Following Udinese’s match against Napoli, Gian Luca Nani gave a press conference, covering refereeing matters and the season that has just ended. After him, coach Kosta Runjaic spoke as well.
Nani: “It’s part of human ambition to always aim a bit higher, but we’re still very happy about how our season went.
I don’t want to spark controversies, but we’d just like to understand when the VAR must intervene on a decision by the referee. This was the referee’s Serie A debut. [Christian] Kabasele had already been booked; the VAR didn’t need to intervene. I’m not trying to be controversial. We just want to better understand when the VAR must intervene. That red card for violent conduct was unjustified. We should be told what violent conduct actually means. Congratulations to Napoli and my team.
I don’t want to spark controversies, but we’d just like to understand when the VAR must intervene on a decision by the referee. This was the referee’s Serie A debut. [Christian] Kabasele had already been booked; the VAR didn’t need to intervene. I’m not trying to be controversial. We just want to better understand when the VAR must intervene. That red card for violent conduct was unjustified. We should be told what violent conduct actually means. Congratulations to Napoli and my team.
"We’re very satisfied with Runjaic’s work and he is with ours. We will definitely start the next season with him as coach. [Arthur] Atta is a great player. We don’t need to sell him, but we know it may be difficult to keep him. He’s a great professional as well as a fantastic person. We’d like to hold on to him.
"When it comes to [Nicolo] Zaniolo and [Oumar] Solet, all I can say is that Nicolo is a good player who has done very well. Solet may get some serious offers. We work the way we do thanks to the Pozzo family’s farsightedness. We’ve been in Serie A for 32 consecutive years. We deliver thanks to our planning and scouting work.
Congratulations to everyone on this good season.”
Congratulations to everyone on this good season.”
Runjaic: “I’m happy, but I’m also tired. It’s amazing to get to play in this historic stadium against such a high-level team. It was a big challenge for us. We gave it our all. Unfortunately, we lost. In the second half we were down to 10 men. Congratulations to Napoli on their win and on finishing second in the league.
About the future, we have a break to enjoy first. Then we’ll examine this past season and prepare for the next one. I still have one year left in my contract. I like being at Udinese. We’re in the middle of an ongoing process, but what’s most important is the present.
About the future, we have a break to enjoy first. Then we’ll examine this past season and prepare for the next one. I still have one year left in my contract. I like being at Udinese. We’re in the middle of an ongoing process, but what’s most important is the present.
"Don’t ask me about [Lorenzo] Lucca. Ask Napoli’s coach and staff. Here they play on a different level, with different expectations, objectives, as well as many other different things. I don’t want to share my opinion on this matter. We’re happy with our tenth place in the table; Udinese hadn’t finished this high up in the table in many years. We reached 50 points, but we can always do better. The future is always a matter of what the club’s goals are, what the quality of the squad is, and many other factors.
"We’ll have time to talk about it. We’ll see who will stay and who will join the team. It’s hard to talk about it right now. We beat major teams this season. To our fans, we are the best team in the world, but I want to be realistic. I know what our level is and we can’t compete with these teams. This doesn’t however mean that this can’t change in the future.
"Finally, I want to thank our fans for their support. They are our backbone.”