Petr Čech | Full Q&A at The Oxford Union

[Music] [Music] thank you so much for joining us here today patter just to let everyone know we'll start off with some questions from me but most of the questions today will come from all of you so please keep them prepared I'd like to start off by asking you a bit about your journey to where you are today you started off playing football at the age of 17 professionally when you made your debut in the Fortuna Liga which is the Czech first leak what was it like being thrown into the spotlight at such a young age and how is it kind of shaped the rest of your career good evening everybody thank you for having me you know I when I was 17 I I signed my first professional contract with Mel dushanyi which is a which was the small team in the in the top cheque division and you know when I joined there obviously I was 17 I was a part of the first team but you know when you when you join at this age you don't you're not guaranteed to start as a as a main goal keeper so I had to work my way to the you know to that starting lineup and I came to the team which had no reserved him so obviously you train every day but then you're missing then you're missing the opportunity to play games every every weekend which is very important to play games get a much dating experience and the only team I could play was the under-18 team which played the youth league but not even the top division so I asked manager that I said listen I need to have much kind of much day experience no matter in what level I wanted to play so before I made my debut actually which was moved things to the TV on Monday I actually played the game for the for that youth team on Sunday and halfway through the game the manager Ronnie run on the on the touchline and actually made me substitute so he just pulled me out of the game and I played so well I made so many saves and I was completely gutted that he took me out and I didn't understand it but then he explained to me that I would start my my my top league debuted the next day we played away at Sparta Prague which was the by far the best team and historically the best team in the country they had 11 international starting in the literary Hall national team will start was starting the game and you know I knew that I was gonna I was gonna play the game so obviously it was live on TV best team and you know it was a it was a challenged but in a way I was so happy that that it's it's that way because sometimes you think you start with the small team and then you have bigger chance to win but but when you when you challenge yourself with the best then you know what you stand the number 17 and played the game although we lost 3-1 and the first goal I considered was the first shot and it was from penalty actually I knew during the game I actually knew that I have enough quality and enough in me to to play at this level and and it actually showed me that I can and give me a lot of motivation to to carry on working so you know when you in the spotlight is one thing but but you know one when you value on the page you cannot think of somebody's watching you know you cannot think of that there is a lot of people watching your live on TV because it's a distraction all you have to care about is to execute your game so to be successful you have to play your game and to be you know to play your game you have to concentrate on what you do not how many people sees it so you know I I had I always had that in you know my my my way of playing the game I'm kind of like a computer's processor I go step by step in a clear process of thinking and executing what I need to do without jumping those little steps in in which you reach the target and I'm not I'm not worrying about the score I'm not worrying about the time although you consider the time because obviously if you are few minutes left in a game you are winning then you know you tactically you play you slow the game but a part of that you know I played the same game I always played the same game for entire game no matter if it was a Champions League friendly game or if there were people there were not people if we were winning five near losing three nil for me never it never changes so in my head my score is always nil nil and I go with the process and and actually this takes you out of the spotlight because if you start thinking about that then you know it might be too much to to handle and this is probably where you don't do what you need to do speaking of these high-pressure situations I'd like to take you back to the 2012 Champions League final [Applause] so it was your performance in that final the only the title of the fans man of the match and you saved three penalties over the course of the game how did it play how did it feel to play such a huge role in the final and essentially go down in history to this one moment well we go back to what I just said you know with you if you go to the game knowing that there is millions of people watching live on TV that winning the Champions League is probably the ultimate goal of for any football player I had I had lost one Champions League final it was the worst feeling ever and you don't want to you know you don't want to experience that disappointment again and at the same time you know that it's so hard to get in the Champions League final that it might be your last chance so imagine you go to the game with all this pressure and then you go like okay if we don't win it now we might never win it because it takes time and your career that it's never you know endless so you know the pressure was huge and you know that's why the you know concentrating only on the game and preparation was the key and you know people always say that you know you have to be confident you know it's easy to say I'm gonna be confident I'm gonna do this when you are not backed by preparation so for me the confidence is something which comes through preparation if you are prepared you are confident because you know you're prepared and then actually gives you the edge of you know unprepared I've done everything in my preparation there is no reason not to you know to be worried you go in the game and you just play so the preparation for the game was actually the key and it was hours and hours spent watching the videos of Bayern and their penalties and the star you know the strikers how they finish the actions what they like to have where they like to shoot and then obviously they need to do work on the pitch as well so when it came when it came to the game it you know I knew I was