Matteo Darmian has started six of Manchester United's last eight matches, on either the right or left side of the Reds' defence. Here, the Italy international discusses the evolving role of a full-back in the modern game and reveals the players he looked up to and learned from at AC Milan...
"When I was younger, I was actually a central midfielder. It was at the AC Milan academy that I changed position and they started playing me as a defender. At first it was as a central defender, and then when I went up to the first team the manager put me at right-back and from then on it was decided: I was a right-back!
"Of course, Milan have had some outstanding full-backs in the past. Paolo Maldini is my idol and I met him when I moved up to the first team at the San Siro. He was a great player, of course, but before that he is a great person and I tried to make the most of the opportunity of working with him, so I would look to Maldini and study him, because I think he is one of the best defenders in the world.
"To hear of comparisons, as I did back then, between myself and Maldini was, for me, too big a compliment, but of course a pleasure and huge honour. He wasn’t alone, of course - I was also fortunate enough to be around the first team at the same time as Cafu, who is another great full-back, so there were many great players I could learn from.
"It wasn’t just from watching them, either. At Milan I was able to test myself in training against players like Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, two of the very best in the world, and it was such a good education. Hard, but good! After spending the week playing against them in training, sometimes it made my job feel easy when we would play a Serie A match at the weekend!
"Being a defender in Serie A is a little bit different to playing in the Premier League because it is a more tactical and less physical championship. The football played here in England, I think, makes the Premier League the best championship in the world and for me it is an honour to play here for Manchester United.
"Every day now I play against top players at the Aon Training Complex so I’m very lucky. You cannot help but learn from training with players of such quality. It’s important to face different challenges, and there are so many different players here with different styles of play that every day gives you new problems. That’s great for my development.
"The role of full-back has changed a little bit since I started playing. Now a great full-back isn’t just one who stops every attack, but also gets forward wherever possible because the attacking demands on the position have increased. We need to help our strikers and wingers more than before, but we have to be focused also behind, because defending is still the most important thing. Those duties mean it is important that you are smart and focused all the time. Good technique helps and, of course, more and more it is important that you are a strong runner because you have to get up and down the pitch.
"If you look around the world at the best full-backs in the world today, they all have those attributes. You probably think of Marcelo at Real Madrid, Dani Alves of Juventus and Bayern Munich’s David Alaba. Antonio Valencia is also doing very well as well here at United. He has been very impressive, especially considering he was a winger for so long.
"I am comfortable playing on either side of the defence, so I have played as both right-back and left-back for United. The most important thing is that I am able to help the team and do my best for everyone, so I don’t mind where I play. For me it is quite easy to change sides from right to left. When I was younger I did work hard on my left foot to make it stronger and, even now, I think it is important to do that during the week because it is my weaker side and I know that I have to keep improving it.
"Of course, not only has the position of full-back changed, but the game has changed too. There is no excuse for not being prepared in the modern game. We watch videos before each game so we know all about our opponent, so we try to study and work in a smart way. It helps you feel more prepared and more confident before each game because you know what to expect."
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