A satisfied Andrea Sottil said he can see his team moving up the gears of pre-season after witnessing his side's 2-0 win over Pafos on Saturday amidst a torrential downpour.
“We were better today and aggressive in attack,” he began. “We need to improve our ball possession play and shift the ball around more quickly. We're still in the preparation phase but I can already see some excellent things, like our mentality and our desire to find solutions.
“We're building on the work we did last year. We must continue with our Udinese identity, keep thinking football while not being afraid of duels and staying organised so that we can strike on the counter.”
The boss had praise for his two goalscorers.
“This is the first proper pre-season Beto has had – last year he missed it because of that muscle problem. His off-the-ball movement has improved a lot.
“[Florian] Thauvin has started working with real intensity and the flair side of his game is coming to the fore because his fitness is improving.
“They complement each other because Thauvin can play between the lines and Beto is a target man.
“[Lorenzo] Lucca and Brenner did well too, although they're still adapting to our tactics.”
With Kingsley Ehizibue sidelined for the time being, Sottil played Festy Ebosele and Jordan Zemura on the right flank.
“We're short on the right because Ehizibue will need a few months to recover but I can play with what we have.
“Ebosele has improved a lot. He's had to learn a system that's not easy.
“Zemura was brought in to play on the left. I tried him out on the right today and I think he did well. Playing on the opposite wing, he can cause a lot of problems for opposition defences.”