Andrea Sottil had a whole host of thoughts running through his head as he previewed the home clash with Frosinone on Saturday. He began by mentioning the outstanding support shown by the club’s fans, with season-ticket numbers breaking the 13,000 milestone, setting a record in recent seasons in the process.
“It’s a big display of the appreciation and passion for a splendid club that has been competing in Serie A for so many years now, bringing through so many top players. Our fans will never stop astonishing us. These figures embody the desire for them to be our twelfth man on the pitch. Congratulations to them. Now it’s down to us to repay them with typical Udinese performances.”
The boss went on to discuss the transfer window, which is still open to his annoyance, but “will fortunately be closing this evening”. Dane Thomas Kristensen is one of the latest recruits, who Sottil touched upon in terms of what he will bring to the team.
“He’s a player we’ve had our eye on for a long time and he’s capable of bringing his physicality and dynamism here. He can play in several positions in spite of his young age. He has good technique and already began the league season in his home country, so I consider him to be match fit. He’s coming into a well-drilled defence and he’ll make his contribution.”
The next topic was the visit of Eusebio Di Francesco’s Frosinone on Saturday.
“Frosinone have already shown that they have a clear identity. Eusebio Di Francesco is a very well-prepared coach. They’re playing an exciting brand of football and they deservedly won Serie B last season. They’ve kept that squad together as well. They run hard, they’re well organised, they know how to press and break with real pace. They have technically strong players and they can get into the box late. They’ve signed others such as Matias Soule, who’s a very good player.
“We need to be clear-headed in terms of our coach, while respecting Frosinone and playing our own game. We can’t think about winning the game in ten or 15 minutes. We have to build up as we did in Salerno, run hard and play with humility to get the ball into the zones where we can make it difficult for them.
“You can’t always be aggressive for the whole game. You need to judge the right moments. The team is in good shape physically and we’re improving, but we’re getting into the swing of things.
“The identity that I want to carry forward is always the same: wanting to be the protagonists in the game and not watching the other team play. I think we did really well in Salerno for 70 minutes and it was the sort of team performance that I like. We need to do the good things for 100 minutes. That’s why every player is important in order to achieve our team goals. The five subs can often make all the difference.”
Sottil talked about the benefits for young players joining the club.
“The players who’ve come in all have quality, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. The youngsters are lucky because they’re in a squad with players who have been in Udine for many years, a well-honed tactical setup and a nicely blended group of people. It just takes a bit of time to learn about the team mechanisms and movement.
The boss also spoke about Lorenzo Lucca’s role in the team and the differences with the now-departed Beto.
“Lucca is obviously different from Beto, who has a unique burst of pace, but the Italian has other important attributes and plenty of room for improvement. He doesn’t shy away from attacking the opposition in behind and gives us things that Beto didn’t in terms of the way we play the ball to feet. He needs to improve his delivery to the wing-backs and mezzali, but he does make himself available in the box. His setup for Lazar Samardzic’s goal showed great quality.
There was also a fitness update on Isaac Success.
“He had some issues at the start of the season. He needs to be managed carefully, but he’s coming back and is in good shape. We need to understand how we’re playing as everyone is getting to know one another.”