Robin van Persie recently spoke with Justin Kluivert and Noa Lang about dealing with criticism, showing a different side of yourself and talking about emotions. The former attacker realizes that today’s footballers are facing enormous pressure from the outside due to the arrival of social media and talk shows. Van Persie wondered how they deal with commotion about events.
Kluivert notices that people often do not speak positively in the Netherlands. He cites the messages about Mohamed Ihattaren, who responded with hearts on Instagram after the defeat of PSV against AZ under a photo of AZ player Zakaria Aboukhlal, as an example. “Then I think: just leave that boy alone. He’s just a good football player, don’t be so difficult ”, says the RB Leipzig striker. “Just let him do his thing. It’s just social media. But social media also poses many problems. ”
Lang understands very well what Kluivert means. “I can also very much agree with what Ihattaren has,” he says in the YouTube series Gillette Locker Room. “Fair is fair. I always have that dash after my name and people’s prejudices. ” The attacker of Club Brugge tries to see it positively. “Only when people don’t care about you and don’t talk about you should you start to worry.”
Van Persie did not see the use of a psychologist in his active career and always kept the boat off, although he would have done things differently now. Lang acknowledges that he does have mental guidance and is ready for his third psychologist. “The first two belonged to the club. To be honest, I do need that. I just need to be able to throw everything out of someone and talk about certain things. I am not a talker about my problems, but this is someone with whom it ‘just’ goes. I do attach great importance to that. I can honestly say that now and then tears are added. That is part of it, we are just people. “
Van Persie thought it was clever of Lang. “I think it’s very clever. I did not dare ”, the former attacker acknowledged. Kluivert itself has no mental guidance. “But it’s just nice to be able to talk about your feelings. And to someone you don’t know or who is not close to you. ” Van Persie: “Someone who asks the right questions without judging you.”
In the Tuesday edition of The Telegraph Lang says that he found it very special to sit opposite Van Persie. “It is someone who sits there with you in the dressing room. Someone I looked up to as a little boy. ” He could have listened to Van Persie for hours. “He is a man of enormous status. We were going to do a quick interview with questions on his part, but those quickly turned into deep conversations. We even had to stop. ”