woods in relation to their opponents is in psychology. The physical differences in top-level sports are so minimal that the real difference is the mental viewpoint.
:-O
For three years I worked with a psychologist. Now I have calmed down. I learned a lot about my own body language, and I certainly learned a lot about harmful wasting of energy on unnecessary things.
When the player is angry at the referee or his team-mate because of some mistakes, he is in fact making himself unable to play, because he is losing concentration. It is impossible to play 34 matches a season without mistakes, and this is what athletes simply must come to terms with.
Niko adores him, I guess that says it all.
I was laughing so hard thinking about the 3 yellow cards thing. I didn't remember it was a Croatian player at all. But then I started reading his quotes and was all stunned.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Niko has already learnt a thing or two from Simunic. Not the aggressiveness issue but what he found out about the dark side. I'm very impressed. He must have a lot of Pluto going on.
We may joke around when we call him crazy or psycho, but truthfully, you could always see Joe was torn between the light and the dark side.
ReplyDeleteIt's also the reason why I could never dislike him, even though he did his fair share of butchering and I normally hate that kind of players. He was just always fighting against himself, like a perfect comic book hero.
On his good day he's one of world's best defenders, passionate, skilled and fearless. You know how much I love/rate Charlie, but Joe is still, without a doubt, our best defender. And I believe his good days are becoming a permanent fixture now.
He's grown from zero to hero in less than a year, he's won everyone over and is finally using his vast talent and experience to get the recognition he deserves.
I hope Slaven makes him the captain, he'd be perfect for it.
He's so right about the psychology thing in sports, it's definitely the key. Just look at England falling apart all the time because of the lack of self belief. (Nice mention of Rafa too, hee :D)
ReplyDeleteBtw this is the player with those tiny orange shorts in the wtf 70s ads isn't it? lmao
Duuuuude, maybe I should become a sports psychologist!
ReplyDeleteHehehe Venice - this sentence:
ReplyDelete"Joe was head and shoulders above everyone else."
Yeah literally - 1.96m :D
And LOL @ 3 yellows!
I agree - psychology in sports is quite important.
Hence @ Sarah - go for it :D