Davide Ballardini assures despite a few regrets over the chances in stoppages, Genoa are ‘satisfied’ with the performance and the point against Udinese.
Goran Pandev had opened the scoring with a smart control and turn, although he needed VAR to confirm it was not handball, and Rodrigo De Paul converted a penalty for the 1-1 result.
Davide Ballardini assures despite a few regrets over the chances in stoppages, Genoa are ‘satisfied’ with the performance and the point against Udinese.
Goran Pandev had opened the scoring with a smart control and turn, although he needed VAR to confirm it was not handball, and Rodrigo De Paul converted a penalty for the 1-1 result.
“Genoa played a good game against a solid team with a lot of quality, so just that is already something to be satisfied with,” Ballardini told DAZN.
With Mattia Destro suspended, the Grifone surprised by picking Goran Pandev rather than Gianluca Scamacca.
“Our idea was not to give them reference points. The three Udinese defenders are all huge, so we wanted to pass it around them and make the most of the spaces rather than just put crosses in.
“Udinese tend to defend quite deep, so it’s difficult to find the space. We have to spread them, then try to get the forwards or even the midfielders to push into those gaps.
“This is an Udinese side that allowed precious little to Milan, Inter and Juventus, so they are one of the form teams in Serie A at the moment.”
Genoa are now without a win in six, but they almost ended that run with two huge opportunities in stoppages, including Valon Behrami rattling the woodwork.
“Clearly, in the final minute you are clear on goal and hit the bar, it’s a regret, but over the full 90 minutes we are satisfied with the performance. Sometimes luck isn’t on your side and you ought to be happy with a point against a very strong, humble and hard-working team.
“We are truly satisfied with the performance and the point.”
Despite Destro’s absence, again Gianluca Scamacca could only get a substitute role. What does he need to do in order to start?
“In my view, with the quality that he has, Scamacca must learn the movements, when to come back, push forward, go side to side, the timing of the runs and the right runs to make.
“Right now, we cannot afford to have Scamacca plus another striker and a trequartista, so we need to find the right balance. For example, Udinese have one centre-forward and the others in support are all midfielders.”