Joachim Andersen’s equalising goal during the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace in August was a low point for Flekken who was still adjusting to life in London after making the move from Freiburg, a side he had been with for 6 years.
After this moment his agent recognised he needed extra help and assigned Joost Leenders, an mental coach from Ajax who has helped Dutch internationals with advice on a one-to-one basis.
Flekken spoke about the experience and how much the coach helped him:
“The 1-1 equalising goal against Crystal Palace that slipped through my legs, I remember walking off the pitch thinking, ‘What the f*** just happened?’. That should have been my game.”
“I had that feeling coming off the pitch, knowing it shouldn’t have happened and that during the two years before in the Bundesliga I would have never made that mistake.
“That basic thing of closing your legs because from that tight angle, there was nowhere for him (Andersen) to go. Those small things added up.”
“So, I had a few meetings with him (Leenders), in person and online because he lives in the Netherlands, and that helped me become my true self on the pitch.”
Leenders helped him mentally, pushing him to a whole new level of performance that without his agents help would never have happened.
“Luckily my agent saw that I could not get through that roof by myself. He’s not just my agent any more, he is a close friend. I have been working with him since 2010, so he knows me inside and out. That makes it easier to take criticism from him.
“He came with a brilliant idea in that moment because I could not see it. ‘I’m mentally strong,’ I would tell myself. ‘I can get through this. Keep going, keep going, keep going.’ He broke that wall down and helped me to get on top of my mental struggles.”
The mental coach helped him become his true self and he started to settle into the side.
“It was not easy at the start. How are you going to start those conversations after four months of not being able to show that 100 per cent true performance? But at some point, I just decided to do it.”
“Those tiny little bits – and he had a few more of those things - helped me get back to the leader I know I can be. Those little things helped me get on top of everything.”
“That led to the point when we played away against Tottenham, which was the first time I walked off the pitch after the game and said to Manu (Sotelo): ‘Hey, this is me. I am my true self.”