Tommy Mooney / Tommy Mooney / 13 November 2008 / Leave a comment

Former Watford favourite Tommy Mooney on dealing with injuries, penalty-taking techniques and why despite being past his best, Real Madrid's Raul is still better than most.

Throughout my career, I've only once suffered an injury that's kept me out for more than three or four weeks - that was a seven-month lay-off for a knee ligament problem at Watford during their Premiership season in 1999.

Fate certainly does play a part. Some players are simply more unlucky and are more prone to injury than others. Some lads, particularly those who have had a few knocks, sort of get used to watching from the stands but I'm not one who ever got used to that scenario on a matchday.
I always felt a bit of a spare part standing in a dressing-room in a suit or tracksuit, with the lads actually playing giving the game ahead their full attention. In fact, on reflection, I'm a terrible watcher so it's just as well I've stayed relatively fit.

It's most definitely a mental test, a longer-term injury. I found I got my best results by breaking it down week-to-week, rather than day-to-day, because progress can seem too slow or non-existent between blocks of 24 hours but, when you're measured week by week, you do see signs that you're moving forward.

These days, the progress in what the medical teams are able to offer at clubs means that a lot of injuries that used to occur - especially soft tissue stuff - aren't proving so much of a problem. You'll always have contact injuries in the game and I have to say firmer playing surfaces don't help, but there's so much more done in terms of prevention rather than cure now.
Mind you, for me personally, stretching and stuff before a match makes very little difference nowadays. What's much more important to me is my rest periods and an ice bath after activity, to get my muscles cooled down as quickly as possible.

No two players are the same and I'm sure you'd find some other older lads whose routine - what they eat, how they warm-up, etc. etc. - completely different to mine. It's a case of what works for the individual.

One thing I was always up for when fully fit was penalty-taking. I've missed my fair share, never two on the trot mind you. The key question is whether you're prepared to keep stepping up?
I've always been the penalty-taker at my clubs and, I'll be perfectly honest now, I quite enjoyed the chance to add another goal to my tally! I wasn't always supremely confident when taking them but the important thing in my mind was to score another goal. No one tots up how many penalties are in your goalscoring record at the end of a season, I can assure you.

All regular takers would have a favourite penalty, a particular part of the goal or a way of striking the ball. I've had two main penalties that I've used in my career; a swept one low into a corner and a smashed one with plenty of power.

All of that theatrical mind games to do with bluff and double-bluff has always existed but I made sure my routine was the same, depending on what I was doing. Depending on what I did with my previous one - and how successful it was - would have plenty to do with the technique I used on the next one.

We're out here to Spain again for this week's tip, looking at Valladolid at home to Real Madrid.
I was asked the other day if I thought Raul is past his best these days and, while the answer to that is probably "Yes", his best was a lot better than most other players.

He was that good that he's still better than the majority. I think he was at his peak two or three seasons back when literally everything Madrid did came through or ended up with him,
He's still in his early 30s but your best time tends to be a few years before that, when your body is in keeping with your footballing brain.

Now, with Ruud van Nistelrooy alongside him, his role is more one playing on the shoulder of the last defender and also of not scoring quite the number of goals he used to get - because van Nistelrooy ends a lot of moves with goals of his own, in fairness.

It's something of a change of role for Raul, with him probably creating the space for his partner with good movement, whereas someone else would've been doing that for him in previous years.
Real are at Valladolid this weekend and I don't see the goals stopping but I reckon they might be behind at the break. So take a chance with Valladolid/Real in the Half-Time/Full-Time section at [22.0].

That means there'll be at least three goals and I think Over 2.5 goals at [1.6] is a good thing. As for a score, I'm going for 3-1 to Real but wait for the market to take shape before you get involved on that one.