Nehuen Perez, Jaka Bijol and Adam Masina all claimed that the team is on the up both on and off the pitch while speaking to Udinese Tonight on Monday in the new away strip for the 2023/24 season. “I think it’s the best out of the three kits,” said Perez, with Bijol and Masina agreeing.
Ahead of the friendly with Leipzig on Tuesday, Perez said, “It’ll be a good test to see where we are. They have some really good players. It’ll be a tough game, but a good one to play in.” Bijol added, “We’re having a good training camp and we’re working so hard every day. We’re ready for tomorrow.” When asked about his expectations for the new season, having spent a large chunk of the previous one injured on the sidelines, Masina stated, “I’m pleased about the year coming up. It’ll be quite tricky because we’ve lost some vastly talented players with charisma, but we have 25 others, who can make up for their loss, including Jaka and Nehuen.”
Bijol touched on what he thinks the signings can bring to the team. “I’m impressed with all the new players. They’re all ready to give 100% and I’m sure they’ll make their contributions to the team.” Masina already knew Domingos Quina and Etienne Camara, who he “really liked. Oier Zarraga and Jordan Zemura can bring something different, while Brenner is a player for the future. What’s important for them now is getting settled within the dressing room. It’s a healthy dressing room and we want to keep it that way.” Perez added, “Their responsibilities as players will increase, but I’m convinced they all have bright futures ahead of them.”
“The team is working on the foundations from the good things that we did last year,” explained Bijol. “We’re improving so much, particularly in defence.” The coach’s instructions are now particularly clear, as Masina explained. “He asks us to build the play from the back. We have to keep individual and positional mistakes to a minimum compared with last year. That’s why we’re working harder, particularly on our running off the ball and over long distances. We’ve added physical strength activities in the gym, so we’re expecting a really tough pre-season to be ready for the league campaign ahead.”
Bijol commented on the team’s training regime. “We’re working hard with intensity. It’s tough, but that’s normal on a training camp.” Perez added while laughing, “No, this much isn’t normal! At least it means we sleep well.” Masina brought the interview to an end with a message for the fans: “We’re looking forward to seeing all our fans. We want to improve our level of contact with them this season. We’d like to thank them for their support and can’t wait to see lots of them tomorrow.”