Alex Brunner believes Marco Silvestri is one of the best goalkeepers in the league and has what it takes to become a regular member of the Italy squad.
The Udinese goalkeeping coach was speaking on Udinese TV's 'Tonight Estate' show after having had the chance to work with the new signing for a few days following his arrival from Verona.
“Our first impression of Silvestri has been very good. We know all about him as he's been one of the best keepers in Serie A the last two seasons and we've seen how good he is in these first few days. He knows what Serie A is like and that's obviously an advantage. He's a solid, very consistent goalkeeper.
“He's still got plenty of room for improvement though and he's very keen to do so. You can always get better, no matter what your age. A few years back we had Albano Bizzarri here: he was 40 but trained with energy and enthusiasm and at the end of the season he could see that he'd improved. Age doesn't matter; it comes down to your enthusiasm and motivation – and Silvestri has come here massively motivated.
“He wanted to join Udinese and chose this club above many other options he had on the table. It's important for him to do well here so that he can aim to become Italy's third keeper – a position which is not set in stone at the moment. Hopefully he'll be able to earn his place in the Azzurri squad through his performances at Udinese – he's certainly got the ability.
“Saving penalties is one area you can always improve. Silvestri is already good at it but we'll try to help him become even better. He knows we like to have a regular first-choice goalkeeper as it's a delicate position. [Daniele] Padelli is a very reliable goalie too and it was a good move by the club to bring him back.
“[Juan] Musso really wanted to play in the Champions League. It had always been one of his goals and he often said it. He worked really hard to earn himself the chance and we're happy for him. He deserves credit for all the work he's put in and the improvement he's made over the years. He was a great servant to Udinese so it's only natural he should be popular with the fans.
“Padelli is a Serie A goalkeeper and he's solid both physically and mentally. Technically he's reached a very high level now having trained with world-class players the last five years. He's one of Udinese's goalkeepers and he'll also be our third goalkeeping coach because he'll be able to help our youth keepers develop, giving them advice when they train with the first team from time to time.
“Padelli needs to play matches on a regular pitch now because at Inter he always played on small pitches. He needs to play on normal pitches to get used to the size, space and time.
“Silvestri is a good all-round keeper so it's hard to find a particular weakness, but he can improve in lots of areas. Perhaps compared to last season he needs to play the ball shorter, as the coach wants, and not hit it so long.
“The goalkeeper can help you obtain a numerical advantage if you play around the opposition's pressing at the back. Every team has their own strategy and you have to respect that but in my view some teams take too many risks with their goalkeeper, with too little benefit. If it's a calculated risk that can give you an advantage, fine, but if it means you risk conceding ten goals just to show you're capable of building out from the back, then I disagree.
“We try to motivate all three of our keepers in training. There's healthy competition between them because they all want to improve and impress. We're lucky to coach three goalkeepers with the attributes and attitude ours have.”