There’s nothing wrong with having your manager praise you when you’re in any line of work.
If nothing else it makes you feel good, and will more than likely result in you giving just that little bit extra effort.
That’s probably never more true than in the case of professional football players.
Known to not only be a superstitious bunch, footballers, particularly strikers, rely on confidence to get them through games when, perhaps, things might not be going quite as well as they’d like on the pitch.
It doesn’t have to be limited to individual players of course. With the wrong manager installed at a club, it’s been known for entire squads to be under par for extended periods.
Take Tottenham Hotspur by way of example.
Under Nuno Espírito Santo, the North London outfit looked utterly bereft of any confidence after their first few games and are only just rediscovering some sort of form under Antonio Conte.
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One player in particular has really caught Conte’s eye, though the same player was accused by Jose Mourinho as lacking confidence, per The Guardian.
Eric Dier has been a revelation in the Italian’s back three, though Conte has been a little too effusive in his praise of the England international’s talent.
“Eric Dier can become one of the best players in the world in that position,” he was quoted as saying to reporters ahead of Spurs’ Carabao Cup tie with West Ham, via the Daily Mail.
For sure he needs to work and continue to improve and understand the movement with the defensive line.
“He has to lead more, because in that position you have to speak a lot because you have to stay in the middle, at the back where you can see everything.
“He has a great space for improvement but we are talking about a really good player, strong physically with a good personality and good technically because he was a midfielder.
“This role is perfect for him. He has to continue this way because he can become one of the best central defenders.”
It’s difficult to believe that Dier will ever get to the heights that Conte suggests, but if he continues in the same vain for the North Londoners, at least his manager will remain happy.