Udinese: Kristensen still out, Zanoli eager to impress vs Parma | OneFootball

On the eve of the match between Parma and Udinese, Kosta Runjaic, coach of Udinese, spoke to the club’s official microphones during a press conference.

Udinese, Runjaic: “Zanoli is growing despite not having done preseason with us! Kristensen? He still needs time”

On the day before the match between Parma and Udinese at the Tardini, Runjaic spoke at the press conference. Here are his words, as reported by tmw:

On Parma

“This season we are making avoidable mistakes; in football, mistakes happen, but obviously the goal is to reduce them. We also haven’t made the most of the chances we’ve had, scoring less than we could have and conceding more goals than we statistically should have. So we need to improve, but this is a league where big teams like Napoli, Juventus, or Inter already have 3 or 4 defeats, which shows just how tough Serie A is. We need to play the same way regardless of whether we’re facing Verona or Napoli. We lost to Bologna, now we have Parma to bounce back and we are focused on that.

We’re not thinking about the Coppa Italia match with Juventus, we’ll think about that afterwards. Parma is a young team with quality players, they deservedly won in Verona, they’re behind us in the standings but they play well and will be at home. They play a courageous game; against Roma they were brave, they went two goals down but got back into the match, which shows Parma’s determination to never give up. We’ll have to be very careful, it’s a team that can be dangerous even on set pieces, making use of throw-ins as well. We are ready, we need to do well in terms of maturity, with the right energy. We are stronger than last season, even if the results don’t always show it, now we have to prove what we’re capable of.”

On Zanoli

“He arrived in September, he didn’t do preseason with us, I don’t know exactly what he did at Napoli but he wasn’t a key player there. So he had a different preparation than ours. He’s working hard and he’s a guy who wants to become a key player for us, he wants to establish himself as a right winger and has put in some good performances, but he needs to improve.

I know it gets boring to always hear the same things, but you have to train and have the right periods of rest since the wide midfielder is the one who expends the most energy. I’m optimistic, he’s a fast guy who likes to take on one-on-ones. He shows us this in training and I’m optimistic about his near future. Among ourselves, we’re also direct in what we say to each other, I spoke about what I didn’t like even in the first half, the goal is not to make certain mistakes.”

On the new arrivals

“Zaniolo also arrived in September, Goglichidze is coming off a match where he conceded a penalty, he’s inexperienced and still maturing. I don’t want to defend my players at all costs but you have to consider all aspects, Okoye didn’t play for 4 months and needs time to find the right rhythm. We conceded the 2-0 against Bologna which almost closed the match, he took a risk and a goal came, every player needs a certain period of time to show the best version of themselves. It’s normal for a team like Udinese. I’m not 100% satisfied, but I wouldn’t talk about a crisis, there’s work to be done.”

On Kristensen

“He’s been out for quite a while due to his injury, he got injured in a set-piece situation during training. He suffered a serious injury, he’s worked hard to get back, he’s done two training sessions with the team, not yet complete but for the most part. He won’t be there tomorrow nor against Juventus, but I’m seeing improvements, if we see further progress we’d like to call him up against Genoa.”

On growth

“We are in a process of growth, it’s hard to give a timeline, Udinese changes players in the summer, but last year we laid the foundations. We have a good mix of players, sooner or later we’ll reap the rewards of this work, we need to see the speed of learning, then the psychological aspect is fundamental to achieve our goals, we want to get as many home wins as possible, we have to be tough to face at home, now we’re focusing on Parma. We need to continue on the path set last season, without looking too far ahead. We’ll see if we can get into the top ten, the goal is always to improve, sometimes the table doesn’t fully reflect what’s been done on the pitch. It’s up to us to push and support the players so they improve, only then can the team grow.”

On substitutions

“I also heard the whistles from the fans who didn’t agree with the changes, but I have to make decisions. Every match has its own story, Bologna won in spectacular fashion against Salzburg 4-1 yesterday, which shows what kind of team they are. They’re a team in good form and for the substitutes it wasn’t easy, especially if you’re playing against Bologna, at home, and you’re two goals down. We didn’t show a great reaction, that’s true, but we have to learn from our mistakes. We should have done better between the first and second goals.

Even in Rome we had a great chance with Zaniolo that we didn’t take, against Bologna Ekkelenkamp had a chance but was caught off guard by the pass. These are all things we talk about with the team, I made changes because I wasn’t satisfied with the performances, including Davis, he made his contribution, three times he was well positioned but the ball didn’t reach him, but I also expect more from him. The same goes for Zaniolo. These are players who have scored for us, like Buksa, statistically we have an attack that is putting up good numbers, but we’ve scored 12 goals, not 20, so there’s room for improvement, we need to do more and be even more focused.”

Raffaele Morra

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.