Marc Roca explains his footballing mind hack and hails Whites ‘hunger’ - YEP 19/8/22

Leeds United midfielder Marc Roca insists that mindfulness practice has a positive impact on his on-pitch performance.

By Flora Snelson

The Spaniard signed for Leeds this summer in a £10m switch from Bayern Munich, after making just 24 appearances over two seasons with the German giants.

Though he lifted two Bundesliga trophies with Bayern, Roca was frustrated not get the opportunities he hoped for when he arrived at the Allianz Arena – but he was already equipped with a way to stay positive.

During a period with little playing time with former club Espanyol, Roca had turned to psychology books for answers and discovered mindfulness, the practice of being in the present moment.

Now, after years of using meditation to improve focus and ease pressure, Roca is applying the technique to his performances at Elland Road.

"In football, you don't have time to think,” Roca explained to the BBC.

"Every action is very fast, everything is quick here. And you don't have time time to think - it's time to react.

"I sometimes do meditations to be to be clear, to connect to myself, to be ready because sometimes the ball is arriving to you and you have to play and you have to know what you have to do.

"It helps me a lot.”

With a clutch of new signings acquired over the summer transfer window, Leeds have made a positive start to the season as manager Jesse Marsch begins to implement his ideas more comprehensively.

Yet to lose a game, United sit sixth in the table with four points – and Roca believes his side are deserving of a strong season.

"I think we are we are working very hard,” the 25-year-old said.

"We are giving our best in every training session, in every game.

"I think we have the hunger to become a good team. And I think we are in the right way.

“We have to keep on working, keep on pushing because a very, very good team - a young team – which wants to be better every week.

"And I think we can do here a lot of good things step by step but I think we can dream big."