- Oct 2, 2007
- 3,116
- 3,882
I am empathetic to his position - but at some point you just have to find out if he can sink or swim. If he sinks, then you know he needs to go away and get what ever mental help he needs. Its possible that simply keeping him around, but not addressing the mental health issue is doing him more harm than good. And, if you thrown him out there, and he realizes that he is ready - then you have helped him get past that mental hurdle - sometimes a person needs a friendly nudge to get past a roadblock.
And, if he is not ready - then that training time is better spent with players who will be ready, and called upon to play.
Whilst that may be a way of dealing with the issue, it's not necessarily the best way. Sometimes a little subterfuge can go a long way to convincing someone that they are better than they think. A good team talk is a classic example. It may be that a little subterfuge in Eric's case is all he needs. Pick the right game, the right moment a supposed injury with a player where Eric is the only real option and it's a case of 'Eric, we really need you here, just run around and keep them under pressure. Don't tackle unless you want to', type scenario. His adrenalin will do the rest.