On the eve of Lecce-Udinese, a match scheduled for Friday, Feb. 21 at 8:45 p.m. and valid for the 26th day of the championship, Juventus coach Kosta Runjaic presented in a press conference the challenge against the Giallorossi…
His words.
WE NEED TO GIVE CONTINUITY TO THIS POSITIVE MOMENT. “As I have said in the past weeks, we work on consistency, on stability of performance. Not everything can work all the time, but the mechanisms, how we show up as an away team, we work on that. Lecce is a very strong team, we know what to expect tomorrow night. It is good to have all these choices.”
ON DAVIS. “It was a better week than the previous week. Keinan was able to train twice with the team and is available again. We know he still needs time to recover fully however we have taken a step forward. I think everything is going well in training today and he will come with us to Lecce.”
THE TEAM IS MORE COMFORTABLE, NOW WE NEED TO FIND THE RIGHT STIMULATES TO WORK TO THE BEST ON THE FIELD… “In the last week we have been stable, we have played the last few games as a team, more relaxed, it is obvious the step forward. However, from a technical point of view we can improve many aspects, even on an individual level. Against Empoli we wasted some important chances, precisely on this there is still work to be done, to remain more focused, trying to overcome our limitations. We work intensively on this with the group, there is always potential to improve, in soccer you can never be quiet. If we give anything less everything can go wrong, we will have to run a lot, play united and with joy. The boys are growing together, but we can still improve. Also from the individual point of view the quality is high, this can be seen more and more.”
ON WHAT WE NEED TO WORK MORE FOR THIS END OF THE SEASON. “One-on-one is a very important element in soccer, when there are duels you have to make everything go well. On the left Kamara and Ekkelenkamp can coordinate even more, growing their understanding. On the right we can also improve. We can grow in communication, now we communicate more actively. We are very satisfied with this. Tomorrow we face Lecce, a strong team in transition. On the right side they have quick players, they have a striker who runs and is good at sprinting, we really have to avoid these situations. We have to avoid losing too many balls and react immediately, especially in the defensive phase. We have to be alert, fast and careful.”
ON PAFUNDI. “Simone is a great talent. He is still young and has to keep training. He has to absorb many things, all the information we give him on and off the field. He can take example and learn from more experienced players. I think this very willingness to learn is a key factor, he can also improve physically, and for that there is a need for individual training as well. At moventi, he cannot play from the start because there are guys with more experience. He is on the right track though, we have seen that he has great talent, but character is another aspect. Pafundi just has to be patient and keep working. Sometimes you fail precisely when you have little patience, making decisions that are not good for his career. He will make a great leap forward in time. Then he will surely accumulate his minutes, maybe we will get to the point where he will play from the first minute, however, we are still in the observation phase. We are satisfied with how he trains, he is very focused, we are just working on the details.”
THE INJURY SITUATION. “Okoye is still not training with the group, I think in a week or two he will be able to take part in training again. Touré is recovering, it will take months for him to be available again. Hopefully everything will be fine and he can make progress in the future.”
THE GOAL ONCE SALVATION IS CONQUERED. “Players have an intrinsic motivation. They want to improve, play lots of minutes, they don’t need the coach to motivate them. Just look at the standings, we want to do our best, we can’t relax. We know the statistics of the last few months. Every player wants to improve, we discuss many goals with the team, we work on these.”
HOW MUCH DID SOLET’S INCLUSION AFFECT THE CHANGE IN FORM. “We knew Oumar’s qualities, but we were wondering how to make sure these can be brought to the field. I think we were able to work on that and his impact in Serie A. Also from a human point of view he is a quiet boy, he plays well, he has a good physique. We work for him to improve more and more. He helps the team a lot thanks also to his game intelligence and physical strength. I talked with him, when he was young he also played in the midfield, so he is able to make good passes, to lead the team, I think he works very well with Bijol. From the beginning they worked very well together. He is a very competent footballer, I hope he stays fit and his performance gets better and better. I count Empoli perhaps underestimated some situations in the game. I want to see even more from him, because when things are going well it is easier.”
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