On the Sofa in Studio Voetbal

"The fire was gone," said goal scorer Guus Til last Sunday after the Utrecht-PSV match. He wanted to celebrate, but couldn’t. In an interview with ESPN, the PSV player admitted to feeling lost on the field. 

Naturally, this remarkably candid interview became the topic of conversation in various post-match discussions. Not only football matches but also mental struggles need to be addressed. Since there were no psychologists in the football studios, the football analysts took over. Pierre van Hooijdonk thought Til was suffering from a kind of football burnout. Marco van Basten recognized it from his time at AC Milan, during the start of the first Gulf War. "What are we even doing?" he had thought when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Sometimes the absurdity of daily reality can be unbearable.

Breaking Taboos in a Macho Culture

These are well-intentioned comments, but whether talking about someone while they're not present is actually helpful is another question. Because what Guus Til was going through is something only he can answer. And maybe even he doesn’t know yet. 

A day later, Til regretted the interview. Suddenly, he was in the spotlight, something he had no desire for. Pierre van Hooijdonk had suggested they send Til on vacation. But, said Til, quitting football was the last thing he needed right now.

Through his interview, Til broke a taboo: even elite athletes can struggle with themselves, just like anyone else. Even when you love your job and do what you enjoy, the fire can fade. The cause of that is not always easy to identify. For that, you need help from someone who has dealt with it before. Someone who understands how people work and knows the steps to take to get out of a rut and prevent things from getting worse.

"With his interview, Guus Til broke a taboo: even elite athletes can struggle with themselves, just like anyone else."

You hope that statements like Til’s will help eliminate the stigma around mental health issues. That it will become more normal to talk about it. Especially within a macho culture like football, this can often be difficult. So you also hope that this will help people seek help sooner if, for example, they’re experiencing less joy in their work, have a disrupted work-life balance, or feel like they’re taking on the world's problems. By making such issues talkable, you prevent them from worsening and reduce the chances of them staying hidden.

The Role of Professionals and the Media

What Guus Til primarily needs is a professional, listening ear. Someone who understands what’s going on and knows what the next step should be to get his joy back in football. The Netherlands already has 17 million football coaches, but we don’t need 17 million mental coaches, no matter how tempting it is to analyze someone. The media should take a step back in these situations. And it should be PSV’s responsibility to find the right professionals for Guus Til.

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