Udinese head coach Kosta Runjaic spoke at a press conference on Sunday ahead of their next game against Inter at San Siro. Here’s what he had to say.
The opposition
“We’ll need a great performance against Inter. They’re the best team in Serie A. They strengthened their squad in the summer and have a group of players that have been playing together for many years, with a recognisable style regardless of their coach. Chivu has revived the existing principles and brought even more energy. In Madrid, against a side of Real’s calibre, Inter dominated at certain points of the match so we know what to expect and that we’ll have to work hard – and be prepared to dig deep. We have several injuries, but we don’t like to complain. We’ll try to make the best of this match. We’re starting from 0-0 and we’ll try to have a good game, then we’ll see what the result is.”
Giorgi Chakvetadze, Lazar Jovanovic and injured players
“Chakvetadze is training regularly with the group. He’s recovered from his injury and is ready to play. We’ll see tomorrow how the match unfolds. We’ve considered various scenarios, but the plan is to get him some playing time. Jovanovic has just arrived. He hasn’t had that many training sessions with us but if we need him, he’s ready to play. Alessandro Zanoli and Niccolo Zaniolo won’t be available against Inter, but I’m optimistic we’ll have them against Cagliari. As for the other injuries, if everything goes to plan, we’ll have them back after the break.”
The defence
“The direction we want to go in is to concede an average of one goal per match. It’s not a figure we have to hit at all costs, but we must aim for that target. We have to do better in defence. Against Lazio we conceded avoidable goals. We’ve got Christian Kabasele available, who is a leader and was very important for us last season. He’ll be playing tomorrow. James Abankwah is improving match by match. His spell at Watford has obviously done him good. Enzo Ebosse is training well, and we also have Niccolo Bertola. It would be good to have subs on the wing on the bench but Juan David Arizala and Zanoli are still out. If the team looks tired, we’ll see how to respond.”
How to approach Inter
“We’re playing against a side that dominated for long periods against Real Madrid on their home turf. We’ll have to defend hard and work well in both phases of play, regardless of formation. We know how they play, but you can’t shut down all of their attacking options. Inter have ambitious goals in the league and cup competitions, which they can achieve thanks to the depth of their squad. We have nothing to lose tomorrow. We’ll have to do our bit with the tools we have, putting in intensity, passion and unity.”
Last season’s performance
“Last year at San Siro we defended well, but we were also lucky. We’ll need that again tomorrow. We didn’t have any against Lazio, but it’s something you have to go and find. Compared to last season’s fixture, we’re a different team and the situation is different. We don’t have any intention of throwing the match away – we want to pick up points. Last year, Inter only lost two games at home, one of which was against us. We’d like to repeat that, but we’ll have to put in a great performance.”