prepared we as a whole team we knew we were prepared and I think that's why you know we were - to play the game and although we had a lot of difficulties during the game you know that the togetherness the spirit the preparation everything together actually got us through the game but I have to say them you know sometimes it's easier said than done and you know usually have the ritual before before the game of preparing so some people sleep have a nob some people sleep longer some people just watch some series or just relax and and because you spend the whole day in the hotel and prior to the game the kickoff was 8:45 local time p.m. so you have literally wake up we arrived the day before you have the official training session then you spend another night in the hotel then you have a whole entire day - before the the kickoff starts and this is where young you know brain starts going this is where you know you go all over all these things and then pressure and what if we lose and you want to win and all these things come in in a circle and I usually had in the afternoon like 20 minutes nap I wouldn't even call it a knob was kind of like a power nap because if I slept bit longer I I would have I would got the headache and especially after the head injury you know it would completely you know put me off so so I knew that I had probably 15-20 minutes for some kind of power knob which I literally sit and just relax and concentrate on my breathing and sort of recharge I couldn't do that because you know what all these informations and with everything you know with the pressure I just couldn't do it so what happened was that you know some some people might know I'm I'm a drummer as well so I'm drumming so I always have anywhere I go I always have a practice pot and sticks in my back and obviously going to Munich I had the same thing because you know when you sit in the hotel you have nothing to do I like to do things I don't like the wasting time I don't watch series I prefer to do different things I learn few languages like that I know I was practicing my drumming that and I probably drummed for three hours on the afternoon of the Champions League final because so I had my part and I was playing and playing and playing and put some music and they know and and and this sort of kind of calm me down and and then then then you're like sort of relax a little bit and and you know it helped me actually to prepare so you know if you ever play champions league final make sure you have your practice but do you have any favorite things to play at all knowing you have the practice part just go through kind of like a little technical you know drills and rudiments and and they know this is what I was doing you know and then in the end actually I have to say I kind of build like a little drum kit from the sofa and and I sort of played around with it some songs but I have to say you know there are many ways how to how to how to do for it was not planned but in the end it worked so you mentioned just now that one of the things you do besides football is speak several languages and you like learning new languages could you talk a bit about the languages you speak and how that's helped you in your profession well I think that the first one which forced me to to learn obviously was when I was at school I had to pick I'm originally from Czech Republic and and obviously 60% of our borders is Germany then you have bit of Austria so obviously you know the German language comes like a first sort of natural option so when I when I when I had when I had to choose the language at school I started a German then as you go and get older you need to pick a second language then I then I then I chose English and so obviously when I reach the the professional level and I started playing well for the under-21 national teams or the youth national teams and there were some possibilities to to go abroad to go a better Club bigger club better league obviously I wish that it was Germany or it was a a country where I could use the language because it would be much easier to adapt and go so first thing was don't go to France everybody says French is too complicated so as you know I ended up in France so I went to France and I couldn't say a word in French which at the start obviously it's a problem because you don't understand anybody there was not many English speaking players or even people in the club at the time it was in 2002 when I arrived there so you know it creates kind of a problem for normal life which you know sometimes you can do without talking to people and hoping everything is fine and that you find the way if something happens but you know being a goalkeeper the the biggest part of the of my game is communication with people on the pitch that I give them right advice right instruction what I need him to do that it helps everybody to sort of defend well and then I'm protected so and I learned that actually when I sign the first professional contract my goalkeeper coach was a was it was X goalkeeper he was in the mid 50s already by then and he was constantly talking as a with everybody I think some players didn't really like him because he could hear him all day you know as as soon as you came to the training run it was just him talking talking talking and talking but one day he came to me and he said remember one thing if people do their jobs you have nothing to do and it's actually much better so I understood the message so when you when you give write instructions to players give them right advice right information in the right time it helped them to make clear decisions and they have split seconds so sometimes the right actually advice or instruction help them to make the right decision so everything is happening so fast so when I came to France obviously the biggest issue I have was that people would you know I couldn't tell them what I really want so I put in my contract that I want to have the the teacher for every day at least two hours so obviously the club provided me with that so after every training session I went to two hours to the classroom and try to learn the basic language and and obviously the all-day communication which isn't usually happening on the page and then you know with this I've done that for about a month and then I could do actually learn enough that I could live outside of the training ground using the language with the basic form but I could with no with the confidence and no problem and actually I could tell everybody on the page what I need it so so obviously that again the