Luis García: players hide mental health issues because they have to "look strong"

Almost two years ago, Aaron Lennon was detained near the M602 motorway in Manchester under the Mental Health Act. He has since recovered from his stress-related illness, but his message was clear - he was not alone.

Now, former Liverpool star Luís Garcia has also lifted the lid on mental health problems in football. Whilst he himself did not suffer from any problems, he recognised that others do and that their problems are not being dealt with.

"We talked about all kinds of things but not about feelings", said Garcia.

"Maybe if you spoke to a close friend, you could talk about it openly. I remembered a few conversations with guys who were gambling and they were winning all the time, which was strange.

"They always said when they won but not when they lost. We saw they were betting on horses, other games, NFL games.

"In terms of betting, they knew they could arrive in a moment of trouble and they didn't want people to know that you're in trouble.

"It will sometimes look like you are weak, that you're not in control,' Garcia, who was speaking on behalf of charity BeGambleAware, stated.

"When you are in the football business and you have so much stuff in your head: training, playing or not playing, being involved in the games or you have a problem with a mate inside the dressing room.

"This kind of stuff can be messy and you have to look strong most of the time.

"I would probably go to mates I have had since I was a kid, when I was in trouble I would go to talk to them. If I had one of those problems though, like gambling, would I have gone to them? I don't know".

The 40 year-old was also asked if he knew of any players who had opened up to their teammates about their sexuality during his career.

"No, to be honest, how do you know?

"You spend a lot of time, two hours, three hours every day [with each other] and after that, you get your close friends, maybe three or four players and go out and have a drink.

"I didn't know at all, trust me, if they didn't come out or say something. Because those days, there were a lot of jokes around about that.

"So you didn't know if that was serious or not. It must be that they're afraid".