AC Milan Portuguese left-winger, Rafael Leao, is becoming more and more important to Stefano Pioli's plans this season. Compared to the last year's campaign, he has been able to show more maturity and consistency in his performances.
The former Lille player, who has scored 11 goals and provided 6 assists so far this season spoke to the microphones of DAZN about coach Pioli who helped him grow a lot:
"Despite the difficulties, Pioli gave me confidence and placed me in the starting position. It is thanks to him that I became the player I am now. He gave me the right mentality because he is someone who pushed me to always believe in myself. He said to me: 'You have talent, but you lack a bit of a winning mentality. If you want to get to the level of Mbappé and Ronaldo, you have to make a difference in every game, otherwise you are a trivial player'. I listened to him a lot and something clicked in my head when I talked to my personal trainer and my family."
Rafael Leao managed to improve his performances by following the advice of the gaffer: "I told myself that everyone should have seen who I really was and it happened. Mbappé and Ronaldo are the two a I'm inspired by, the ones I watch the most on YouTube. I'm still not a goalscorer like them, a "matador", but I'm learning and I want to get to that level."
On what should the next step be...
"Dribbling makes the difference", he said, "but sometimes I can score more and I have to do it even if I start from the left. When I arrive in front of the goal I have to be more concrete. I wasn't in the past. If I am growing like Thierry Henry did? He was a great player, I'm still a young man trying to reach that level. No comparison."
On the use of the 'surf emoji' on social media:
"Surfers sometimes get the wrong wave, but then they get back on the board and do well. I think it's the right way to think: you can try and make mistakes but you have to keep learning, find solutions in the face of mistakes."
Rafael Leao on his friend and teammate Theo Hernandez:
"He says he is faster than me? Once in training we have to run and make a bet. I like Theo because when he starts he is very powerful. For me he is one of the strongest left-backs in the world. He is a fundamental element to our team."
