Speaking on the UMM YouTube channel, Luke Ayling has been speaking about his Leeds United teammate Raphinha, claiming that it’s almost impossible to get the ball off of him in training.
Ayling has previously waxed-lyrical about Raphinha, and it’s not hard to understand why. The Brazilian is one of the trickiest players in the Premier League, and we can only imagine how hard it is to get the ball from him.
‘It’s impossible to get the ball off of Raphinha?’: The show’s host asked.
“I’ve tried loads of times and you think you’ve got it and it just goes through your legs. It’s hard to explain, because you look at him and there’s nothing to him. His calves are like my forearm and his upper body is nothing, but he just rolls into you and worms away from you,” Ayling said.
“He’s a serious player, you know when you see a player and they pass the ball and it just sounds different, then we’re just bobbling balls to him and he’s looking at us and we have to say ‘no I’m actually half alright’.”
Raphinha is a mesmeric footballer when he’s strutting his stuff on the pitch, so we can only imagine what it’s like to play against him in training.
The Brazilian would be an absolute nightmare to defend against, he’s got every trick in the book, he’s absolutely rapid and his footballing IQ seems to be up there with the very best.
Luckily for Ayling, he doesn’t have to play against Raphinha in first-team action, but we have to feel sorry for every full-back the 24-year-old has made a mug of this season.
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