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Manchester City’s Roberto Mancini states that Premiership title chase is over: A clever psychological strategy?

(This is based on an interview I gave on Sky Sports News, 12th April 2012)

Mancini’s recent statement is at odds with what football managers usually say. We are used to managers being positive about their team in the media, on talking up the team’s hopes, on saying that they are fighting to the end.

Instead Mancini has said that the battle for the Premiership title is over, that they will likely finish 3rd, a place he will be happy with, when right now they can mathematically still win.

He also spoke about how Manchester United, the team above them, shows much better spirit than City.

How Mancini’s statements might work

I believe that there are 3 potential advantages to this statement:

1. The Manchester City players, individually or collectively, set out to prove him wrong: that they can win, do better, show spirit…

2. City’s chief rival, Manchester United, takes its foot off the gas, becoming overly confident, complacent, under-prepares and under-plays in the last games.

3. If City finishes 2nd or 3rd in the Premiership title race, we will think that this is in line with our expectations and not be overly critical of Mancini. He gets let off the hook, and we forget the position of City earlier in the season (leading the Premiership) and Mancini’s predications that they would win the title.

However, Sir Alex Ferguson isn’t a novice manager, nor one who is rattled easily by mind games. So I imagine that all this talk from Mancini will have no impact on him.

The flip side

There are some potential disadvantages for Mancini and his team with his statements. If Mancini is not being honest now, perhaps trying to trick his players into playing better, then his players may not be so ready to believe in his positive or other statements in the future. This doubt would not be helpful.

http://www.sportspsychologist.com/





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