Kosta Runjaic says Udinese remain “full of life” despite suffering a sixth consecutive Serie A defeat against Milan, but believes it is not the right time to discuss his future with the club.
The Friulians’ latest loss leaves them on four points from eight games, level with Fiorentina and Parma and only one point above bottom side Venezia.
Udinese fell behind inside six minutes at San Siro. Luka Modric’s free-kick caught their defensive line off guard, allowing Christian Pulisic to beat the offside trap and open the scoring.
Milan continued to threaten. Maduka Okoye saved an Ardon Jashari effort, but Omari Hutchinson was ready to convert the rebound. The Udinese goalkeeper then tipped a Goncalo Ramos shot onto the crossbar to prevent Milan extending their advantage.
Asked by DAZN Italia whether he had received any communication from the club hierarchy, Runjaic said: “It is not the right time to speak right after the game.
“We lost the game, we are all disappointed, including myself. I think tonight we have seen a team full of life, ready to fight who gave their best, but conceded an easy goal after five minutes and that was a big step back. It was hard to come back from that.”
Udinese’s season appeared to change when they surrendered a 2-0 lead in a defeat by Inter. Runjaic said the team had struggled to recover from that setback, while injuries had added to their difficulties.
“We had a lot of problems with injuries and things are going negatively, so it’s not easy for the team,” he said.
“Until Lecce, we didn’t play bad football, and again today I saw the team make the right steps forward to get out of this situation.
“I think it is also not fair to compare the team with last season. We started pretty well until the game with Lazio, but st happens, we have everything required, we need unity to do better next game.”
Runjaic said Udinese had responded better than in their previous match, although an early error allowed Milan to control the contest.
“I think the team showed a good face today compared to the last game, but we again made an easy mistake, gave a favour to Milan, and when 1-0 down within a few minutes, an experienced team like Milan knew how to manage that,” he added.
“We had a few good moments with Keinan Davis, we played better in some moments, but luck and quality at the end were lacking, while Milan did a good job.”
The Udinese manager also stressed the importance of accepting the result and maintaining discipline during a difficult period.
“It’s sport, we have to accept defeat and can’t change anything at the moment, the situation is what it is, nobody likes it,” he said.
“That’s why I think fair play is very important, I as a coach need to be a role model in that sense.”
