Maya Yoshida's written about his 'Unbeatable Mind'

Their lives beyond the football pitch are a mystery for the most part.

Most of them are dubbed mercenaries and, on some counts, that opinion might well be valid.

There’s scarce opportunity nowadays for fans to get to know the players before they are off somewhere else, off to earn a few more million.

On top of that, there’s a huge disconnect between the stands and the pitch.

There’s no real common ground. Most of the players earn more in a week than the average fan does in a year. They live in a different world.

It’s a fact of the Premier League, but Maya Yoshida isn’t another faceless mercenary, at Saints for a quick buck and a move up the ladder.

Yoshida is a class act off the pitch, and his story at Saints has to be admired. That’s why it’s worth having a read of his new book ‘Unbeatable Mind’.

The 29-year-old has had his struggles at Saints, but he’s come through those and been a reliable and experienced head at the back, one of the last players you’d call a liability.

For Yoshida, it’s been a battle of the mind and that’s what his book is based on: resilience.

“When I have to decide something if I had two choices, I always try to choose the new one which I don’t know yet,” he explains about why he accepted a contract from publishers Harper Collins to write the book, which is out in shops now.

“When I get an offer, I can say no, I can say yes. When I’m offered something I always consider about whether someone has done the same thing before.

“If no one has done it before I want to do that, as the first man who tried new things.

“I did many new things which no one did before through my career, not any Japanese or Asian centre-backs have played more than 100 games in the Premier League.

“No Japanese has renewed his contract twice in the Premier League.

“Not any Japanese athlete or Japanese footballer has made an English book, released a book abroad.

“Those are the kind of things no one has done before – that’s why I wanted to do it.

“I want to see something no one has seen yet.”

This is a book which will bring you closer to Yoshida and helps you understand his ups and downs as a professional player.

It takes you through his six-year spell at St Mary’s, from everything to renting his first house in the area, making his debut despite not yet knowing most of his team-mates’ names and shipping six goals in the same game.

The centre-back is always highly self-critical and he admits that it was a hard decision to write a book at this time, with his career far from finished.

In his mind, he wanted to accomplish something big before he wrote it.

“It’s always difficult. Footballers are always playing football and are not specialist writers. I had an offer from them [the publishers] and said no because if I’ve made a book I wanted to do it after I accomplished something,” he said.

“For example if I had success or achieved something very big, then I feel like deserved to do that maybe.

“But they offered it to me in both English and Japanese. That’s the main key for me to change my mind because Harper Collins is one of the most famous publishers in the UK.

“I saw they’ve had many famous names, and it’s made me have a much better feeling.

“It’s given me a reason to change my mind and that was a trigger and that’s why I made it.”

Yoshida wrote this book throughout the turbulent 2017/18 season, and was more than aware that planning the release of the book while the club’s Premier League status was far from sure, was a risk in itself.

But, in the end, Saints’ season perhaps sums up a little of Yoshida’s story, as they showed fight late on to secure top-flight survival.

“We just showed resilience this season as well, didn’t we,” he said.

“I was really scared because it was already decided to release the book before we finished the season, so if we went down and I release a book it would have been a big shame.”

While this book might be more popular with audiences in Japan, Yoshida hopes it will help Saints fans understand him a little better.

“People can see how I feel in good times and bad times,” he said.

“People know I had a difficult time and I had some great times and I was thinking the people can read about that.”

Yoshida is someone who has pushed the boundaries of what Japanese players have achieved in England. He has the most appearances in the Premier Leauge of anyone from the country ever.

It is something that has taken great mental strength and that is where the name ‘Unbeatable Mind’ comes from.

“I know in Japanese that is Yoshida’s mind,” he said. “Because he has resilience, that’s why he’s played in the Premier League for six years which no one did in Japan.

“It’s especially about mentality, not always physical. It’s mostly the mental things.”

Yoshida moved to Saints from Dutch side VVV-Venlo in 2012, making a £3m switch late in the transfer window.

He made 34 appearances in his first campaign in 2012/13, but, following that, had a tough fight to play as a first-choice centre-back, having to battle against the likes of Dejan Lovren, Toby Alderweireld and Virgil van Dijk for a place next to Jose Fonte.

In two years under Ronald Koeman, Yoshida even had to turn-out at right-back, where he admitted himself he lost a lot of confidence.

However, he found his feet in 2016/17, becoming a mainstay in the team after Fonte’s departure to West Ham and Van Dijk’s injury.

Yoshida admits he has faced many challenges at Saints and it was difficult balancing writing and football life this year.

He said: “It was not easy but it was good to have a new challenge in my life.

“I am a man who likes to try many things, new things, so it was a good experience for me to do that. It’s about everything, how I decided my career, how I progressed and at the same time how I feel, how I control myself mentally.”

He added: “Through the writing process I feel more grateful to everyone because I just wrote down stuff about my life since I was a kid to right now and I’ve met friends, many mentors and others in my life.

“I can rethink about them and that makes it good to make the book as well.”