Luca Gotti shared his thoughts with Udinese TV after the fixture list for the 2021/22 Serie A season was revealed.
Udinese have been handed a tricky start, with Juventus visiting on the opening day followed by two games against newly promoted sides, Venezia and Spezia, and back-to-back fixtures with Napoli and Roma.
What's your initial reaction to the fixture list and a tough start to the season?
"In theory it's better to play the big teams early before their players have had the chance to gel properly. Having said that, we're going to have to face three big teams in our first five matches.”
Like two years ago, Udinese begin with two home matches. Could that work in your favour, hopefully with most of the fans back at the stadium?
"Let's start by hoping the stadium is full – and not just Dacia Arena but every stadium – so that we can move on from the surreal atmosphere we've become accustomed to over the last year and a half. As for Udinese, we must reverse the trend seen in the second half of last season, when we picked up far too few points at home – and we must do that from the very first match.”
The big change this season is that the first and second halves of the season won't follow the same order, as they have done traditionally. That's something you've experienced before, at Chelsea. Do you see it as a good thing?
“Definitely. It adds a bit of variety. In the past, you sometimes got a very tough run of games that you had to face twice in the same season. This new system adds some spice to the fixture list. It's something I liked about the Premier League.”
As it turns out, Udinese will face Salernitana in the last match of both halves of the season, with a trip to the Stadio Arechi on the final day. What do you think of the fact that seven of Udinese's last eight games – with the exception of Inter – are 'easier' fixtures on paper?
"Experience tells me that what is on paper means very little. It makes no sense talking about what might or might not be at this stage. For example, we could find ourselves having to go to Salerno on the final weekend and playing at a cauldron of a stadium with 35,000 fans getting behind a side playing for their Serie A survival. It's hard to say now whether or not those games will be 'easy'. As always, we just have to focus on ourselves and try to do the best we can.”