Gabriele Cioffi spoke about how confident he is in his players in his press conference ahead of the trip to AC Milan on Saturday evening.
“There were no doubts from the Coppa Italia, just lots of certainties,” stated the coach. “I was reassured by the players who took to the pitch. I came back here just over a week ago and knew five or six of the players. I didn’t have a way of seeing the others unless it was in a match.”
That was the case for Lorenzo Lucca and Florian Thauvin. According to the boss, the former “did well when he came on at Monza and scored. Florian read the game against Cagliari very well and registered an assist. Bearing Isaac Success in mind, I have positive doubts in attack.”
He also spoke about Simone Pafundi’s journey since they last crossed paths. “He was a boy when I left. I handed him his debut because it was the right time and he’s now developed. He respects my choices and is doing well in training. He’s shown he has what it takes for Serie A and he knows he still needs to improve. He’s an option.”
There was also reason to be pleased with the defensive displays last time out. “Joao Ferreira played with real intensity for 120 minutes. The mistake that he made was down to tiredness. He’s one of the players who I had doubts about, but he showed what he’s made of.”
In terms of the left flank, the competition between Hassane Kamara and Jordan Zemura is proving healthy and gives the coach options to change things up during matches. “Hassane has experience. He’s a senior international. He needs to rediscover that spark that he’s always had going forward. Jordan is very proactive and is improving so much.”
The rumours linking Lazar Samardzic with the big clubs are not affecting Cioffi. “I’m not in charge of the transfer dealings. I don’t mind if he leaves, stays or becomes the symbol of Udinese. I’m interested in what he does on the pitch. He needs to do what everyone else does: drive forward with the ball and be strong without it as well. He has the same chance of playing as his team-mates. There’s no shortage of competition. We want to see Udinese showcase the club’s historic DNA tomorrow.”
There was good news to report from the treatment room regarding Adam Masina. “He’s been out for so long. His recovery needs to progress cautiously, but he is available for Milan. I took him to the cup game because he’s an important person to have in the dressing room. Now he’s really with us.”
Thomas Kristensen is also “about to come back, so we’ll see if he makes it tomorrow”. The boss explained that Keinan Davis will need to wait a little longer: “He’s had a small calf injury and for a guy of his build, it’s better not to take any risks. He’s itching to be back but we have to manage him carefully.”
As for AC Milan, the boss expects a tough challenge. “There are no freebies here. We’ll try to hurt them with the weapons that we have. We want to get a result everywhere we go. We know they need to win because that’s what their history dictates. We have so many tough challenges ahead in November, but I believe in my players and my staff. We communicate well and it’s right for the players to hear the voices of the people they train with when they’re in matches. For example, Cristiano Bacci does set-piece work and he was the one speaking when we had throw-ins against Monza.”