In the hotel pre-match
“I’ll watch a film or series and I’ll call my kids – that’s it really. I’ll have breakfast, come back to the room, take a shower and relax until it’s ready to go.”
Pre-match meal
“When we play at 3pm, I don’t have a pre-match meal – I don’t like food in my belly before the game, I feel heavy. I need five or six hours before the game, so if it’s 3pm, just water or juice. If it’s at night, I’ll have some pasta and chicken to get some energy.”
The coach journey in
“On the bus you have to concentrate but relax at the same time. Everybody puts on their own music. I usually sit by myself, I prefer that.”
Pre-match emotions
“I’m excited at that point, but at the same time calm. I want the game to start and I’m thinking about what the other team will do, what we did in the week. I can be excited and one moment after nervous, it’s a cycle which is why I play music, to be calm but not sleepy – if it’s too slow, I change the music.”
Meeting the opposition
“If I have friends on the opposition, I’ll speak to them the day before, then if I have time to see them, I will before. If not after the game, we will catch up.”
In the dressing room
“Last season, because of Covid, we had our spaces, but before then I was with Saiss and Coady. We are by numbers after the goalkeepers, so I’m usually next to Coady because we’re 15 and 16, and Saiss sometimes changes.”
Pre-match music
“I listen to a lot of music with my cycle of feelings. I have a long playlist, maybe 200 songs, and I just go and skip until it’s the music I need.”
Rituals before the game
“The only thing I do is speaking to people. I know everybody gets nervous, so I try to tell people the game’s going to be OK, to relax, be happy, and give an energy. Give some smiles and I try to relax and have a joke.”
The teams are in
“I check a bit to see how they will play and who is playing in front of you. We look at why they’ve put a certain player in the team, if it means they’ll play a certain way, but it’s very fast, maybe just five minutes.”
In the tunnel
“I just want to go. I can see the crowd, I can see the pitch, I can see the other players, so I’m nervous and just want to start the game. I’m telling myself to do what I did in the week, keep calm.”
