Christian Kabasele was this week's guest on Udinese Tonight following an excellent performance as captain against Juventus at the weekend.
The Belgian centre-back, who also took the captain's armband when he started the game against Bologna recently, took the opportunity to take stock of the season and chat about what is to come.
“I think I've shown that I'm professional and important for the team,” the 34-year-old began. “The boss has recognised the work I put in by making me captain. I feel very proud to captain a club like Udinese. I'm one of the oldest in the dressing room so I should set an example. I always try to do my job to the best of my ability.
Despite playing much better away to Juventus than the previous week against Monza, Udinese were on the wrong end of another defeat.
“It's a shame about the way we've finished the campaign. We've had an excellent season but people only remember the last few games. We haven't done our jobs well recently, especially against Monza, and that's brought a bit of a cloud over the club. It's a pity because we had everything we needed to finish ahead of Como.”
Among the many positives to take from the season is the impact several of the new signings have had.
“The players who have come into the starting XI immediately did well. We had six months without [Oumar] Solet then he joined and made a difference. [Arthur] Atta and [Rui] Modesto have performed well too.We have lots of good players, though. We have a big, quality squad. We must continue in this vein next season too.
“Last season we stayed up on the last day of the season whereas this year we secured our top-flight status with two months to spare. The coach has done really well and adapted to Italian football immediately. We're improving as a team but that means we have ups and downs. Next year we must do better. We have players with fantastic potential. We had to make do without our captain [Florian Thauvin] for a long time this season and it's not easy without him. Overall I can say we've done well.”