preparation for it and giving the time and effort to learn the language helped me to settle quicker you know understand the situation and and I have to say the this was kind of the lesson to know that you know when when you can communicate lives becomes much much easier so then later when I when I signed for Chelsea we had some players who came in the last minute we had a CL Horner who came from from Spain he couldn't say a word English so talking to him in English you know he sometimes you tell him something and he would do something completely out because we knew that you know he only started learning the language and actually was faster for me to learn Spanish that for him to learn English so so then in the end I I started learning Spanish the words I needed to tell him so and as I used the French talking to French speaking and then English too you know the English speaking then I realized that you know if I can speak Spanish then then obvious like and you know use that the same way because you know when you hear the play hears it in the native language actually reacts to this the fastest so it was probably the easiest way to do then if you speak to group of players obviously everything is in English so I used that to my to my advantage you know you know and and then I started learning Spanish on the hotels were you know when we spend sometimes a lot of time traveling and planes and this so I I took her I took the time to buy some Spanish grammar and and I learned myself when I when I could and obviously when you have people around and you speak every day with with people you practice and then in the end I you know this is how I learned few other languages so I have to say this is something which is very important so beyond these language barriers did you have any kind of other difficulties communicating with your teammate and are there any skills you've picked up to lead a team I think you have to know who is who in the way you find out how the player behave how they play and how they respond to the communication so with some people you had to be really like really shouting at them there was no choice because otherwise they wouldn't really you know do it with some people you kinda have to be more sort of like a friend and go and just you know slip few things and and that they don't they didn't feel to offend it about something so I think that this the communication skill actually helps you to understand how people are and the bits which some people was was was tricky you know some then we met a few of your members before and they asked me about who was the player who give me the most problems and I said that it was Branislav Ivanovic because because when he got into his zone on the matchday you know he was in his own and it was hard to take him out of his zone to do actually what we needed him to do but he did the great thing about him was that he was aware of that he was aware that sometimes he would forget you know to go back and he would be well watching so so in a way he always before the game he came to me and he said you have to speak to me don't forget to speak to me call me shall do whatever but you know bring me you know that I can that I can be on time and where I need to be so he was literally the one who even demanded it more with some people you don't really have to do it because they play the way that they take care of themself and they don't have to speak too much to them and some some people actually you know prefers to have a like a short rather than them talking too much so so it all depends and nothing you learn that through the you know the games from through the time you train and play with people if you pay attention if you don't obviously them going back a bit now I'd like to talk about your head injuries so in 2006 you were playing a game against reading and you fractured your skull but just a few months down the line you were back playing football again so what were the months following this injury like for you and how did you build your career back up after that well ironically it was 14 of October so today we are 14 of October so it's actually 13 years to date so I hope I will have a better experience of exported to the I hope nobody's ready to throw something at me so I have to say you know when the first few days after the surgery I was in induced coma so obviously I don't remember anything I didn't have I didn't have I couldn't retain an information for a few days so basically the people who were looking after me and and and took care of me obviously they they had to see how I progress how my brain progresses after the after when they when they woke me up after a few days and I remember that they were they were asking me questions so that you know for you if I ask you what's the day today where you are I think all of you will just say why is he asking that you know we are in England we are in Oxford is the 2019 and we are a 14 of October everybody knows it's Monday so the doctor kept asking me this question and I had no clue I just couldn't tell him anything and you know was one of the you know Wars feelings I had because these were the questions I knew that you know it's easy to answer and suddenly I didn't know so after a few days of you know suffering a little bit from that I suddenly my my teammates came to visit and all the memories suddenly kind of came back seeing the familiar faces and people talking to me I you know I actually realized that oh you know it's me I realised my name I knew who was who and and then suddenly my memory came back so I started from there buddy ish I had plenty of different issues which was the speech I was mixing words the way that know that you know if you have a phonetically same words I was mixing them up so you know if you wanted to say the phone is on the table I could I could come and say the cone is on the cable and obviously them in my head I said phone is on the table you would here the corn is on the cable which was completely confusing for everybody and I got frustrated because you know suddenly you speak to people they can understand you so there were all these little challenges on the way where you realize okay he's not gonna be as easy as it looks and and obviously I was advised to forget about the whole season so we were in October and and obviously you know until the end of the season was the end of May so I was advised not to do anything take it out to take my time to to see how everything would go and then probably start the preseason and prepare for the next season which in my head was