22-year-old Frenchman Marley Ake appeared on Udinese Tonight. He discussed a number of topics, and here are the highlights:
“I want to achieve the goals I’ve set. I can bring so much to this team. I work hard every day to give myself the best chance of playing. I’m versatile, I can play both in the centre and on the flanks. In order to improve each and every one of us needs to be capable of doing all roles. In modern football it’s important that forwards know how to defend.
“I already played with Florian Thauvin at Marseille. He’s always been a class act. He no longer plays in the same position but he’s still just as good.
“I went to Juventus with the aim of improving. I thought that it would be the ideal place to kick on. I learnt a lot off Max Allegri – when to dribble, when to play at pace and when to slow things down.
“In training Andrea Sottil plays me both in the centre and on the flanks. I’m two-footed so I can play either on the left or the right.
“I’ve got a huge opportunity on my hands here at Udinese. It’s a huge club and so many great players have passed through here.
“I’ve played a few games in Serie A and I’ve seen that we can’t afford to make any mistakes. It’s a really tough league, you need time to adapt. It’s always hard to bed in here if you’re coming from overseas.
“My footballing idol is Didier Drogba, even if he was a different kind of player to me. I learnt a lot off Juan Cuadrado and Paulo Dybala as well. I used to be amazed by the Argentine in training. He doesn’t just score great goals, his commitment and selflessness are commendable.”