Prepare for a game like Gini: Immediately after the last match

“When I immediately come off the pitch, I pray that I made it until the last second of the game…”

There are a lot of players who have come off having got injured or something has happened to them, so I always thank God that I have left the pitch healthy. I might sometimes have to do a few interviews – they’re usually better interviews if we’ve won the game!

“Of course, you feel tired after a game…”

…really, really, really tired if the game has been really intense in which you’ve had to run a lot, sprint a lot and do everything to help the team. The first moment when you sit down, it’s like you’re taking a breath, like ‘phewww’. The noise in the dressing room depends on the game you’ve just played, so against Leicester recently it was quiet because it was not a good game. But after Arsenal, for example, you’ll speak about the game among each other, you’re happy you’ve won. You’ll also speak about some situations on the field, so after Arsenal for example, the goal I scored came from a good block from Matip. Adam won the second ball, he kept it, played a good pass to Divock, who saw me running, he crossed it and I scored. So you talk about these situations that happened in the game and everyone is naturally delighted if you’ve won.

“Immediately after a game you will start getting yourself and your body ready for the next one…”

If you need treatment, you will get that immediately in the dressing room. After a game, I also go into the ice bath because they say you recover quicker if you do that, so I’ll spend five minutes or so in there. Almost all of the lads do it, in fact. Then I’ll take a shower. After a game, there is also food available for you to eat, so sometimes I will force myself to do so because although I am not really hungry, it’s important to eat after a match because your body needs the nutrients and energy again, so it’s important to get them in you quickly after a game. But a lot of times it is difficult to do that, for me, because I am a person who doesn’t really get hungry, especially after games – maybe because I have a lot of adrenaline in my body. So sometimes, it is really difficult but I still try to do it. And to be fair, they also have other solutions for it if you don’t want food; they have shakes and those kinds of things. I try to take in the things I need. I have to say, Mona [Nemmer] and the physios here help us with it and there’s a lot of choice.

“Hydration is important, too – and Mona thinks about everything…”

Also, when you have problems, she’ll help you by looking at your diet – so for example, my stomach sometimes might hurt after games. I must say, since I spoke with Mona about it, I’ve had it less than before. Mona is aware of everything and she is always trying to find solutions to help your body go forward, and to change it for yourself. I am happy with that because it means I have someone to help me with it, so that’s a good thing.

“I don’t really tend to directly contact people straight after games…”

…but when I go onto my WhatsApp there are usually a few messages from people on there. It’s not always possible to reply straight away to every one of them, but after a few hours I try to reply to them all. But I don’t particularly talk with one person, unless you’ve spoken to them before the game and said ‘I hope I can score for you’ or something like that. Or maybe a person who has helped you a lot in difficult times and then you play a good game, then I will speak with that person, but I don’t really have someone I speak to immediately.

“The people from the analysis team here send me every game and videos of myself from games…”

I try to look at the games back to see what we did well or what we did badly. When I actually watch them depends, but sometimes it can be as soon as immediately after a game when I get home because I find it really difficult to sleep after games because I have adrenaline in my body. It means I won’t fall asleep until really late, I’m not really tired enough to sleep – my body will be tired, but my mind and things are still going. So I have a lot of time to do things and in some situations I will look at the game back. It can sometimes be five or six o’clock in the morning before I fall asleep after a night game. I will lay in bed and rest. I will watch TV and those kinds of things, then I hope to fall asleep, but it’s really hard after a game.