World Championship - 'His head is in a jam jar' - O'Sullivan urges Murphy to play on his terms
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ByEurosport
Updated 03/05/2021 at 11:00 GMT
Shaun Murphy is trailing Mark Selby in the World Snooker Championship final at the Crucible. Ronnie O'Sullivan tells Eurosport he needs to drastically change his approach if he is to stand any chance of mounting a comeback against 'The Jester From Leicester' at the Crucible. The final concludes on Monday on Eurosport 1, eurosport.co.uk and the Eurosport app.
'If he plays like that, he's got zero chance' - O'Sullivan's advice for Murphy against Selby
Ronnie O'Sullivan believes Shaun Murphy needs to come up with own attacking gameplan if he is claw his way back into the final of the World Snooker Championship against Mark Selby.
Selby bounced back from a below-par opening session where the three-time champion went 5-3 down to secure a 10-7 lead over Murphy on Sunday evening.
O'Sullivan says Murphy, whose potting went awry in the evening session, has been mentally scrambled by Selby's attritional style of play and he insists the The Magician needs to play more aggressively if he is to have any chance of turning the final around with two sessions to go.
"His head's in mash," O'Sullivan told Colin Murray in the Eurosport studio. "Selby is keeping balls tight on the side cushion. There was no value in Murphy carrying on playing like he was. His head is in a jam jar and when it is in a jam jar you cannot think straight.
"If you put scanners in his brain you would say 'this fella is really not in a good place at the moment.' If I was to go into Murphy's corner I would say to him 'from this point onwards, every time he makes the frame scrappy you've got to get the ball off the cushion.'
"Every time he puts the ball on the cushion you get two off. Keep the balls out in the open, if you feel you are getting sucked into his pace and you're walking around the table three times, you get to the table, play the first shot you play, sit in your chair and let him do all the walking around driving himself mad.
There's no point getting sucked in to playing Selby. The only way Murphy is going to win it is by getting it on his terms. Even if he loses do it on your own terms, don't lose playing snooker like the last two frames because it will haunt you for years.
"Murphy will look back at this final and go 'I was meant to enjoy that.' He needs to come out and at least say he enjoyed it.
"The only way he can do that is busting balls out, getting off the cushions and playing the type of snooker that has got him to this final. Playing like that gives him zero chance.
"It may look reckless getting balls out, but what you're doing is sticking the ball right in Selby's court and you're saying 'come and fight me' because he's not up for a fight. He doesn't want that type of game. He knows Murphy is gone now."
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Ref calls stop to frame for re-rack as Selby and Murphy at stalemate
The Rocket has urged Murphy to come up with a strategy to deal with Selby as it would also help his overall game beyond the final.
He added: "If he finds a way of getting through this and finds a plan of playing through it the next time he plays Selby he'll look forward to it. But he won't if it carries on like this. He'll think 'oh no, I've got to play like that again.'
"It's for future matches as well. You have to find a way to play certain players. It's like Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal, sometimes you meet someone and you say 'he's got the answer for all my best shots.'
"Sometimes you have to find a way to say 'you don't like this, bang them with that.' You know when you've got your opponent on the back foot. That's for Murphy to discover in this final. I think that's his only way back into it."
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