Everton defender Vitalii Mykolenko spoke about psychological preparation for matches.
Vitalii Mykolenko— Do you have any pre-match rituals or superstitions that you always adhere to?
— I have certain superstitions, but if I don’t perform them or forget something, I don’t really dwell on it. Every year, I have fewer and fewer superstitions in my life.
I just try to focus more on what I need to do on the field — that probably helps me more than thinking about superstitions.
If you believe in these superstitions, then when something bad happens, you will definitely think that it’s not you, but because of the superstitions, because you didn’t do something. That’s how I see it.
— Overall, how important is mental preparation, possibly even working with a psychologist in modern football?
— For me, it is probably more important or at the same level as physical preparation because if your head is not in order, you won’t be able to perform tasks on the football field.
Because it’s mentally hard if you’re afraid, for instance, to make a mistake or if you’ve made a mistake and think about it throughout the match. It’s very difficult. And then you go into the next game and still think about that mistake.
Physically, you can get back in shape in a month after an injury or a break. But mentally, it’s probably different for everyone. Sometimes it’s hard for me to find the key to my mind to climb out of some hole or bad mental state.
— Do you work with a psychologist?
— There were moments when I turned to one, but it wasn’t such that I constantly communicated with them.
