Chelsea have hired a mental skills coach to help create a winning mentality in their squad following the arrivals of several new players, according to The Telegraph.
The Blues have reportedly hired Gilbert Enoka, All Blacks’ manager for leadership in the last seven years, on a short-term consultancy role.
The Telegraph mentions that Enoka is seen as an influential figure in New Zealand’s rugby national team for over two decades and, in particular, their dominance of Test rugby union.
Aside from rugby, Enoka is said to also have experience as a mental skills coach for New Zealand cricket team and the Silver Ferns netball team.
These make the All Blacks manager an ideal figure to help Graham Potter deal with his squad, which has plenty of recently-acquired young talents and has lost several vocal leaders in the last few years.
Potter has already face several challenges in recent weeks, including having to reintegrate Hakim Ziyech after his collapsed PSG loan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has been removed from Chelsea’s Champions League squad in favour of new signings.
Several January signings, including Benoit Badiashile and Noni Madueke, also did not make the list in the Champions League.
This is great news for Chelsea, considering previous managers, including Thomas Tuchel, have questioned the team’s winning mentality.
After Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat to Leeds United in August 2022, Tuchel said (via 90min): “Soft defending. What stops that is pure mentality, stop it with defending mentality.
“There is no superiority for the opponent, there is no need to give shots away, just toughen up as a team and show a different mentality.
“I don’t like to talk about it normally because you cannot prove it with data or tactical position, but it is like this.
“Both goals are cheap, soft goals and should not happen if you expect to win a match in the evening at an away stadium.”
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