Eduardo Camavinga’s career has truly taken off this season. After being overshadowed by Aurelie Tchouameni for a large part of the opening months, the midfielder got his chance and did not let go.

Since the return of club football after the FIFA World Cup, the Frenchman has become a regular starter under Carlo Ancelotti as a result of his quality and versatility. Not only has he made decisive contributions as a midfielder but has also been solid as a left-back this term.

Camavinga’s season to this point has been a thing of beauty. The youngster’s astronomical ascent up the pecking order has, however, not come for free and he explained the hard work behind the scenes and the tools that helped him reach his current level(h/t Madrid Universal).

“I have an app to see how many times and where I touched the ball during the game. I always self-criticise and try to improve. If they say I had a good game but I think I did not, then I consider it a bad match.”

Self-criticism is the best trait any professional sportsperson can have, and Camavinga had no dearth of it. Questioned about his loose ends, he did not hesitate to publicly acknowledge and share his flaws with the world.

“I need to improve my focus and concentration because sometimes I disappear on the pitch. I also should use my right foot better. I will work hard, I can do better.”

The swift one-legged ground tackle has become Camavinga’s trademark move on the field. He revealed the inspiration behind the skill and why it was so effective.

“I was watching Benjamin André in Rennes. He tackled a lot with one knee on the ground, which allowed him to get up quickly, now I use that and it’s effective.”

The French protege then admitted to wanting to improve his finishing. With arguably the best striker in the world, Karim Benzema on his side, his plan for improvement unsurprisingly involved advice from his fellow Frenchman.

“I talked with Karim, I want to improve my finishing and score more goals. Most of the times I’m inside the box, I rush and don’t make the right choices.”

Camavinga went on to detail his steady improvement in terms of tackling and winning challenges cleanly, a facet he used to struggle with early on in his Real Madrid career.

“My weakness was fouls. When I arrived I used to foul my opponents a lot. But then I worked with the coach, and got used to clean tackles. I still practice and train to make it better.”

Finally, the midfield sensation talked about the change in position he has seen this season from an interior to a defensive midfielder and the factors that led to the course-altering decision.

“I never used to defend, I was always playing in attack. When I arrived in training, I tried to play as a a number 6 and I liked it. My strengh is to recover a lot of balls, but I don’t focus only on tackling. I like interceptions a lot.”