Jonathan David says a change of surroundings may have helped revive his form after scoring in each of his first three LaLiga appearances for Atletico Madrid.
The Canada striker moved from Juventus to Atletico Madrid on a season-long loan after his FIFA World Cup hat-trick against Qatar in Vancouver helped drive interest in his services.
David has scored in all three of Atletico’s victories so far: a 3-0 win against Real Sociedad, a 4-0 victory over Osasuna and a 2-1 success against Real Madrid.
That run means he has already scored half as many goals as he managed throughout last season at Juventus, where he found the net only eight times in 46 competitive appearances. Two of those goals came in UEFA Champions League victories over Pafos and Bodo/Glimt.
He carried that form into the international break, scoring the winner in Canada’s 1-0 victory over Chile. It was David’s 43rd international goal and his fifth as stand-in Canada captain.
Speaking at the headquarters of Major League Soccer club CF Montreal, where Canada are preparing to play Peru at Montreal’s Saputo Stadium on Saturday night local time, David was asked to explain his sudden improvement.
“Maybe it’s a breath of fresh air,” he said. “Maybe it helps that it’s a bit of a change of environment.”
Canada, ranked no. 30 in the world, have now gone nine friendlies unbeaten, recording four wins and five draws.
David said he quickly formed an understanding with his new team-mates in Majadahonda and highlighted the quality of the service he has received from players including Giuliano Simeone and Alejandro Grimaldo.
“I play with a lot of players that have that quality to find the last pass,” he said. “They make it pretty simple for me, to be honest. All I have to do is finish.”
Canada head coach Jesse Marsch said he had helped influence David’s deadline-day transfer through sister club Atletico Ottawa.
“I know (Atletico head coach Diego) Simeone from playing against him, from watching him over the years, and (I said to him) if you want an attacking player that can score goals, have a lot of quality, and also work for the team and give everything he has to the team, I can’t think of a better striker than Jonathan David,” Marsch said.
David has also shown the team-first qualities praised by Marsch. During Atletico’s 4-0 win over Osasuna, he chose to toe-poke the ball from the edge of the area towards team-mate Lee Kang-in, rather than shoot from a position almost directly in front of goal.