Giampaolo: “I want my team to be brave against Udinese”

On the eve of Sampdoria’s trip to Udinese, Marco Giampaolo admitted his team’s away form has been poor this season and insisted they must quickly put the Atalanta game behind them.

“We need to move on and forget about our defeat against Atalanta,” the coach began. “Let’s focus solely on the upcoming match against Udinese.

“We know it’s going to be a difficult challenge and a tough match against an opponent who are dominant physically but also good technically.

“The team are doing well because they have to be doing well. The players need to have the ability to reset and go again; that’s the only way can we lift ourselves out of the danger zone in the standings which we are currently in.

“We know we’ve been poor away from home until now but sooner or later we’ll spring a surprise.

“I’m expecting my team to put in a brave performance and show their character. I don’t like footballers who go into a match frightened: when you have fear in your belly, you lose on the pitch, you lose in life and you lose yourself. It’s an everlasting defeat.”