Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken discusses how working with a mental coach helped him rediscover his “true self” after a challenging start to life with the Bees in The Long Read, in this weekend's West Ham programme.
Having recognised that the goalkeeper needed some additional help, his agent introduced him to Joost Leenders, who is Ajax’s mental coach and has provided other Dutch internationals with advice on a one-to-one basis.
Flekken explained: “I believe I have a very strong mindset - I have lived through a lot of ups and downs in my career to know what is important for me - but during those first six months I just hit a roof.
“Luckily my agent saw that I could not get through that roof by myself. He’s not just my agent any more, he is a close friend. I have been working with him since 2010, so he knows me inside and out. That makes it easier to take criticism from him.
“He came with a brilliant idea in that moment because I could not see it. ‘I’m mentally strong,’ I would tell myself. ‘I can get through this. Keep going, keep going, keep going.’ He broke that wall down and helped me to get on top of my mental struggles.
“So, I had a few meetings with him [Leenders], in person and online because he lives in the Netherlands, and that helped me become my true self on the pitch.”
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ICYMI: Buzz Bee has been taken by the Beekeeper - but who's under the mask? It's your job, along with the Brentford squad, to follow the clues across the Bees' 2024/25 programme covers to try and find out.
On each programme cover, members of the squad will be following riddles across west London, which will eventually lead them to the club's mascot - and the identity of the Beekeeper - on the final day of the season.
Clues and hints - big and small - will be scattered across each programme cover for you, the supporters, to work out who has snatched Buzz.
And, if you do, you could be in with a chance of winning a shirt signed by the Brentford first-team squad. So make sure to buy a copy, keep your eyes peeled, and study every last corner of the cover!
Submit your answers on X with the hashtag #WhoTookBuzz, along with the name of your suspect. All correct answers will be put in a draw at the end of the campaign, with the winner securing the prize.
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The subscription includes all 19 of the Bees' Premier League home games, as well as any cup games for the first team at Gtech Community Stadium this season.
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