like why should I wait if I can start doing everything step by step day by day and to see how I go so I actually didn't put any timeline I just I just work every day I woke up and I said okay I will do the best I can to you know to go as best as I can - back to the - playing which there was never guarantee that I would but you know in a way if you never try you never know so I was saying okay I do my best and I will see where it takes me so every day the best look different way so sometimes I would do five minutes of activity and then I would sleep all day because you know I just couldn't do anything sometimes I that I had the probably you know I got sign from my buddies but when when things were going wrote so basically I kind of like switched off as I go I mean when you press the switch off button you know that could happen to me at any time the first few weeks so basically I learn how to listen to my body I had that I then I figured once once I got on the wrong side where I passed out in woodworking my dog and an oxygen I learned what was the signal I sort of ignored that because I thought as no is not it and then I realized was it so then since then I listened to my body properly and then every time the signal came which my I started doing a little bit like that I knew that I had few minutes to sit down and relax so I was I was doing by this but some days I could work three hours four hours a hours some days I couldn't do anything so basically when we pretty proper prepared the program with the doctors and videos and everybody I was I was in charge because they could they could never know if I can know if I can so we we sort of prepared it and I was telling you okay we carry on so sometimes we would do the program for three days in one day and then for two days we would sort of do like a little bit it depended on days and and it was getting better and better and better so obviously I knew that I'm under on the right track but still the question mark was whether I can you know go fast enough to go back on the on the page and you need 12 weeks for the skull fracture to consolidate so basically twelve weeks was the first clear target that I couldn't train with the team or couldn't get hit on the head I couldn't do much with that so I could have to do everything I had to do all on my own but then you know we figure out that if I have the helmet and protect it and obviously working on my own I limited the the risk of getting hit and after month when I started feeling good enough to start training and running and do more exercise I started doing so and with the helmet obviously in I play tennis and I went to the gym and I've done all these hand-eye coordination drills and you know step by step you know I could feel how how strong the body responded and how well everything went then on Thursday I remember that in January was was offering first a word or maybe Friday even when this when the surgeon said okay there's been 12 weeks your skull looks good if you play with if you train with the helmet then you know you minimize the risk there is always a risk but you minimize the risk so so in a way you can start probably training with the team so it was Friday Saturday our training with the team and Sunday our play the game which I remember when I said to my wife I said ah you know Joseph wants me to travel to Liverpool to be with the team - you know - for them to get a little bit of boost that you are fine and we arrived there and and he said okay do you want to play and I said yeah I want to play so he he put me in and I think he knew what he was doing because actually this at the start of the season I had two shoulder surgeries I had referred shoulder repair of both shoulders so at the start of the season I was out and he actually tricked me when we lovely we lost one of the games at the start and then he asked me that he said to me you know I want you to travel to Blackburn and I told him I said okay and then he asked me the night before he said would you play I train once with the team and actually I couldn't save a shot it was it was even I remember the look of some of the players looking at me like what happened to you you can save the ball and so we arrived at Blackburn and he asked me but I want to play and I told him well I don't think I can because you know having seen the session before I just didn't believe that it would be the right thing to do so we came to the pretty much meeting he put the line up and I was in and you know you obviously sit in that meeting everybody was looking at me I and I and I knew I didn't prepare anything so normally you prepare your glove back you know the helmet boots everything you need so obviously he asked the Kidman to prepare everything and to take everything so I had all my stuff ready without me knowing it and and he knew that while I'm sitting in the meeting it I will not say that that I'm not playing so then I said well okay you see if it all goes wrong is not you know is his problem because he put me in so I went I went we won one nil I had a very good game and I think it sometimes these are the type of challenges you just have to take you know I know what I can do I know what I can do so I try to not to do the things I can do and I figure always out the ways I can do it and and so I played so when that happened with the head injury I knew I can I was probably the fittest I've ever been because I had three months of another first month two month of complete training which you know I've done hours and hours in the gym on the tennis court the hand-eye coordination all these things I was really fit I knew that amphetamine I knew I am ready so we go back to that preparation when you know you ready you can although I didn't have I know I had one single session I went so I was confident that it was going to be okay so coming forward now to where your career is today you've played and I've been a fan of ice hockey your whole life and more recently you signed up to the British ice hockey team Guildford Phoenix who you led to victory this weekend how did that change of career happen I'm sure a lot of people are curious to find out well I think I you know I had few dreams when I was when I was a kid and and I pretty much fulfill all my dreams playing football but one of the dreams when I was a kid for my first dream was actually be the ice hockey player and to play a game official game as an ice hockey player and you know as an adult competition so thanks to football I couldn't do that so I I was using ice hockey during the years as an extra