Interviewed by The Venetian Messenger, Gigi Apolloni he spoke about Parma, Udinese’s next opponent, fresh from their return to Serie A thanks to the talent of their young players: “The club is good for focusing on them. Bernabé was a discovery of the then coach, Maresca, but I also want to mention other guys like Circati, a defender born in 2003, who plays with serenity and concentration. He is good at reading many situations, he is strong in the head. There are many guys in Parma who are capable of having a high-level career in the future. I see analogies with “my” old team: many of us, then, at the end of the ’80s, arrived young in Serie B and grew step by step”.
Man and Mihaila, wingers in Pecchia’s 4-2-3-1, have also done well in their last two matches with the Romanian national team, scoring a goal each.
“The wingers have great quality and if you let them play, they can be deadly. Parma knows how to be “short” and exploit spaces well through counterattacks. This happened for example in the match against Milan. For this reason, Udinese must not give them space, paying great attention to preventive marking. In this you have to be “active”. I predict a very hard-fought match from a tactical point of view, in which the one who wins the greatest number of individual duels will prevail”.