Okoye and Sava

“[Maduka] Okoye has always been our number one even when he wasn’t available. I’m happy to have him back. I can’t tell you if he’ll play in Cremona but he’s ready. He’s been training well and he’s used this time for some self-reflection. He’s come out of it even stronger. We’re glad he’s available again and we believe in him. [Razvan] Sava has produced some solid performances. He replaced Okoye last year too and it’s a great challenge for him. He too has all my confidence and he’ll get better. The last few months have been an opportunity for him to develop personally and as a goalkeeper.”

Intensity

“There’s always room for improvement, in every area. We want to increase our intensity so that we can press high while staying tight as a unit. We know there are risks to playing this style of football but we want to continue on this road, defending with a high line and pressing with intensity. We want to spend as much time attacking as possible during the game and to do that you need good fitness levels and understanding between the players. We also want to improve our possession play. We need to move the ball more quickly, but against defensive teams you need the right timing and movement to open up spaces. We know we need to up the pace in certain areas but you have to take the opponents into consideration too. When you have less of the ball, you play more on the counter and it looks like you’re moving the ball faster; when you’re up against a team that sits deep you have to wait for the right moment to play the final ball. We’re working on all these things and we can get better. You need ten games before you see the real tempo of a team. We’ve played eight so far so we’re close to getting up to full speed. I’m not worried because I can see how much desire the lads are putting into it. We have lots of new players. [Nicolo] Bertola and [Saba] Goglichidze are new in defence and they played a different way at their previous clubs. [Alessandro] Zanoli is new too but he adapted to our playing style immediately. They’ll all get better with every game.”

Criticism

“Criticism is part of the game. You can’t have football without criticism. I’m very self-critical. We all are. We analyze every mistake much more than people on the outside, leaving out all the emotional factors. When you watch a game five or six times, you consider lots of things. You have to take criticism on the chin, but we’re relaxed and focused. We don’t let ourselves be influenced by it, but you can take input from the outside and use it. We have to be positive too and I often look at the numbers. In the last 10-12 years Udinese haven’t won a lot at home, so I can understand the fans, but two years ago the team only had one home win and last year we had seven. It may not sound like a lot but Udinese have only done better twice in the past 10-12 years. We want our stadium to be a fortress; we want our opponents to feel uncomfortable playing here. We must work hard to get to that point and we need the fans’ support, although that doesn’t mean they can’t criticize us. If we look at Serie A, 70% of teams have spells when they don’t get the results they want. We have to accept that and remember it – both ourselves and our fans. We’re not a top team. If you’re an Udinese fan, you know you have to suffer at times, but you should also know that it’s important to us to play with the right energy and get results at home. We didn’t manage that last time, although we played well. We must keep working to achieve that.”

Iker Bravo

“I don’t know how much he’ll play. We have lots of good, different options in attack. The most important thing is we work well as a team, regardless of who plays. I can’t predict who will play in future. I’ve spoken to Iker. The World Cup was a great experience for him and he came back uninjured. He’s trained with the team two times and he’ll be available on Monday. We’ll see whether or not he plays. It depends on lots of things. It’s the same for other positions where we have a wealth of options. I can only pick 11 starters and five subs so I have to make decisions. Sometimes they work, sometimes you don’t get the desired result, but that’s how it is – it’s a process. Last year Napoli rarely changed their team and I’m sure that there there were people who asked why this or that player wasn’t playing. We have lots of players and we’ve often rotated, but it’s not possible for everyone to play a lot. Those who aren’t playing have to use the time available to improve. For this match I have everyone available except [Thomas] Kristensen.”

Gian Luca Nani’s comments

“I read what Nani had to say in my defence, but he’d told me beforehand. I have a lot of respect for journalists and throughout my career I’ve never had problems with the media. Everyone does their job the best way possible and I don’t judge journalists, since I’m a coach and not one of them. When you coach, you’re judged on your results. Football is very popular in Italy so it’s normal to be in the spotlight and to hear lots of opinions. On the outside you look at the league table and see the games, not the work done on the training ground. But we work hard to grow and improve so that we can get results. You don’t always see that work during the match but the idea is for the work to come out on the pitch. We want to have the chance to win in every game. I’m happy that Gian Luca Nani made those comments. We know we need to do better but we’re not panicking here. We have eight points and could have had nine or ten. That’s a good enough average to stay up comfortably. Everyone here is very conscientious. You can never rest on your laurels in football. You have to work constantly. Winning two games doesn’t mean you’re good enough for Europe. Three years ago Udinese won six games in a row at the start of the season but they ended up with just three points more than we did last season. We have to learn from the criticism, but that doesn’t mean I always agree with it. We want to improve our results at home. We took a first step towards that last season. Now we want more.”