work for me to keep fit and and to work on my hand-eye coordination and speed of reactions and even on the fitness because it's very demanding being a goalkeeper in them in the on the ice and with all the equipment which way it's quite a lot so I used that as a part of the preparation but obviously I know I've been being a professional football player you never have a chance to to play games because of the insurance policy and as well I would love to see a football club where with the with the salaries you get if you go and say to your boss you know just maybe just don't blame me today I have ice hockey game tomorrow and I might get injured and you pay me for nothing so I know it wouldn't work so I have to say that that I had to wait 37 years for for my dream to to come true it came yesterday actually that that happened that I played the ice hockey game we won 3-2 on penalties and I really enjoyed that it was a great experience so I take the box of one of my dreams so I take the boxes with the football dreams and when I started drumming you know my my wife finds it annoying because I don't know if you have any drummer here is anybody drummer here in the room or plenty so you know when I had my first drum lesson I only had few but I remember the first one when I when I wanted to know how you know how you hold the stick and how you can do which way you can practice there I remember the [Music] the the guy was a it was a drummer himself and he said to me you know welcome to the world where people asked you if you were okay and I told him what do you mean and he said you know once you start drumming you'll be drumming everywhere you go airports you know you knock the door you're not table you you hear the beat and everything starts going and when you're sitting in the airport people get the impression that you are afraid of flying so that everybody keeps asking are you okay are you nervous you know it's anything wrong so I keep doing that and my wife doesn't she doesn't like when you you know when you top the tables and then so obviously you know she she was not that keen but I kept laughing and I said well one one's one day when you go to a concert and I play with the roar in the band and you sit and you be in the audience you will enjoy it so it was a kind of like a long shot but in 2013 I played the gig with 8,000 people in the in the 40 who turned up for the gig and applied with the band in the rock 4 people festival and it was something was an amazing experience for me so since then I played few other gigs which I try not to mention too much because people would think that I'm not doing my job properly so but I take that box with with the dream as well so I kind of I like to you know I like to challenge myself and I always every morning I wake up I know that I'm lucky that I have another day to do something so I I hate to waste my time and and people around me usually tell me how you know how can I survive living literally with all the things I'm doing together with the family and which is obviously the priority so you know I try to you know fill hold a minute-by-minute because you know you only live once and nothing you should really go you know chase your dreams and try to you know do everything you can that you enjoy it so on that note we will turn to questions from the audience so if you could put your hand straight up and it might welcome to you if we can go to the hand in the first row in the blue t-shirt please thank you very much I'd like to know given the public information about your new role at Chelsea is a bit vague I'd like to know what your responsibilities are and what's your working relationship with Frank Joe Cole and marina also a brief second question one world JT and didier come back [Applause] well so my if you if you look at this structure of the club technical and performance advisor in in whole football areas which is you have the recruitment and scouting you have first team you have development squad which is usually the players who are coming from the from the academy and are on loan and then you have the connection to the Academy so basically I'm kind of like umbrella above that and I can I can actually work with all that and try to be a sort of liaison and bridge from all this all that football part to marina and the board so they have the main obviously obviously the most decision-making they are the boss so I can always advise and and ask to do certain things the way I say the way I wanted to work and obviously then I need to get you know that they need to make it happen sometimes they do sometimes they don't but but it's a it's an interesting challenge for for me because I've seen it from the side of the player then as a senior player I was always interested the way the club works and then had the experience a Chelsea had the experience and in Arsenal so you know to put all that experience together I believe that you know I have something that you know I can actually work with and and probably that's why I was given the opportunity to do the job and I work closely with a bit Frank because I need to make sure that he he has everything he needs to concentrate on his on his training and working with the with the first team which is you know solely responsible for and we try to make sure that he has everything he needs to succeed and then the second part I think DJ became very busy man over the over the years since he retired so we will see what what what his future holds and and obviously John Terry is a is working at the moment with Aston Villa so we will see you know I think at the moment you know you don't you don't build old friends reunion unfortunately so we try to build the club and the foundation the way that is right time for everything so maybe one day there will be a it'll be the right time for everybody to come but come back and then you know you never know but there's a hard question to answer if we could go to the yellow t-shirt right at the back thank you I'm probably in a minority of about one here that I'm a Newcastle fan but so you were in the net for what is probably my favorite goal ever and you probably are already realizing what I'm referring to so what what were you thinking when poppy seed say hit that ball and what were you then thinking when it moved about twenty yards in the air and then flew over into the side netting well some sometimes you would be amazed what the ball can do in the air and it was one of those moments where you you know you appreciate the power of physics but at that moment in obviously was not the