Dimitri Payet has revealed the only man he considered to be his footballing role model while growing up - putting former Barcelona and Brazil star Ronaldinho at the top of his own personal honours list.
The West Ham star was alsodiscussing the importance of speed in the modern game in an interview with Nike, lauding the role of training in keeping himself sharp.
When asked if any one player helped him develop that line of thinking, the Frenchman said: "I had one role model: Ronaldinho. A mix of speed and efficiency. The best player in the world. He was my example."
Payet was one of France's best performers on home turf for the summer's European Championships, and explained:"For those games in the tournament..the teams you play against are the best in Europe. You have to accomplish the perfect moment of skill ” the perfect shot, what you've trained for days and years to achieve.
Football training is about changing direction ” quick and short. When you are able to do that, you will be able to anticipate and go faster than defenders."
When asked what motivated him to develop his speed, the 29-year-oldinsisted: "It is not a motivation when you play in my position, it is an obligation. To make the difference during games, you have to go faster than the defenders. You must do the things better and faster; when the level is growing up, you need to be faster to be superior."
He added: "For me speed on the pitch is not only based on how if you can run faster. A fast player is the one who can think quickly, make a move before the others; and, ultimately, make the right decision.
"In modern football, you have players like Iniesta who are not especially fast on the pitch, but right before they receive the ball already know what to do with it ” where he will distribute the ball. He always has a time in hand.
"My role is to create. More directly, I have to either serve the strikers or I have to score myself. If I want to serve or score, I have to anticipate the flow of play. I need to analyse the situation very quickly ” which requires a lot of work, training and experience."
Payet will be particularly happy at the moment seeing how he nabbed both an assist and a goal when France beat Sweden 2-1 in a World Cup qualifieron Friday night.
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