Fiorentina 0-0 Juventus | Napoli 1-2 Udinese. Tactical Reviews

Date: 18th April 2011 at 12:26am
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FIORENTINA 0-0 JUVENTUS

Juventus and Fiorentina played out a goalless game at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. The tactical systems of either side were partly to blame. The lack of edge in attack for either side was also evident. Cerci was watched by Grosso. While Mutu roamed more than Cerci, Melo was impressive in keeping Mutu quiet whenever Mutu moved into central positions. As displayed on the diagrams, Marchisio and Aquilani tarcked the movement of Vargas and Behrami whenever they drifted wide as they usually do. Vargas and Behrami also tracked Marchisio and Aquilani. They also helped out their full-backs whenever they came under pressure. Vargas and Pasqual ensured Krasic had a quiet game though he put in a poor display.

Generally, FIorentina tended to play better. This could be partly attributed to the players who had time on the ball as shown in the team system graphics. Melo had a lot of time on the ball as he played between the lines of defence and midfield though Gilardino tried closing him down a number of times. Melo is more anchorman than playmaker. So he did the simple things/passes, put in superb tackles to stop the opposition.

Montolivo on the other side played as regista for the team. Montolivo, a midfielder possessing very impressive natural technique and playmaking attributes had a lot of time on the ball. Krasic and Pepe took the responsibility of closing down Montolivo whenever he was in either’s region, though as expected, Montolivo’s movement allowed him evade their marking and he contributed positively to his side bing the dominant side.

Delneri attempted to switch things around by pulling off Krasic for Del Piero. Pepe moved into wide right, Marchisio into wide left while Del Piero played as second striker behind Matri who was later replaced by Luca Toni. The game continued in similar fashion though with Juventus defending with two close banks of four and Fiorentina attempting to break them down.

As expected in football, whenever a side is under pressure, the team attempts to put in considerable effort towards utilizing counter-attacks against their opponents. This though failed as wide players such as Pepe and Krasic were frustrating in their attacking play (both had relatively poor games). Fiorentina were more impressive on the break in terms of movement and options whenever they had the opportunity but poor decision making let them down.

These all resulted in a not so entertaining draw at the Franchi where though Fiorentina had a better chance of winning, a draw could be considered a fair result. Juventus remain 7th, 1 point behind AS Roma, and 8 points off Champions League places with 5 games to go.

NAPOLI 1-2 UDINESE

Napoli hosted Udinese at the San Paolo on the late night Sunday game. Udinese have a chance at Champions League qualification while Napoli are Scudetto hopefuls. Going into the game, Napoli looked like the favourites having an impressive home record (8 wins in 11 games) and with Udinese having lost their two previous games against Lecce and Roma. Di Natale was missing while Alexis Sanchez was out for the second game in a row, both through injury. Gokhan Inler returned to the line-up. Napoli played as expected in a 3-4-2-1. Udinese though were more skewed than usual. At initial glance, it appeared Udinese played with a back four but Pasquale’s movement into line with Isla showed that Udinese played their usual 3-5-1-1 though Pasquale was more defensive than Isla. Deployment of Armero in a central position also displayed Guidolin’s preference for deploying wide players with energy and skill in central regions (Cuadrado, Alexis Sanchez and now Armero).

Napoli took the initiative in this game with Udinese taking time to adjust to the changes in attacking personnel. Attacking moves easily broke down though Udinese defended resolutely to keep the scoreline at 0-0. When playing a 3-man defence against a 1-striker system, there is the threat of one defender becoming redundant. Napoli though usually turn this into an advantage. Ruiz and Cannavaro tightly marked Denis while Campagnaro moved higher up the pitch usually to create an extra wide option on the right (though little used).

Udinese defended deep ahead of their goal allowing Napoli more control in the deeper regions of midfield. The individual brilliance which has carried Napoli through some games was missing today. Udinese coped fairly well against Napoli. The first half ended with Napoli searching for a way through and Udinese preferring to use counter-attacks.

Inler sits back a lot for Udinese preferring to direct play but has a knack for causing problems whenever he gets forward. Today, it wasn’t any different. Early in the 2nd half, he got forward and unleashed a shot at goal from distance which scored. This goal gave Udinese more momentum and 6 minutes later, Guidolin’s decision to play Armero centrally paid off. Armero went on a run towards goal going past 2 defenders to cross for Denis to score.

Mazzarri responded by sending on Gragano (defensive midfielder) and Mascara (attacking option) for Pazienza and Yebda, the midfield double pivot. He also sent on experienced target man Cristiano Lucarelli for Maggio. Little changed in terms of outcome though. Udinese now had a 3-man defence against a 2 central forwards. The Udinese midfielders sat deeper and Handanovic being in top form helped keep Napoli off the scoresheet.

As it happens when teams come under pressure, Domizzi committed a foul in the box, got sent off but Handanovic saved the resulting penalty from Cavani. Napoli continued to pressure though and deep into stoppage time, Mascara scored after Cavani missed his shot from a chip over the defence. Cavani was played onside by Asamoah who found himself (Asamoah) in that position due to late reshuffle after the red card. The Udinese defence was in top form and had prevailed.

Napoli remain 2nd though, 6 points behind AC Milan whilst Udinese end the matchday in 5th 1 point behind Lazio in 4th place.

Interesting Quote from Guidolin: “It was all because of that damned break for international duty, as many of our players came back carrying injuries. I just want my lads to stay healthy. When we train all together without problems, then we’ll make people talk about Udinese.” From Football Italia

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