moment to to enjoy because you know you the the the way the ball was flying actually it changed direction like three times and and quite violently which you know I don't know how how we managed to do that and it was it looked like somebody had the remote you know Vida and moved the ball as they need it so I had because the ball traveled quite far but but but quake I had two ideas and as the ball was changing direction I was changing my idea about what to do and in the end I didn't manage to do any of these ideas so sometimes obviously this this is the unfortunate of being a goalkeeper when you when you have ideas and you don't manage to execute them then you know you're running in trouble and and and in the end you know I sometimes you look back and you think how did that happen actually and and and I have to accept that it was an exceptional moment where I try to do what I needed to do and India it didn't work so you know sometimes the ball beats you order the opponent beats you and it wasn't it wasn't probably and most spectacular flight of the ball I experienced not I think every memory you know is a good memory if we could go to an infirmary so I just wanted to ask about the psychological side of playing and goal in a team that's winning so I remember my first Chelsea game that I was asked I think Chelsea were by for nail off at halftime against Bolton and then the match ended up like 4-3 or something and so is there ever an element of complacency that sets in particularly trying to stay engaged when you're playing and goal and the balls at the other end you know the the probably the hardest lead to retain in football is to nil because to nail looks like you are in charge you think it's fine if they score one it's still two one you still you are still in charge but at the same time you concede to one and you simply go oh it's only one goal now and and suddenly the fact that you are tuning up and suddenly you kind of you have you were in a great position and you put yourself in a trouble and in the risk that you might not win the game sort of changes everybody's feeling on the page and and it's it can become a quiet heart to you know to get back into the game because the opponent and to nil looks dead if you say this way suddenly they come back out of nowhere they come to the game and they have the massive belief that okay now we cut the lead to to only one goal and one goal is pretty much possible to score so it's a complete shift of dynamic of of both teams and it actually can put you on the under on the big stress and and under pressure and this is where you see so many times you know teams leading and losing the lead like that but with four nail actually we took it a little bit with an extreme because you go for one and you think okay because what can happen then you go for two and it becomes actually kind of uncomfortable because you know that you were four nail and then everything was done and then you you know you bring your opponent right in the game and the moment they fall falls for three no matter how much experience you have you said then they feel like oh my god we're gonna blow that and in actually you start doing things you are not supposed to do so you completely sometimes we lose your your way of executing the game doing the right choices and then suddenly you know the the emotion takes over the the disappointment takes over then the angry the anger takes over because you are angry that you were 4-nil up and then made a mess out of it so you know that it can all play a part and nothing in that undead Boulton game certainly was like two corners and and few rebounds and then we were for three and then we had we had to fight until the last second to you know to survive but we managed to do so but we made it much harder for ourselves so sometimes you know when you are winning one nil it actually gives you that edge of that you know nothing is done and you have to really concentrate not to let people to score and sometimes it helps so it depends on the approach but when you sort of relax for a for a few minutes and you think that game's done this is what actually can it can bite you nicely in the back side after so you know we with the experience obviously it's better but but it can always happen if we go to hand over here in the blue jacket thank you well I have been a goalkeeper for three years and I didn't put my gloves today but I I have some similar experience at you I had I got hit on my head on a wall and had a surgery to treat the problem but although it's not on the 14th of October but oh I remember the time that for my first time they got on a peach that I made so many mistakes that I got something like a 0-5 I couldn't have a single save so how would you overcome this kind of challenge and adjust your expectation that other has have on you if I say it in the kind of like a easy way if they have some expectation is their problem I know I have my expectation and I have to sort of play my game so I try to concentrate really only on my game so I know you as a goalkeeper you go in at this level everybody expects you to perform so it's it's it happens every training it happens every game you have yourself you know when you go to the game you want to win so there's I I know nobody who would like to go to the game and lose because this is not why you play sport on any or you do not anything so I don't I don't think any of you goes to do a certain activity thinking oh I don't care if I win or not I think I I don't know at least I don't anything I do I try to do as best and and win if possible so then I expect myself to to play my game so my Maya my target is to play a perfect game you can't play a perfect game you can try to sort of go as close as possible to perfection and this is always my target but it doesn't have to be the game where you make 50 saves and the team win no it can be as things done well so when you know that you are in the right time in the right place you give the right instruction to the right play at the right time you have when you have a simple pass you have a good control you pass the ball exactly as you should so things like that actually these are the this is the process of what I was talking before so basically just no matter what's the score you just have to you know action by action just process what you need to go and if you do it as best as possible then obviously the result will be as as best as possible so I try to ignore that emotional side of big games more game losing winning should I should I make the save and maybe I