Coach Kosta Runjaic gave a press conference ahead of the team’s game against Lazio, scheduled for Monday at Bluenergy Stadium. Here is what he had to say.
Nicolo Zaniolo’s replacement
“[Vakoun] Bayo may be in the starting XI tomorrow, but there are still a few finishing touches to make. I’m happy we’ve moved on to the next round in the Coppa Italia. We haven’t reached our top form yet after a very intense preparation. It takes about a dozen games to see the team at their best. In this period we mustn’t change much. We have our starting line-up and our tactical patterns. In some positions we had to look for some substitutes. For now Zaniolo is being substituted by [Unai] Gomez. Bayo performed well against Venezia and we believe in him, but so did Unai. I can’t tell you who will be in the starting XI tomorrow, but he will certainly be determined. We’re up against a good team, who have got off to a good start this season. There will be an amazing atmosphere at the stadium, with many away fans.”
Tomorrow’s opponent
“Compared to last season, they have changed their playing style, but they still always go for the 4-3-3 formation. They have some good wingers, [Nuno] Tavares is an excellent full-back, and they have good midfielders. Last season they struggled a bit, but they still finished ahead of us. Getting a new coach was a good thing for them. It won’t be an easy game. We must focus on ourselves, we mustn’t let them strike us on the counter and we must pay attention to long balls, which is something we need to do better on than in our last two matches. Lazio will come here to grab all three points, but we will do everything we can to prevent them from doing so. We’re not the favourites, but we will be playing in front of our fans and we must put in a great performance.”
Continuity within matches
"These first couple of games have been intense and it was very hot. So of course we had some highs and lows within the individual games. As a team, however, I believe we’ve done well and I don’t see any problems in terms of fitness. In these past few weeks, we’ve had injuries and suspensions. We are still honing things, but the squad is balanced. Everyone always gives it everything and is always ready. We always have a solution when someone can’t play.”
Keinan Davis
“Davis is a player who focuses a lot on sprints and duels. Against Venezia he showed how important he is to Udinese even when he doesn’t score. He still has to get to his top form; perhaps the mental part of it all is also affecting him. Of course, explosive players such as him run the risk of getting injured more often, for example [Riccardo] Orsolini got on the pitch last week and got injured. Tomorrow will be Davis’s third game in 10 days and he’ll be in the starting XI. Maybe he won’t play the full 90 minutes – we always have to manage him wisely. We’ll see how he’ll fare in the game.”
Defence
“Mistakes happen and we were punished by our opponents. We must improve in defence. Our goal is to not concede more than one goal on average per game. We’d like to always keep a clean sheet, but that also depends on our opponents and the ones we’ve played against so far have been very good. We know we have to improve on a few things in defence and find a balance there, without forgetting, however, that we also have to score.”
The referees’ new style
“I’ve noticed that the referees are trying to have fewer interruptions and they call fewer fouls on duels, like in England. It’s something positive. Matches are made of duels. In these first games they let the players play more. Our players will adapt to this approach and will also learn, for example, to get right back up after being hit to not stay out for a minute. It’s a positive trend, but it’s a change and we need to adjust.”
The team’s new defenders
“We lost [Thomas] Kristensen, a player who is strong in the air, dynamic, who grew a lot in his three years at Udinese. Now we have to bring to that level the players we have at our disposal. [James] Abankwah is performing well, has a lot of potential, but he can still improve. On the flank we have [Mergim] Vojvoda, who is very good when going forward and is learning to defend in a different way from what he used to do at Como. Then there’s [Matteo] Palma, who needs to learn a lot and get used to the pace of Serie A, and [Enzo] Ebosse, who has returned after playing for a long time for Torino and is useful because he’s left-footed. It’s important to have a left-footed player as the left center-back to speed up the play. I’m satisfied with the players I have at my disposal, but I still can’t say whether we’ve improved compared with last season. We can certainly do much better.”