Ranieri dedicates Udinese win to Blucerchiati family

Sampdoria recorded an important win over Udinese on Sunday, on their return after the international break. Claudio Ranieri was in excellent form as he shared his thoughts post match.

He said: “I want to dedicate the win to all our fans, and all the people in Liguria, who are suffering from these storms, to Ermanno Cristin and his family, and to the entire Blucerchiati family.”

On the match, the coach added: “We conceded in our best spell of the match. But thanks to Manolo [Gabbiadini], who scored a great goal, we drew level right at the end of the first period.

“The team played with determination and intelligence. They kept their bearings and never lost faith or their desire to win the match.”

On his work to help Sampdoria find some defensive solidity, Ranieri commented: “I put solid, compact teams together. So that had to be my starting point.

“It was important not to lose confidence – we’re now fighting to the very end. There’ll come a time when we play better football, but still I was happy with what I saw today.

“You need guys that are going to get behind you and train with enthusiasm. We need to improve further. That said, we’ve got lots of players on the bench who’d deserve to play.

“Before the break over Christmas we’ve got some good but tough games. We need to keep going along the same lines.”