Gila explains how he went from ‘rock bottom’ at Lazio to joining Milan: “More kindness”

By: Isak Möller

Mario Gila has explained how he managed to get through a difficult time at the start of his Italy adventure, eventually performing at such a high level that AC Milan decided to sign him.

Gila left Real Madrid and Spain in the summer of 2022, when he was just 21 years old, as Lazio secured his services. In his first season, however, he only got 765 minutes on the pitch and didn’t play a single game in the second half of the campaign.

The following season, it was as if things had changed completely, as the centre-back started performing really well and was rewarded with a lot of playing time. The growth only continued from there, resulting in Milan paying good money for him in the summer.

In his long interview with AC Milan for the interview series The Chamber, Gila discussed his initial struggles in Italy, hitting ‘rock bottom’ in his first season with Lazio. A psychologist and a changed mindset helped him get through it all.

When you make a mistake, are you very demanding and hard on yourself? I mean, how do you treat yourself when something doesn’t go the way you wanted?

“In the past, for example… I’ve changed a great deal. I went through a really difficult time early in my career here in Italy and hit rock bottom, but with outside help, psychological support, I got through it.

“That’s why I keep saying ‘before’. Back then, I was very hard on myself. I didn’t allow myself to fail. If I did, I was extremely negative towards myself, I couldn’t accept that I might fail or make mistakes.

“Now I handle it much better. Now I feel that making mistakes is part of the job, it’s something that helps you improve, something that helps you grow. So I deal with it much more calmly, I process it much better internally.

“I think you still need to hold yourself to high standards and you also need to know how to find a solution to that mistake, whether in your career or in your personal life, but with much more calm and more kindness towards myself.”

Regarding that difficult period you went through, which helped you grow and taught you so many things, you mentioned therapy. Could you tell me, not so much what happened, but what your experience with therapy was like? I mean, what did it give you at first?

“I sought help from a psychologist because I was going through a very difficult time and couldn’t find a way to move forward. We’re expected to deal with situations… that I find mentally overwhelming, at just 21 years old, when you have no professional experience, because in the end, everything comes at you so fast.

“So I went to a psychologist, and completely changed my perspective. I mean, I started seeing everything negative that happened to me as a step forward, thinking: this is something that will help you improve, something you needed to go through.

“Everything changed when I changed my perspective. I used to be very hard on myself, very hard, I demanded so much of myself. Now I’m someone who feels much more at ease.

“We can all fail, make mistakes, go through difficult situations, So the way I treat myself, the way I respond to myself, the way I talk to myself, I think it plays a crucial role in maintaining a consistently positive mindset.”