Robin Gosens was interviewed ahead of Fiorentina’s pre-season friendly against English giants Manchester United. Here’s some of what the German had to say:

“I’ve played in many great stadiums but I’m missing Old Trafford from my list. I can’t wait to play this game – it’s a really big test to see where we’re at because we’re up against a top team with loads of top players. It’ll be important tomorrow to show that we’re a great side and that we can compete with a formidable team like Manchester United.”

“We’ve really bonded on this pre-season camp. I think this is what a coach looks for on a long camp like this – you have to spend a lot of time together and there are no children or partners around, either. We’ve got the time to have a coffee together and to have some deeper conversations. This is good for getting to know one another. We’ve worked really well here and have had two good friendlies. We hope that we can raise our game tomorrow before we head home for our final preparations.”

“We’re feeling good [under new coach Stefano Pioli]. The tactics are different compared to last season’s coach Raffaele Palladino, but the foundations are more or less the same. I love playing with a back three – I can really get the best out of myself. Pioli gives us more freedom. He believes that it’s important for players to cover a variety of roles. We’re feeling more at ease. We’re working a lot on our defending – our aim is to man-mark. This requires time but I’ve become increasingly happy with how we’re doing as time has gone on.”

“I’ve seen in every training session that we’re raising our game. It’s to be expected in pre-season games and training camps that not everything goes well. It’s important to learn lessons from the videos of games we watch together and then work on our mistakes. It’s all a part of such training camps. The lads look really fired up and keen to have a great season. This is the most important thing.”