Udinese explain new coach strategy: ‘Sick of seeing us defend’ | OneFootball

Udinese President Gino Pozzo reveals narrowly avoiding relegation forced him to transform their ideas with new coach Kosta Runjaic. ‘I got sick of seeing us defend with five men and be incapable of keeping possession.’

The Friulani went into the final round of the season in the bottom three and realised they needed a win away to Frosinone to secure their top flight safety.

They achieved that, sending Frosinone down, but decided not to renew the contract of short-term coach Fabio Cannavaro.

Instead, they shocked everyone by hiring Runjaic, a 53-year-old with joint Austrian and German citizenship who most recently had worked for Legia Warsaw in Poland.

“I made a choice to break with tradition,” Pozzo told the Messagero Veneto newspaper.

“Runjaic is a coach who can give us a different identity, more European and less sit and wait. I got sick of seeing Udinese defend with five men and be incapable of keeping possession.

“We will choose players with this philosophy, I might be wrong and then you can criticise me, but we’ll listen to the coach and try to make his job easier.”

Runjaic to inspire new Udinese

Udinese had once reached the Champions League play-offs, but in recent years seemed content just to survive in the bottom half of the Serie A table.

“Our performances were not up to standard and the fans had every right to express their discontent. At times I saw the players look lost, others were just not really involved in the team.

“This is our 30th year in Serie A, but too long has passed since our last European participation, too many Year Zeros have come and gone.”

Another plan that Pozzo announced was to revamp the Udinese youth academy so that more local kids could get a chance, as too often their squad has been 100 per cent foreign.