COMPETING for promotion to the Premier League is one of the hardest tasks in all of football.
Only the two best teams in the Championship win automatic promotion, while the sides ranked third through sixth qualify for the play-offs. Everything has to fall into place to be remotely near the top end of the table, meaning that some of the biggest clubs in the country end up falling short of their aim.
That pressure can be far too much for some players, but not for Zian Flemming.
“To be honest, I don’t feel that way at all,” he told NewsAtDen. “I don’t feel any kind of pressure in a negative way.”
The Dutchman admits that he has no idea what the league table looks like at the moment – as long as Millwall are in or around the top six, he doesn’t care.
But that’s simply because he doesn’t need to. The Lions can’t secure a play-off spot in January, so focusing too much on their position isn’t going to help Flemming focus on the task at hand.
“I’m mostly just excited for a game, wanting to win it, wanting to score. Then, if we succeed and I succeed, I’ll be happy. If not, I’ll be gutted.
“Luckily with the Championship there’s a game around the corner very quickly most of the time, so I focus on the next game. Maybe that’s what makes it a little bit easier, because the next game comes so quickly that you can already focus on it, and if you win that one then you make it up already.
“Everyone beats everyone, and if you get a few wins you immediately climb up the table.
“I don’t feel any negative pressure, just excitement. I played against relegation, especially last year, and that is pressure, that’s something completely different in my eyes.
“Obviously when the season gets further along, there are fewer games in hand and the top six will be in reach, that’s when every game counts and when the pressure will rise.
“It’s still different to when you play against relegation because it’s a negative, you’re trying to make sure that it doesn’t happen instead of trying to make something beautiful happen. That idea gives me joy instead of pressure.”
That fearlessness is somewhat surprising given that Flemming is just 24 years old and midway through his first season in English football. The midfielder has never been part of a team that has challenged for promotion throughout a full campaign.
In 2017-18, he played 25 games as Jong Ajax secured the Eerste Divisie title, but they were unable to secure promotion to the Eredivisie as they are unable to play in the same division as the club’s first-team.
Three years later, he found himself back in the Dutch second tier where he helped NEC Nijmegen fight for a spot in the top flight on loan from PEC Zwolle, but the season was abandoned in April due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
That courageous mentality isn’t necessarily something that comes naturally, however, and Flemming believes that his experience in Holland has helped him to deal with the mental challenges that he now faces in the Championship.
“It’s something that you have to learn a little bit as well,” he admitted. “As I got a little bit older and played more games at a professional level, I had to figure out what the best way was to do that.
“It’s easier said than done, but you have to go and enjoy it. Especially as an attacking midfielder or an attacking player, you’re on the pitch to make something happen and trying to be there for at least that one moment in the game that can make the difference.
“You’ve got to try something, because if you play not to make a mistake, you won’t make the difference for your team.”
Photo: Millwall FC