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AC Milan defender Leonardo Bonucci has told Sky Sport Italia he thought he might have been wrong to leave Juventus when he suffered a tough start to life at the club.
Bonucci, 30, saw his form dip in the early part of the season as Milan struggled.
He was criticised but said he had told himself he could not have suddenly gone from being one of Europe's most coveted defenders to one of its most vulnerable.
"In the first three months, I thought to myself: 'What have you let yourself in for?'," he said.
"It was a moment in which my performances did not tally with the true Bonucci, because you can move a lot with your mind but not everything.
"But then I started to work hard and focus only on myself, like increasing my self-belief, because it was impossible for me to have changed so much in just three months."
Some pundits had called for Bonucci to be relieved of the captaincy but he said his teammates were behind him.
"Maybe I made a mistake in not talking to the team earlier, but I think the club decided on this new cycle and so it wasn't my choice to be made captain," he said.
"It is an honour for me but an additional responsibility and in the first few months, if I am to be honest, I suffered a bit due to it.
"But then with the help of the team and with the arrival of [Gennaro] Gattuso [as head coach], we managed to spread this burden over many shoulders and the results, both individually and as a team, are there for all to see."
Milan are unbeaten in 13 games in all competitions and have reached the Coppa Italia final, and Bonucci was in confident mood as he looked ahead to the Europa League tie against Arsenal.
"Arsenal have great individuals, particularly from the midfield up, and we are going to have to make a difference as a team," he said.
"I'm confident because we are a team and we can cause them problems. Milan-Arsenal used to be a Champions League tie and this shows how both the clubs are going through a period of restructuring and starting a new cycle."
Ben Gladwell reports on Serie A, the Italian national team and the Bundesliga for ESPN FC, UEFA and the Press Association. @UEFAcomBenG.
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Source: espn.co.uk