Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri said Serie A scoring leader Gonzalo Higuain is the best forward in the world and credited a close-knit team for helping him succeed.
The Argentine struggled in the first half, but showed his talent in the second and his brace fired Sarri's side to three points in Sunday's 3-1 Serie A win over Atalanta, allowing Napoli to close out 2015 in second place.
"Yesterday at the end of the first half he was distraught because he missed two chances and I told him to think about playing football with a lot of calm and he would see that the match had important chances reserved for him," Sarri told Corriere dello Sport of Higuain, who has scored 16 goals and two assists in his 17 Serie A games this season.
"He is a little hard-headed but you just have to know how to handle him. Even a great player like he is sometimes needs some advice so that he feels as though someone is on his side," he said.
"Higuain is a very sensitive guy and up to this point he has been trying to keep up an image that doesn't really go with his real character," Sarri said. "He is not only the best forward in the world but he is also man with very genuine feelings that are hidden behind that image."
Sarri credited the former River and Real Madrid player with personal growth.
"When I first spoke with Higuain I told him what I thought of him as a player, I told him about elements of the game and I told him that he put a lot of nervous energy into attitudes that were counterproductive for him," Sarri said. "This year he is thinking more about the game."