Luca Gotti wants Udinese to repeat the “solid team effort” they produced in the reverse fixture against Inter when they travel to the San Siro on Sunday for their final outing of the 2020/21 campaign.
Read on to find out what the coach had to say ahead of the match.
Will you be looking to ruin the party for the Italian champions tomorrow?
“Inter deserve a party after the season they've had. We'll go there and look to give our all.”
Will you play some of the players who have featured less over the course of the season?
“I'm going to pick what I feel is the strongest side we're able to field at the moment.”
Bram Nuytinck was back in training with the team this week. Might he be involved?
“He tried to join in with the others on Thursday and realised it wasn't realistic for him to play a part on Sunday, so he won't be in the squad.”
What's your overall assessment of Udinese's season? Did you expect to do a bit better?
“We had a poor start and end to the season points-wise and paid a high price for our problems, but the middle was good, and at times very good. We should have had at least 10 points more. It's a shame we couldn't improve on last season and finish in the top half of the table – for our fans and for the president. That said, we achieved three of our targets: keeping this club in Serie A, doing so without any real cause for concern, and helping lots of players to improve.”
Udinese are the only team Inter haven't scored against this season. Have you asked the players to do the same things as in the reverse fixture?
“We stopped Inter from scoring thanks to a solid team effort and we'll try to do the same tomorrow.”
Do you think Inter will still have the bit between their teeth?
“We've become used to seeing Inter play with this mentality and I expected them to do as well as they did this year. I thought a few other teams might have been able to keep up with them, like Juventus, Napoli and Roma.”
The fans showed their support for the team in training today. What was that like and how much of an influence do you think the absence of the fans has had on Udinese's home form?
“With the type of stadium we have and the type of fans we have, we really feel their energy and it can give us a big psychological boost at certain times of the match. Over the last two years, every meeting with the fans has been nice because of the way they are. I'd like to say a personal thank you to the supporters who came today to the training ground today for the nice things they said about me.”