It's all between the ears

On Monday night the mercurial Ronnie O’sullivan became the first snooker player to be crowned world champion in consecutive years, since Stephen Hendry in 1996.

Aside from boasting an incredible natural flair for the game, for the past two years the 25-time ranking tournament winner has had one other vital device at his disposal – Dr Steve Peters. The sports psychiatrist has worked closely with Ronnie, helping stabilise ‘the rocket’ mentally after a bout of well-publicised controversial incidents. The guru was also part of the extremely successful British cycling team at the London 2012 Olympics – assisting Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton in particular.

Of course, this is a football blog, so please persevere – things will fall into place!

Dr Peters also works one day a week at Liverpool Football Club, since being appointed at Anfield in November 2012, as the reds seek to gain any advantage they can over their rivals. And O’sullivan, who has regained his best form under the stewardship of Peters believes the therapist could harness similarly impressive results with Liverpool on the pitch. "Dr Steve Peters has been great to me," said the world champion. "I've really worked hard with Steve and tried to take on board everything he's shown me and spoken to me about and I'm benefiting from it massively. It's not a quick fix with Steve, but if Liverpool stick with him and Brendan Rodgers they'll win the title," continued the lifelong Arsenal supporter. "If Liverpool can have Steve there for four or five years, then they'll win the Premier League." Strong words from ‘the rocket’ but he obviously holds tremendous faith in the psychiatrist.

It would be safe to assume, out of all the players at Liverpool, the polemic Luis Suarez has been spending most time in Dr Peters office – but this isn’t the case. Midfielder Jordan Henderson explained how talking to the doctor has enhanced his game. “I’ve been to see him. He has been brilliant, someone you can talk to if you want to understand how you can improve mentally. A lot of the time football is mental as much as physical.” The England under 21 captain’s progression has been clear, with a tally of five goals and four assists in the Premier League this season; a far cry from his tough first season on Merseyside.

Can Peters aid more player performances at Anfield? Only time will tell.

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