Giampaolo: “Hard-fought draw a sign of our maturity”

It was Samp’s first 0-0 of the season and their first match without scoring since mid-September, yet Marco Giampaolo insists there were plenty of positives to take from Thursday’s draw against Udinese.

“It was a really tough game because we were up against a strong side who got 10 men behind the ball,” the coach told Samp TV after the Blucerchiati’s final fixture of 2016.

“It wasn’t easy from a physical perspective but we handled ourselves well. Our finishing needed to be a bit sharper for us to win it, though you can easily lose matches like this by conceding a goal on the counter or from a set play.

“It was a mature showing from the lads because they sought the win without leaving themselves exposed.”

Hear more from the boss in our subtitled video below.