It's interesting how non-Nathan fans are more interested in what Raf says than Nathan fans. People twisting Raf's words to hate on Nathan is seriously annoying. He's not saying anything bad about him. He is very happy with him, but thinks Nathan could do more.
And I agree, it was the right choice not to go back to Cali and leave everything on the practice rink. I think he would have as well, trying to please Raf.
I can't really disagree with Raf about not past December. He'd know best. Nathan wants to listen to Raf now and it serves him well to do so, but it's a complicated situation for him. I still worry about him getting hurt training on his own.
He also mentioned he wants to work hard to maintain the position he's now in. Winning this worlds against Hanyu is a bit of a turning point for him as far as he's perceived to me.
Someone should do a line by line "translation" of every line of Raf's interview into what he really meant.
As a teacher I totally agree with Raf: this online stuff is cute but I know that my students learn a lot more when I have them there live. With Raf there's a lot of reading beneath the lines and listening to him several times to understand what he means.
He knows that he's dealing with a young man who is very smart and has a mind of his own. He cannot decree certain things so he has to wait for Nathan to come around to his point of view, and sometimes that involves learning some difficult lessons. Raf himself has acknowledged how much he's had to adapt his methods over the years. He's very self aware and thoughtful.
There's also a certain provocativeness with Raf that you have to deal with. Sometimes he's trying to prove a point or to shock the listener in a Yedi mind trick kind of way. It should never be taken too seriously.