Gabriele Cioffi didn't beat around the bush in his post-match assessment of Saturday's game against Torino.
“That wasn't the sort of performance we were expecting,” he began following the 2-0 reverse at the hands of Torino.”
The coach was asked once again about his misinterpreted comments regarding the fans after the Lazio match.
“I want to say this one last time and put an end to it: the pressure is ours. I give us pressure on and so do the team. The fans have the right to do what they want. I heard the stadium getting behind their team again today, like an English crowd. I've always spoken about internal pressure. The Udinese faithful have always got behind the team. They're right to go away angry if the team didn't play well. I'm even angrier than they are. However, I believe in this team, in my work and in a healthy atmosphere. I could sense people protesting today. You have to respect that and accept it. Through hard work and the support of our fans, we'll move on from these blackouts.
Cioffi went on to explain his first-half substitution.
“[Martin] Payero going off was not tactical – it was intended as a shake-up. Besides the goal we conceded, we looked soft. We weren't fighting for the second balls and our game management was untidy. I decided to make a change and brought on Kingsley Ehizibue to inject a bit of pace.”
The full-back was later taken off himself to avoid the risk of getting sent off, as he was already on a yellow.
“I consider Ehizibue to be an experienced player but we've had red cards in our last three games. The changes I'd tried hadn't produced the desired effect so I decided to go with two strikers and Festy [Ebosele] to try to play a bit more direct.
“I probably underestimated the few days we had to recover. I wanted to maintain a similar line-up to the Lazio game but clearly we hadn't fully recovered. It's my fault – I should have rested some of them.
“The first 30 minutes were very poor, then I saw a chink of light. We were moving the ball around better in the opposition half. But in the second half we were flat.
“We can't afford to keep on this emotional rollercoaster and have all these ups and downs. We must figure out a way to avoid these blackouts.”
“We've been alternating draws and wins. We lost today but there's a certain consistency. We could have had more points. We need to work on being more aggressive and I have to understand what I can bring to the team so that we don't go from a victory like the one against Lazio to complete darkness like today. I'm the biggest fan of my players.”
The boss singled out two players for praise.
“[Roberto] Pereyra is a hero. He didn't train this week but he went out there and played with the bit between his teeth, giving his all.
“[Jakob] Bijol's inclusion was a slightly forced choice. He gave everything too despite only being 60-70% fit. I think it was good for the team and he did well.
Udinese will be without eight international players over the next week but Cioffi believes it could yield positives for the team.
“It's good for enthusiasm when the likes of [Lorenzo] Lucca get an Italy call-up and [Nehuen] Perez is recalled by Argentina. Sandi Lovric will be vying for a starting spot with Slovenia.
“There are lots of things we can build on. We must stay calm and clear-headed – that's the only way to get out of difficult situations.”