Jean Deza: What leads an athlete to retire prematurely and not to set out on their path?

The decision of Jean Deza leaving professional football has not been surprising in the world of national football. The final whistle came for a career full of controversy and although he has the talent to continue, his sporting personality does not allow him to fight to continue in this world.

A decision that, for specialists, is based on all the background that the footballer has in his training. They all point out that the basis of any professional career is in how the player grew, the tools that were given to him so that he can face the various situations that sport gives them, and that, as is known, for the particular case of Jean Deza , they weren’t the best.

“Your body does what your mind says.” This is how the psychologist Luis Gómez, from the 360 ​​LGC Mind Sport Consultant and president of the Peruvian Association of Sports and Exercise Psychology begins graphing the situation. The specialist ensures that “When an athlete no longer gives for more and chooses to retire, it is because the emotional part has already reached its peak. He does not want to continue fighting “. The specialists consulted do not seek to refer to the specific case of Jean Deza, since they believe that in order to comment on each case, it is necessary to know it, but they are the trends that occur in this type of case.

For Piero Portanova, who has had experience in the psychology departments of Peruvian clubs and national teams, the Deza issue happens because he is no longer willing to accept the demands. “There comes a time when the person is no longer able to tolerate the pressure of professional football, and I mean the commitment to discipline, to training. There is a gap between the demands of professional football – care, training, discipline – and what you are willing and able to give. They are mixed with personal vices, privileges for other activities “, tells us.

In particular, he knows about Jean Deza’s inclinations for parties and controversies. “At some point he was able to handle it and that speaks to the football system. How is it possible for a player to continue to have access to clubs under these conditions? ”, he wonders.

And yes, Deza has been separated from most of the clubs where he was. The last ones, from Alianza in 2020 and Carlos Stein, in Second, this 2021. “There are some clubs with vision versus the rest where the integral look does not matter. Perhaps he will return, but to spaces where the demand for football matches what he can give. Where the leader plays crazy because the player serves him for the weekend “Piero tells us.

In Peruvian soccer, clubs are required by Licenses to have a psychologist within their squad. However, it is known that some of them hire third parties and sometimes only for specific cases. That is to say, it is not that I am in the day-to-day with the group.

The root

The problem in this lies from the training. Marco Moschella, a sports psychologist with experience in minor divisions in Peruvian clubs, emphasizes that training in Peru is dictated by performance and not by process. “The first edge in the training part has to do with the human resources that are around the athlete and the second is whether their talent development process has been in performance or in the process itself. It does not matter if he had a good or bad game, if not that he is learning sports, psychological and social skills “, says the specialist who is currently in Spain in a specialization in sports psychology.

Resultism is an evil in football in general and in Peru in particular. For cases like Jean Deza, explains Piero Portanova, “The environment does not favor him because as a manager they continue to hire and the message to the player is that he can do whatever he wants. And internally, he does not seem to be a person who has a vision in football. He is not interested in soccer as a goal. His goal is just to stay, play and do what he wants to do. “

For Marco, the subject of discipline is not worked on in the best way. “Many times it is imposed and when the athlete is independent, he will want to do everything that he was not allowed to do. If the training had focused on the process and not on performance, they would have allowed them to develop social skills, go to meetings or promotional trips “, he tells us, and clarifies that this is something very individualized in the world of sport. For some, sacrificing certain activities does serve as motivation, but for others it may not.

Mental fatigue

Both Marco and the psychologist Mario Reyes tell us about the “burnout syndrome” or “burnout syndrome” that has been studied in sports since 2000. “It is an exhaustion, an emotional exhaustion that often attacks athletes”, explains Dr. Reyes, professor and researcher at the UPC and also a member of the Peruvian Association of Sports and Exercise Psychology. “They started doing sport because they liked it a lot and then they started to hate sport because they associate it with discomfort. In the end, abandonment is the only solution they have to maintain their well-being. When you don’t have the tools, the option is to avoid or flee “, adds Marco Moschella, who is located on their social networks as Ps Moschella.

Mario Reyes himself adds one more condition that can be applied to what is happening with Jean Deza. What will happen after your departure from professional football? “Retirement is part of a life project in which emotions, self-esteem and what opportunities will he have to sustain himself later are worked on “, tells us.

“If there is no transition, such as going from minors to professional or emigrating, if it has not been prepared, the retirement ends up being like a duel”, agrega Marco Moschella.

For this reason, Dr. Reyes emphasizes the educational part and regrets that he is not so considerate. “Many times the athletes do not make alternative aspects to their discipline such as the dual race. That complements his work as an athlete ”. Without these supports, an impromptu or unplanned withdrawal can turn out to be a misstep.

The final conclusion for the Jean Deza theme passes through what Piero Portanova tells us. “It is part of the claim that many of us who are involved in soccer have, of a change in the soccer system. Today it will be Deza, Celi is coming and Manco was before. The football system has to change. The clubs, that macro environment is the main one, the family helps, but the system scrubs your development. They have to professionalize, see the player with a comprehensive look ”.