It’s on his wrist
The amazing secret of success of FCB top scorer Males
Darian Males has recently blossomed at FC Basel. He owes this to trainer Alex Frei and special rituals.
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Darian Males speaks on the beach in Marbella about his performance explosion at FCB.
Pissed off, Darian Males trudges off the training ground and disappears into the dressing room, cursing. The thigh muscle tightens. Two hours later: The sun is shining – over the Marbella sky and again on the face of the 21-year-old. The pain has subsided, the confidence of being on the pitch at the start of the second half of the season against St. Gallen on January 22 is back.
Alex Frei also breathes a sigh of relief. Which coach would like to do without his top scorer? Nobody could have guessed in the summer that this would be called Darian Males at FCB. After the solid first year at Rot-Blau, things continued in the same style for the loanee from Inter Milan at the beginning of the second. Until the cup game in August against second division team Allschwil: Ironically, the duel against the amateurs, usually no longer as movement therapy for reservists, became a game changer for Males. He contributed three goals to make it 5-0, since then the left foot, which can be used on the wing and behind the striker, has been used. By the winter break, he had collected 17 scorer points – FCB’s best internal record.
Talking to Frei helped
What is behind the performance explosion? On the one hand, many conversations with coach Alex Frei. The former national and FCB clipper made it clear to Males that a good player would never become a great player without scoring points. “During training, he showed me how to run and in which situations I have to look for the pass or the finish.”
To keep his head clear before and during games, Males decided to try rituals. Against Allschwil he had to bandage two fingers due to pain, since then he has only played with finger tape out of superstition. In addition, he recently writes a term on his right wrist before each game, which accompanies him through the 90 minutes. “What’s on my mind right now. So far it has mostly been my last name because it stands for my family and it is the most important thing in my life. My father is also my mental coach, we call each other before every game. I owe everything to him, my mother and my grandparents, who had to flee to Switzerland because of the war in Bosnia. If I fail an action in the game, I take a quick look at my wrist, which helps to immediately focus on the front again. »
Males’ loan contract expires at the end of the season, FCB is interested in redeeming the purchase option for a good two million francs. The former Lucerne junior blocks questions about the future: “That’s up to my advisor. I’m concentrating on confirming the performances from autumn in the second half of the season. But of course: I signed a five-year contract in Milan in 2020 in order to hopefully appear in Inter-Dress at some point. »
Credit Suisse Super League
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