Roma midfielder Gonzalo Villar reflected on his first year in the Italian capital after having joined the Giallorossi from Elche.
After initially spending his first few months in Rome on the bench, the youngster has transformed into one of the most pivotal players for manager Paulo Fonseca.
”My goal is to become an important player here at Roma,” Villar proclaimed to AS. “I’m grateful to the coaching staff for the trust they’ve placed in me.”
”I try my best to repay them on the pitch. It gives me great confidence that my teammates trust me on the ball so much. I do my best to try and set the pace of our play.”
“I’m very happy at Roma, it’s a fantastic club. I believe this is the best moment of my career. In Spain I wasn’t taken into consideration. Here, though, I feel like they are getting the most out of me.”
Alongside Jordan Veretout, the Spaniard has settled comfortably into the the Giallorossi midfield this season and quite often has the most number touches for his side per game.
“I was talking about this the other day with Borja. I think it has to do with the growth of my personality on the pitch. I have clearer ideas of what to do when I’m playing.”
”When I was younger, I didn’t defend much. I left the dirty work up the my midfield partner. However, when you become a professional and play in the role that I do, you simply cant play this way.”
”For us, Jordan has a lot of freedom and presses a lot, so in addition to being on the ball a lot, I have a lot of defensive responsibilities. I’ve worked hard to improve defensively — I’ve been doing more work in the gym to get stronger. Now I’m more prepared to win duels whether it be in the air or a tackle. I feel this is turning me into a more complete player.”
As for this evening’s match against Juve, Villar assured that “the team is ready.”
“We’ve gotten back to winning and playing our game. Juve don’t have many weaknesses but we’re strong, too — which is why we’re third in the table.”
