Liverpool's Benteke turns to mental coach

New Liverpool striker Christian Benteke has turned to a mental coach to help him adjust to life at one of the world’s biggest clubs.

Benteke, 24, is under huge pressure at Anfield to live up to the £32 million fee that the Reds paid to bring him in from Aston Villa.

The Belgium international has scored just once for his new club, but had enlisted the help of Michel Bruyninckx, a mental coach who has a reputation for aiding the development of many of Belgium’s current crop of stars.

“When he was a boy in Belgium, he changed regularly from one club to another, because he only had one profile — as a physically strong player,” Bruyninckx told the Mirror.

“I tried to encourage him then to expand his mind to see that he must not accept those labels and that he could continuously change his skills, and the way he learned to think has been enormously important to his career.

“I hear people say he is not a Liverpool type of player, but I tell you that he can adapt to any club.

“This challenge is not new for him. For many years, people tried to convince Christian he was only a physical player but, through his mental power, he has changed all that.

“When you watch him in the national team, you can see that, technically, he is skilled, he is creative, he is intelligent. I fully believe that, through Liverpool, he will go to a higher level again.”

The 64-year-old Bruyninckx worked with Standard Liege and Belgium’s youth teams and now consults with clubs like Real Madrid and AC Milan over their young players.

And Benteke has worked hard with the coach to try and improve his mental capacities. 

“Step by step, he has ­understood that the modern game requires other things and his mental endurance and mental power has changed a lot,” Bruyninckx added.

“When I spoke with him, when he gave me the call, I said, ‘Listen, Christian, you have to work on it, and that will open your world. If you decide yourself, then you can go to anything.’

“One of his major points is that he has a broad mindset. He is open to learn every day of his life.

“We understand, more and more, that the capacity of the brain is remarkable and, once a player is aware how the game is played in the head, he can evolve continuously.”

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