“I’ll just leave it to him. I’ve got my own style.”

I tried to copy his free-kick style, the way he hits it through the valve, but I’m better with the inside of my foot. I tried his style but… it didn’t work so well, so I said to myself:So, when I had the chance to join United, I couldn’t help but think about Cristiano and all the other great players who had already been at the club. You think about all the big names – David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cristiano… and they’ve all been here already. I was playing attacking midfield at the time and I wanted to be like them, so I said to myself that if I came to this club I would hopefully turn into a player like them. For sure, it made my decision way easier.When I came to United, the staff here were always telling me how hard Cristiano worked in training and in the gym. It was that hard work which helped him to become the best player in the world.They said it was the same story for a lot of the big names – Becks was always out there working on his free-kicks, van Nistelrooy on his finishing – but pretty soon I could see for myself as well. When I was together with Wazza, he practiced a lot. Van Persie as well… I saw him with my own eyes every day in training, so it helped me a lot.When I first went to the first team it was a bit of a shock. I was training and suddenly you’re next to van Persie doing a shooting session, so you just learn off him every day. He has the perfect kick. Seriously, man, if you just stand still for five minutes, watch him and then start shooting yourself, you do it better because of watching the way he shoots, the way he controls the ball, how calm he is in front of goal, that’s the learning you do.Then, when it’s your turn, of course it puts pressure on you too. Robin’s just banged five in a row in and you’re like: Ohhhh, I’m just thinking about scoring my first!That’s pressure, but you have to deal with it.You know what else is pressure? Meeting your hero.