Another week goes by and another seven days of remaining undefeated. The Udinese season is starting to take on a familiar look. Come the weekend they will be sitting joint top of Serie A aswell as having a commanding lead in their Europa League group.
Can it get any better for a team who supposedly sold its best assets at the end of last season, use squad players in its European fixtures and play with ten men against one of the leagues in form sides?
Well, in short, probably. The Bianconeri took a point away from their game at a very capable Atalanta and they did so with a man less. Giampiero Pinzi, who incidentally harbours aspirations of making it into Cesare Prandelli’s national team, (he proclaimed he is no worse than some of the players already there) was dismissed in the second half, yet this did not seemingly aid Atalanta’s cause all that much.
Francesco Guidolin’s men stifled their opponent with a suffocating pressing tactic that forced the Orobici into predictable long balls which their three man backline dealt with adequately. And even when they did manage to break through the black and white wall they met with a Samir Handanovic in fantastic form. He performed two miracle saves in the last few minutes that maintained the Friulani’s unbeaten record and added another clean sheet to his already impressive record.
Guidolin perfomed his now customary ‘turnover’ for the European game against a formidable Atletico Madrid side, yet the Spaniards failed to make a dent in the net behind the Udinese keeper, as a 2-0 home victory brushed aside another opponent. Out went the likes of Antonio Di Natale, Gabriel Torje and Mauricio Isla as starting shirts were given to a fit again striker Antonio Floro Flores, Roberto Pereyra and Thierry Doubai. But, even with what was partly a second string line-up, the team from Friuli wore down Atletico and hit them with two sucker punch goals in the final moments.
It is this new found maturity that is making pundits start to sit up and believe what they see. Udinese are no longer just a ‘flash in the pan’, they have a depth in their squad that could genuinely see them sitting at the top come the end of the season. Whilst the more glamorous outfits of Roma, Milan, Inter and Napoli trip over themselves, Di Natale and his band of merry men go about their work with an intensity that is reaping success both home and abroad.
The Coach is under no illusions however. After the game on Sunday he told Sky Sport how difficult the season is starting to become. ‘No team has managed to take command and the league table is very tight. This is a very tough championship”, he remarked to journalists. The straight talking tactician went on to explain, “The reason you are seeing the likes of us, Cagliari, Catania and Chievo near the top is because the bigger teams are either still evolving, like Roma and Juve, in transition like Inter or having to fight on more than one front like Napoli.”
A very magnanimous assessment by the Udinese coach, but the truth of the matter is that his side are no longer to be under estimated, regardless of the situation rival clubs find themselves in. They have a home tie to Novara at the weekend, with no real injury concerns, a team morale that is no doubt sky high and a well defined football strategy that can see them take points even in the most difficult of circumstances. Is it not about time we all started to take this team a bit more seriously?
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