Udinese Tonight's guest on Monday’s episode was Oier Zarraga. The Basque midfielder discussed a variety of topics, which you can read about below:
“We were aware of how good Juventus were. I think they’ve got one of the best playing styles in Italy, so it was a tough encounter. We need to look at what we can improve on. We’ve got an important match coming up on Friday.
“I started playing right-back against Atalanta. The manager had talked to me about it, so it wasn't a surprise. I hadn't trained much in that position, but I was more than ready. I'm ready to do whatever the coach asks of me. I’m not a natural full-back. I've played in the position a few times in my career, and I'm happy to do so. A player is always happy to play and it was a great opportunity for me.
“In Spain, I had played as a winger, but in a formation with a four-man defence, and in a team where we kept the ball more, so it was more like playing as a central midfielder. I felt comfortable in possession with five-man defence.
“It's not easy when sometimes you play ten minutes, sometimes five minutes and sometimes not at all, but I've prepared myself to always be ready to help out my team. The important thing is to play as best as possible in order to help the team achieve its goals. I don't sulk if I don't play.
“Udine is the perfect city for me – I love how chilled out it is. The fans are respectful when they stop you in the street and they always have nice things to say to you. It's a perfect place for we players.
“Kosta Runjaic has a great personality, I have a good relationship with him and we talk a lot. He prepares for matches based on what we have to do, rather than on the opponent, and even against the big teams we've played well.
“Maybe we need to focus more on doing well against teams who are at our level, because we’ve got what it takes to beat them. We want to reach the 50-point mark and have Udinese’s best season in recent years. That being said, we have to learn from last season and take things game by game, rather than looking ahead to the end of the campaign.”