New Indian Express: Jrs mentally strong: Bleby
By Swaroop Swaminathan
LUCKNOW: When the Great Britain men won hockey gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, it gave an enormous push to the sport. They not only stunned the world but shocked themselves.
The win heralded a new status for the sport in British Isles. However, 28 years later, they are still searching for the next defining moment. The Guardian, quite famously, labelled the victory as thus. “Seoul 1988 is to British hockey what Wembley 1966 is to English football.”
The 2016 team to Rio was favourites. But they didn’t even qualify for the quarterfinals. If you are familiar with the nation’s love affair of hype, followed by abject failure irrespective of sport, it wasn’t a surprise.
When the question is put to England U-21 coach Job Bleby as to why it’s always the case, he searches for an answer. “Erm,” he says, before mumbling, “it’s a good question.
“It’s a bit like most team sports. Unless you’re mentally strong, you’re not going to win.”
Bleby, the assistant coach in Rio, doesn’t say they suffered mentally in Brazil, but proof is in the pudding they served up.
They lost the their first match to Belgium 4-1 and failed to recover from that. “It’s a question of fine margins at the Olympics, and there were probably a lot of reasons.”
The U-21 team, though, seems to be a different kettle of fish, according to Bleby. “I would argue the juniors have had some fine results. We won a medal in Europe for the first time in 16 years and emerged victorious at the Johor Cup. In that sense, we are mentally much tougher.”
Saturday’s match against India could offer more proof.