Marcos Leonardo opened up about his difficult start in Amsterdam after Ajax's 2-0 victory over Atalanta on Thursday evening. Wim Kieft had criticised the Brazilian striker heavily during the match. Marcos Leonardo then spoke to Sam van Royen on Ziggo Sport about his lack of goals, his battle for a place with Tolu Arokodare and his physical condition when he arrived in the Netherlands.
Ajax claimed their first Conference League victory through goals from substitutes Tolu and Abdellah Ouazane, but Marcos Leonardo endured another disappointing evening. He started, missed a big chance and went off after 66 minutes. "First of all, I want to thank God for today's victory," he said.
On the win, Marcos Leonardo continued: "We knew it would be a very difficult match, but fortunately the team started sharply and with a lot of energy, which allowed us to take the three points." The 23-year-old Brazilian knows he must improve. "I'm a centre-forward and I always want to score goals, but unfortunately my start here hasn't been the best it could have been."
Even so, Marcos Leonardo is not overly worried about his goal drought. "I believe that with hard work things will improve and I'll start scoring goals again," the forward insisted. "I'm 23 and I've already scored more than a hundred goals in my career, so it's not as if I've suddenly forgotten how to score."
The striker remains confident he will find his feet at Ajax. "I'm sure time will do its work and that eventually I'll get going and score a lot of goals for Ajax," he stressed. Meanwhile, rival Tolu came off the bench to score against Atalanta and is making an increasingly strong case for a place.
Despite the competition, Marcos Leonardo had nothing but praise for Tolu. "Tolu is a great guy, someone who brings a lot of positive energy to the group and turns up at the training ground cheerful and motivated every day," he said. "It's only natural that we both want to play and score goals, but it's healthy competition and, ultimately, Ajax will only be better for it."
Asked by Van Royen about reports that he was overweight when he joined Ajax, Marcos Leonardo explained: "When I arrived here, I had just come back from a holiday in Brazil and had done absolutely nothing for thirty days; I had spent time with my family and enjoyed my holiday."
"That made it a little harder at first to adapt and get used to Europe again, where the football is faster, and physically I wasn't at my best. But I think I'm getting closer and closer to my best physical condition, and I hope I'll soon be able to help the team with lots of goals and assists."