Samba's Mental Masterclass

Post Inspired by @GeirJordet on twitter.

In a pivotal Playoff Semi-final second-leg in Nottingham Forest's road to promotion, Forest goalkeeper Brice Samba was the hero at the City Ground saving 3 out of the 5 Sheffield United penalties in a shootout. Samba's display was nothing less off a mind-games masterclass as we will now explore.

PRE-PENALTIES

A key part of the penalty shootout is often the end in which it is being taken, with typically teams wanting to take penalties in front of their own fans, in this shootout, Sheffield United won the toss opting to take penalties in front of a split end of home and away fans. This somewhat neutralises the homefield advantage which is something that I'll do more on in future blog posts. In a shootout, the taker is expected to score 76% of the time so a shootout typically rarely goes to sudden death. This was the case here, but Brice Samba didn't leave the outcome to the statistics.

WAITING GAME

Here we see a key technique used by Samba, he kept every single Sheffield United taker waiting at the penalty spot for longer than every Nottingham Forest player, with questioning the positioning of the ball, taking his time getting into position and other mind-games delaying the referee's whistle. Especially during the first penalty of the shootout, Norwood placed the ball 36 seconds before the referee blew his whistle, setting the ball multiple times, Norwood was clearly uncomfortable in this period of time awaiting potentially the biggest kick of his career, who knows how many times he may have changed his mind on where to place the penalty, ultimately this penalty ended up saved by Samba with a fantastic save down to his right.

On average during the shootout (discounting Norwood's first penalty), it took the Sheffield United players 18 seconds from placing the ball to the referee blowing his whistle, compared to the under 12 seconds of Nottingham Forest. This gives the players plenty of time for indecision or doubt to creep in as well as increasing the number of tells they may be displaying to Samba (along with his magic bottle, as we will come on to). Interestingly, the two United penalty takers who took the shortest time to take their penalties (Berge & Ndiaye) scored their penalties and the one Forest player to miss his penalty (Lolley) took the longest of his side's penalties.

BRICE'S MAGIC BOTTLE

Here we are, potentially the most pivotal research done all season by the NFFC backroom staff, aptly strapped to a bottle, Samba disguises a sheet a paper conatining the preferences on where the Sheffield United takers most likely will place their penalties. The symbolism of this, popularised most famously by former Netherlands Goalkeeper Tim Krul, is enough to cause further doubt in the taker's mind along with all the previous mind games put in place proved insurmountable for the Sheffield United takers.

As can be seen, the bottle lists the takers and their preferential decision on how to take the penalty, the instructions for Samba give him the direction to dive which is shown to have been correct for the first two of his saves, automatically putting Forest in the driver's seat for the shootout. Brice showered his goalkeeping coach with praise during his interview post-match with Sky Sports due to their preparation for the shootout, said preparation giving him the mental edge. Samba also stated he "enjoyed" the penalties despite the immense pressure on him. This tells us all you should know about his preperation and the mental edge that Samba had over his opposition - the doubt and overthinking brought about by an innocuous labelled water bottle proved to be the pivotal edge in a decisive game, leading to Forest's promotion. Is this the equivalent to "Michael's Secret Stuff" in the 1997 classic Space Jam?

A MENTAL BLOCK

For all his mind games, Brice Samba was as effective when his opposite number, Wes Foderingham, was the one between the sticks. As his Nottingham Forest teammates approached to take their penalties, Samba positioned himself on the penalty spot, holding the ball for his teammate to then place the ball down before taking their kick. In doing so, Samba was blocking his counterpart Fodderingham, denying him the opportunity to produce any mindgames which he himself used so effectively. Samba also had a brief chat with each of his teammates, no insight has been shown into this or what was exchange, but this breaks up what can be an intense and uncomfortable so by producing this interaction any feelings building will be halted, allowing the taker to go into a pressured moment with a greater sense of control.

IT'S A 10/10 FOR THE SAMBA

What can be said other than a masterclass by Brice Samba, who has without a doubt written himself into Nottingham Forest folklore. His use of mind-games, preparation for an uncertain outcome partnered with some sensational shot-stopping and companionship shows real insight into the project that has been developed in the Forest camp. A psychological masterpiece from Congolese Goalkeeper Brice Samba.

If you enjoyed this piece, follow me on instagram to see any future/previous posts:

@mesportpsychology

https://www.instagram.com/mesportpsychology/?hl=en