Kosta Runjaic faced the press ahead of Udinese’s showdown against Lazio on Saturday. Here’s what our coach had to say:
“We’re all really happy that Alexis Sanchez is back at the club and for the good vibes he’s brought. His injury isn’t good news but we need to close ranks, play well and show that we’re a top team eager to get a good result.
“Against Bologna we picked up a really important point on the road against a team who are gearing up for the Champions League. In football there are various perspectives you can adopt but every successful team aims to win games from the outset. I think that we worked well and fought hard over the 90 minutes.
“I agree with those who say that we didn’t play as well as we’re capable of playing – we’ve got to do better when it comes to managing possession. However, we’ve got the foundations to do well because we’re a really tight group. We need a bit more time for the players to gel as well as to work hard on the finer details.
“I agree with those who say that we didn’t play as well as we’re capable of playing – we’ve got to do better when it comes to managing possession. However, we’ve got the foundations to do well because we’re a really tight group. We need a bit more time for the players to gel as well as to work hard on the finer details.
“Every game is an opportunity to learn something and against Bologna we showed great team spirit. That being said, we need to improve our football. Lazio have got top individuals and have got off to a good start – we’ll do all we can to get a win.
“Serie A is all new to me and I’m now in a position to find out what it’s all about. We’ve made many changes compared to last season. Preparations have been good and we’ve got to show that we’ve improved since Bologna. Every player needs to contribute – it’s not just down to our midfielders.
“We need to play with greater pace and improve our game management, as well as take things step by step, channelling the team’s energy and spirit. We can’t pretend and say that everything’s going well – we face a further test tomorrow and we’ll try to be more assertive. We dropped too deep in the second half against Bologna, allowing them to play.
“[Keinan] Davis is training and progressing from last season. He’s an important player and could come on tomorrow.
“We need to work on the finer details. We’ll learn things from every game and judge how we’ve played. We want to bring greater energy to our performances, especially when we’re playing at home. We need to strike fear into the teams who come to Udine.
“The new signings are bedding in well. [Damian] Pizarro has come from Chile and is yet to have any involvement with us. He’ll need time to settle into training, get up to speed and adapt to the team. [Thomas] Kristensen is working with the team and barring any setbacks he should make the bench against Como. New signing [Razvan] Sava is available but I still can’t say if he’ll be in the matchday squad for tomorrow.”