This week’s guest on Udinese Tonight was Udinese captain Florian Thauvin. Having recently become a father for the second time, he just returned to the pitch in the last two games after an injury sustained against Inter. Here’s what he said:
“It’s been quite a rough week as we haven’t got good results. Both defeats hurt, but the one against Venezia was harder to take. At 2-0 up, the game should’ve been put to bed. We should’ve managed it better, waited patiently, then gone for a third or even fourth goal on the counter. Instead, we allowed them to score and they gained confidence. That mustn’t happen. Mentally, things are better this year than last, but we can’t forget what happened last season. This year we’ve been winning because we’re focused and working hard. We need to keep it up to avoid any more games like the one against Venezia.”
Kosta Runjaic is on the same page, admits Thauvin: “After Juventus, the coach told us not to forget last year, but also to remember who we are and how we’ve been winning games this season. Our strength is in working together. The big teams may have more quality than us, so we need to be united. We have a young group and the coach and experienced players need to stay calm in the dressing room. We need to keep working hard, start games well and win our duels. Right now, we’re in a good position, but it’s easy to slip down the table. We need to stay focused.”
Thauvin made his return to the pitch this week after over a month out. “The injury was unfortunate. It kept me out for five weeks and that’s tough for any player because you lose rhythm. Against Juventus, I really felt it in terms of a lack of explosiveness in one-on-one situations. Now I have to work hard to recover it. I’m not pleased right now because I don’t feel at the top of my game. Breaking four ribs isn’t a small issue and it’s hard to work like this, but I have to give it my all to get back on top. It’s important for me to give my best every day, both in football and in life. And when it’s not enough, you have to keep your head down and work hard.”
Before this forced injury layoff, Thauvin had been having a good season, the result of a long process that began in January 2023 when he arrived from Tigres. “After Mexico, I wasn’t physically ready and had a lot of work to do, but we can’t forget that, to get back into the rhythm, a player needs to play and the coach didn’t give me consistency from that point of view. It’s my responsibility because I wasn’t physically ready, but I did expect a bit more support on that front.
“In 2023/24, I started the season well under [Andrea] Sottil, but the results weren’t coming. Then [Gabriele] Cioffi took over and put me on the bench. Now things are resolved, but back then we had differences in our outlooks. For him, [Roberto] Pereyra and I couldn’t play together. Before the match against Fiorentina, we went for lunch, just the two of us and he said to me: ‘You look like you’re in form, but to get into the starting XI, you have to show me you can change a game.’ I told him I was ready. Against Fiorentina, I came on, scored and told him, ‘Now I have to play.’ But he said that we had to win the match. Our opponents equalised in the last minute. The next week, I told him, ‘So I’ll play against Milan.’ His answer was, ‘We didn’t win, so you’re not in the starting line-up.’ He put me on at half time and I scored right away, so I went back to him and said, ‘Now I have to play.’ From then on, I played a lot and performed really well. It’s just a shame I got injured before the end of the season.”
On last season, he adds, “Last year, I didn’t get enough goals and assists, but this year I’m getting back to the level I had at Marseille. It was the hardest year of my career. Losing every match kept me up at night. I was embarrassed. This year, I believe we can do great things as a team and I have a chance of getting back into the national team. After hard times, enjoying the game is the most important thing.”
“Passion is everything for me. Talent is fine, but it’s passion that makes you work and through hard work, you can achieve anything,” says Thauvin, who rode this passion to World Cup glory in 2018: “When we won the World Cup, it was hard to believe because it’s the dream of a lifetime. I was very proud.” The Udinese captain hasn’t been called up to the national team since 2019, but his return now seems closer than ever this year. “The national team is still my dream and always will be. As I said, with work and passion, anything is possible.”
Before coming to Udine, Thauvin was also a key figure at Olympique Marseille. “Playing for Marseille was a dream for me. I always played there with passion, did great things and gave it my best, just as I’m doing now with Udinese. I really love Udinese. It’s like a second family for me and now I even have a Friulian son. People come to the stadium to feel emotions and I think I can give them those emotions.” Between these two positive experiences, however, there was also his time with Tigres: “Behind every player, there is a person and after eight years at the top with Marseille, under a lot of pressure, I felt I needed a change and to find some peace of mind. I made the mistake of thinking that at 28, it was time to leave Europe. My first son had just been born, I barely saw my family, the pressure was enormous and I thought it was time to spend more time with my loved ones. It wasn’t the right moment to go to Mexico. At the time, I thought I’d only play for another four or five years, but I’m now 31 and I intend to keep going until I’m 37 or 38. After two or three months, I said to my wife, ‘What am I doing? This isn’t where I belong.’ Changing scenery was the best decision and that’s how I came to Udine.”
Thauvin then reflects on the beginning of his adventure with Udinese: “When I arrived, it was a difficult time. Things hadn’t gone well in Mexico and I was here without my family. It felt like going back 15 years. I had to prove all over again that I could play at a high level. At first, it was tough. I trained well, but in matches, it was hard to show my skills because I was playing little, I was adjusting to a new position, a different style of play and a defensive team. Everything was new to me. It was hard to adapt, and as a result, my level wasn’t good; it was tough to accept. Things had gone wrong in Mexico, they were going wrong in Udine and I couldn’t let it continue like that. There are times in life when you have to be patient and work hard. That’s what I did, and I got back to a decent level.”
He managed to do so partly thanks to Runjaic, who believed in him from day one: “Right away, I felt things were different with Runjaic. We see football in the same way. It was the same with [Fabio] Cannavaro, though unfortunately, I was injured the whole time he was here. The coach and [Gokhan] Inler trusted me immediately, and I’m grateful for that. Players need trust.”
Finally, Thauvin shares a thought about his family, which is now a bit larger with the arrival of little Leandro: “I left home very young and I always missed having my family around. It was always a dream to have my own family in the house. I’m not someone who goes out a lot. I’d rather stay at home with my wife and kids. It’s an important moment of calmness and love.”