Go Ahead Eagles player Thibo Baeten speaking to the media:

“Maybe I was too focused on football. I only saw myself as Thibo Baeten the footballer. That had become so big that I put too much pressure on myself. I was going to succumb in my own head”, Baeten said. “I think I was too hard on myself. I started working on that with mental coach Tom De Neve. I knew him from my time at Club Brugge. He helped me with that. I talk to him weekly and I’m not ashamed of that. I am no longer afraid of the opinion of others.”

The fact that Baeten only saw himself as a footballer eventually made him think. “I’m aware that there’s a lot more than those 90 game minutes in a week. If you neglect the other 99 percent, it is also difficult to be at the top of that one percent in the game. A game was my only motivation in the week for a long time and determined my mood. I had to and would win. Now that’s different, I can also enjoy things out there.”

I hate the idea when people say that players need to “think of a life outside of football,’ but it is always good to have a healthy balance.