should have saved the one before but but it's not gonna help me to to finish the game on the well on a good note so as I said in my head is always near nil no matter what's happening I just go from each restart it's it's like second-by-second it just keeps rolling like that I can be disappointed after game you know when the bow you know you sit down anything food why why and what what happened and and all these things but during the process of playing the game you know I kind of keep the focus on the process really executing the things and you know sometimes you don't feel well you go to the warm-up and and this feels like I was gonna be a disaster you know I feel I feel tired I don't feel really concentrated my body does what it wants and I had many many warm-ups like that where then I finished the game man of the match because you know when I knew I'm in a bad day when my body just whatever reason he's not responding in the warm-up the way I would like to I just keep my game simple which meant okay if there is a ball I could chip over the player in the normal way when I felt you know when you feel everything's going fine easy confidence is high then you know you control chip the ball over the player is not a problem when I knew I'm not feeling like that I would choose a simple solution if it was just passed the ball to two meters to someone who will do it for me I would just do that so just good simple things don't complicate play the simple game and then you have one good pass second good pass then you have one good take one shot you take anything you know what and suddenly games start going going going you executed well the confidence comes back and suddenly the game takes a completely different thing so I would never go with how it feels at the moment because you know your emotional brain is is a nice liar and sometimes doesn't really show you what it is really and and then your you know your cortex your thinking brain if you you know if you if you teach your brain to use that part rather than the emotional side then you know you is basically just focusing on what you have to do if I I don't know if I there is at that table in you knowing that you can see over there it's quite large so if we put that table here and I ask you to walk across yeah so you will just walk on and just walk across if we put it up there and I ask you to walk across it's still the same table it's still very large and it's very easy to walk across but then your emotional brain will tell you you're gonna fall it's high you know what it was gonna happen and this is where you if you start thinking about that you fall even not you will not be able to cross it but if you just go I just need to stay in the middle Crona step by step keep the focus on walking in the middle not falling side not looking right not looking left just do what you have to do you will cross it so basically in the bad day back game big game this is a kind of thing you have to think about not about the consequences not about the score not about how it looks or how much pressure it looks you just go okay I need to cross there I need to do this and there is there is a process how to get there and then if you keep that then obviously the pressure will be less and and you get the order you know and you just get your game back then you can sit back and say okay well that was not good and and I go back to preparation for me the worse is to have regrets if you do anything and you fail for me is not an issue if you if you do everything you can what is in your power to prepare because then we are all human you have you can have a bad day and and if I prepared the game at a hundred percent and then it went a complete disaster I went home and I said well you know I've done everything I have nothing to blame I have no regrets this is football this is life you know not robot and I accept that if there was a little doubt in preparation thinking you know I had few days prior to game ID I didn't train as I should and I was bit lazy or slow oh I didn't watch all the videos for the you know for the strikers then I would sit home and thinking okay you got what you deserve you didn't prepare and then in the end you know it it happened so that Deadwood bothered me for a whole week until the next game I would have done in the mind and it would kind of eat my brain so and anything I do I try to avoid this kind of feeling so if I fail I fail I have no problem with that if I know I prepare but you know I don't like to think that I haven't done anything enough or everything I could to prepare better all right if we could go to the hand in the middle at the back it's the one behind sorry yeah yep hello do you play FIFA or PES I missed that do you play FIFA or PES I actually you know one on one I'm there is a there is a nice phenomenon in in in football and ice hockey I have to say all my friends who play ice hockey play FIFA or or the pro volution soccer all like I never play fifa because I I don't I get very frustrated by the way the game behaves and it's obviously never my fault and and I hate the fact that I don't I don't have the control over it yeah because obviously it's it's bit random so although you you have your remote I would like to think that the company come the the goalkeeper particularly does not do what it should and I know what he should do I can't make him do that so actually frustrates me so so if I play any any any anything with I would play I would play the initial ice hockey game so that's the game I play but I don't I don't I don't I don't really I don't really play you know it's very occasionally but sometimes I play with my son which is a tough competition and the fact that you're losing to your ten-year-old son is actually even more frustrating than you think so maybe maybe one day you will know how it feels you know that I should be the one who wins and suddenly you know he actually played better than me so I try to avoid that as well not to get disappointed any other questions if we go to the hand in the front row over here yeah sorry the one next to yeah the premature to play golf as well so I wanted to ask you what's your handicap first of all what's your favorite club and what's their favorite the golf course so I do play golf very badly but I do play I play golf probably three times a year because I don't I don't have time for it so during holidays usually I go or during the year sometimes I go with some friends just I joined join in I the the issue I have with with golf is that it's one of those parts but you have to practice