Mathieu Flamini says the “power, energy and electricity” surrounding derby games are what makes them so special.
The Frenchman was the two-goal hero from the Capital One Cup tie at White Hart Lane earlier in the season.
And ahead of the latest installment of the north London derby this weekend, the midfielder compared the adrenaline as something similar to what jumping out of a plane would be like.
It is difficult to explain. It is something you want to experience because any words won’t explain how you feel.
It is a power, an energy, an electricity and something that drives you crazy. When you are on the pitch, I am talking about adrenaline and it’s exactly that.
Some people jump from a plane to get this adrenaline, others go to the stadium. It is something you want to experience, not just see on TV.
At the age of 31, Flamini has a lot of experience playing derby games having been involved in them in France with Marseille and Italy with Milan, as well as in England.
Flamini described how to approach a game of this magnitude in order to come out on top.
The ingredients [of a great rivalry] is first of all a winning mentality. When you play against a rival, what you want most of all is to win it. After, of course the fans are very much involved because they are part of it, you want to win and you play against another big club with a lot of history and you want to prove that you are better than the other one.
The Frenchman believes players need to understand the rivalry to be able to have the desire to win.
It is important to remember the past, because if you don’t know anything about it how do you know where you want to go?
You have to take into consideration what happened before, the history of both clubs; all of that helps you understand the mindset you need to be in, and how important the game is, and how much you need to want to win it.
