Javier Pastore has revealed how he turned his Roma career around – with the help of the boo boys.
Pastore joined Roma from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2018 to much fanfare but hardly played in his first season due to a lack of form and fitness.
However, the midfielder has gone from strength-to-strength in his second campaign so what's changed?
"During that period [the summer] I spoke a lot with the coach and his staff," he told the club's official website.
Javier Pastore has revealed how he turned his Roma career around – with the help of the boo boys.
Pastore joined Roma from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2018 to much fanfare but hardly played in his first season due to a lack of form and fitness.
However, the midfielder has gone from strength-to-strength in his second campaign so what's changed?
"During that period [the summer] I spoke a lot with the coach and his staff," he told the club's official website.
"I was able to get up speech physically by playing in all the friendlies, although in one week we decided to stop playing together, it wasn't an injury, but after double sessions every day, and knowing my body well, I asked for a break.
"I asked the coach to leave me out of some friendlies, so that I wouldn't pick up injuries early in the season, he accepted that, and told me to train all week, and to be ready for the first game of the season."
The 30-year-old was booed by some Giallorossi fans, who saw him as the epitome of the haphazard spending by former sporting director Monchi…
Several months later, and he is turning those jeers into cheers with some eye-catching displays, capitalising on his side's recent injury crisis.
"I've been booed at every team I've played for, just as I've been cheered too. It's because of the way I play, if I am fit and well I can contribute, but If I can't physically then I can't give my best. If you don't have to strength to run back, the fans notice that.
"Sometimes I appreciated the boos. When things are going well it's clear, when things are going badly you need that reaction from the fans. It's the sort of thing that personally gives me a bit of a kick."