regularly to be good at and I I don't really don't do it so when I go to play three times a year you go thirty balls on the driving range and then you go straight in and then the result looked like it so I I play around twenty although I play three times a year so I'm kind of proud of that I have to say and you know some some days is worth some days is better but but you know around 20 it's my right handicap and I would like to play more often but with all my hobbies and family and work you know it's hard to find all the all the time my aim I would need for that but the favorite Club I would say my favorite Club is the it depends purely on the day so sometimes sometimes things are happening I don't even know why but usually the the 5-iron I would say a 5-iron is my favorite Club because it's probably the one I'm most consistent I don't know why but it's the usually the one I'm I use if I can I used I use the most and the last what was the F favorite golf course I like to play in in Spain because you have nice weather knife golf course and and I think this is what I enjoyed the most you know if you have a rainy day with with wet ball and everything and for father for the golfer of my skills is kind of too too challenging so and it's cold as well I don't you know III wouldn't I wouldn't go golfing in the type of day like this if we go to the hunt in the second row on the right I thank you I wanted to know you talked a bit about body language in real life so in in football health this body language when you for example give advice to newcomers in the Academy or something else how does how does body language can be can be taught and how in a few seconds for example on one time players that you don't know and the opposite team can you guess on which size which side the ball is going to go or like can you make it guess in a few seconds what happens that in your mind at that moment is it it's instinct or is it practice training well in training you you face I started with this one in practice you you train and obviously you see people shooting and I think I will show you because the thing is easier to explain so I'm I'm left I'm pretty mentally you know left footed so if you have a left footed player who shoot so if I want to shoot to my left side obviously I have to shoot and I will open my eye you have to open your your you know your your glute and then you have to open your foot but in order to shoot there you have to have a right balance the place should with like a big power and big strength so obviously to to place the ball there they have to have a good stability so basically your hands come probably behind and you you sort of hold like that that you don't fall if you should heart go down because I don't wanna fall if you if you should heart obviously you will you will try to make the swing the hardest and then you know put the power through so you will in order not to fall you have to lean forward put your hands in the balance and then you shoot so basically you can see that doing this or doing that it makes a big difference obviously in it's a it's a split of the second and it's hard to you know it so you need to read it well but these are kind of things you learn every training when you see people shooting against you you suddenly realize so when you train when you train with it with the players for five six years you pretty much know every time where they shoot so they have to actually try to disguise the shot and and and figure out how to beat you different way so this is one this is one thing the body language actually when you start it it it I think in a professional sport if if you look at certain players they they don't show much sign of fatigue pressure or if something is not right and and actually it's very hard to see if you play if you play against someone and you see every time he makes a bad pass goes like this then you know that the player is actually not feeling well and it's probably completely low of confidence so then you know that if you get the ball this is actually the player to target because you know it's not you know it's not in the right frame of mind and then you see three of them in the team and then you go okay you know job's done we already winning to nil because they are afraid so basically there is a lot there is a big part of them the winning or losing is actually the this this kind of psychological setup on the game and you go in and the teams then the team start and you see they are all determined ready to go if you know going to every challenge and and suddenly going fast playing with energy then you're like okay it's gonna be a tough game so you know you have to match them in terms of that so the but the language is actually very important as well that you don't show you frustrated nervous that something's not right because the opponent can use it and especially if you play individual sport if you play tennis I think you know you would never see Federer putting his head down he might not be happy but the way he looks is always the same with Nadal is the same thing you know so that kind of puts that consistent body language the opponent never knows whether they are feeling good bad how and then you know it's very hard to you know to to to read into it so it makes a big difference in the end in in in small details decide big games and this might be one of the small details so if you see people like coming with a really good energy positive approach you know spirit aggressivity the right things then obviously it puts you you know it can put you in the in the back foot so it's important and and as well towards the referee for example you know the body language to react different situation on the page it it plays the part it can it can actually show as well ready you nervous you know distracted or angry or and and then you know it when you know you play you play against the team we're eight eight players are constantly arguing with the referee you know that they are not concentrating on the on the on the game they actually concentrate on something completely else and then you know it's going to be easier to to beat them I think that is all we have time for today thank you so much for joining us here today and thank you everyone please join me you

Channel: OxfordUnion

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Keywords: Oxford, Union, Oxford Union, Oxford Union Society, debate, debating, The Oxford Union, Oxford University

Id: I6gu8R3_Uv8

Length: 63min 8sec (3788 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 31 2019