Udinese forward Zaniolo: ‘Roma coach Gasperini one of the best but demanded too much’

Zaniolo credits Udinese fresh start after Gasperini and Fiorentina struggles

“In recent years I have not performed enough, it is true, but the fault is exclusively mine,” Zaniolo said.

“On the other hand, you have to earn love with performances on the pitch and attitudes off it. I do not think that on my first day at Udinese, everyone loved me. There were doubts and reservations about me, I had played little or nothing for two or three years and the label I carried was not positive. But from the start I promised I would sweat for the shirt like never before and the rest, love included, followed.”

On his time at Atalanta under Gasperini, Zaniolo was measured but honest.

“I had just had foot surgery at Bergamo, so I arrived late in pre-season,” he said. “With Gasperini there was a relationship of mutual respect, he is one of the strongest coaches around, but at that moment he was demanding too much of me.”

His subsequent move to Fiorentina, a club where he had previously felt comfortable, also failed to produce the expected results. “I thought I was in my comfort zone, but it did not go well there either. I do not know why,” he admitted.