Juventus defender Mattia De Sciglio feel’s he has still has plenty of years ahead of him: ‘I feel I’ve only just reached my footballing peak’. The 30-year-old was speaking with Canadian TV channel TLN TV about his playing career to date and touched on his memorable goal for Juventus against Roma, the importance of Max Allegri and how to stop a player like Khvicha Kvaratskhelia:
“Having reached the age of 30 and looking back at what I’ve done so far, I hope to be just over halfway. I really hope so! I feel I’ve only just reached my footballing peak and have plenty of years ahead of me. Up to now, I’ve had lots of different experiences, both positive and negative, which have helped me grow a lot. My relationship with my body is better than in the early years. After 12 years of matches your body changes so you have to pay more attention to every detail, like rest and healthy nutrition. They’re things that you pay less attention to as a youngster but at my age, you place more importance on them.”
“Allegri? Thinking back to the Allegri I had at Milan… In the first year after my debut when all the big names left he ended up with a very young Milan side without much experience. He needed to work on the team’s organization and forge an identity for us. This season was similar in some ways to when I first had him at Milan, although different because a few years have passed. He’s changed in some ways but once again he had to reorganize the team and play with the set-up.”
“Kvaratskhelia? I think you stop a player like Kvaratskhelia by giving him as little space as possible. He comes into his element when he has space to run into, to pull his dummies and get shots away. You have to be good at closing him down and doubling up on him to limit his space.”
Watch the full interview below:
