Who’s in better form?
By: vin |
8 Comments
*
Nessuno.
(And the next qualifier is in Udine!)
Category: Udinese Team News
Mercato-End Update
By: vin | 8 Comments
I’m trying really hard to contain my excitement so that I don’t post anything stupid, because things are looking good at the moment. Really good:
- First, there’s Saturday’s solid victory.
- Second, there’s the signing of Domizzi, which will help where our Zebrette need it most.
- Third, Udinese have Juve next week. OK. Maybe things aren’t that good after all.
About Saturday: Much has already been said about the match Di Natale played, so I won’t add anything there other than to say that 1) I really hope he keeps it up (obviously), and 2) some of the credit for his success certainly goes to his teammates. Regarding the latter point, D’agostino and Inler were a constant menace, with D’agostino’s service being brutally accurate and Inler’s runs looking intelligent and well-timed (as usual). With their performances, it’s easy to overlook both Quags and Pepe, who did a good job of stretching Palermo’s defense, subsequently allowing Di Natale to do his thing.
Speaking of Quags, every time I watch Udinese, I’m reminded of the guy’s most well-kept secret: He can actually pass. Of course, I quickly forgive myself for forgetting about his passing when I see one of the shots for which he’s so well-known. Just as important as his passing and shooting however is his presence on the pitch; having seen many squads face Strike Force Udinese, I am starting to think that just having Quags out there forces the opposing defense to play out of their skin just a little. Thirty meters out, and it’s a game of defensive roulette, already. Will he pass? Will he run? Will he fire ze rail gun? I can’t even imagine what a pain in the a** it would be to cover this guy. Point being, we saw the Quags effect on Saturday.
Category: Udinese Team NewsLippi, are you watching?
By: vin | 9 Comments
The goals will do the talking for now:
Di Natale’s first:
Category: Udinese Team NewsRamping Up
By: vin | 7 Comments
Udinese’s 2008-’09 first team will be presented to tifosi tomorrow, August 28th, and to help announce the occasion, the folks at udinese.it (which is usually pretty damn good for a team site) have posted what is arguably the most ill-conceived team picture in the history of professional sports. Players behind furniture, players on stairs (ala wedding photo), and players not even looking at the camera. Awesome.
…but that’s neither here, nor there. The important stuff follows:
Category: Udinese Team NewsEarly Christmas Gift for Quags in Spain
By: vin | 4 Comments
First off, before someone points it out, we all know that a team’s success (or lack thereof) during this pre-season friendly period doesn’t mean much.
Well, guess what: We’re still going to talk about it.
Well… Marino asked for difficult pre-season friendlies, and damn it, he’s received them. Ironically though, the Zebrette have managed to come out on top of their toughest test of the summer, and on the heels of losses to less powerful opponents. Villarreal, who finished second in the Spanish Primera division last season, were vanquished by a Di Natale-gifted Quagliarella goal. (That said, it should be noted that Villarreal finished the match with ten men due to a Cani red card.)
As he has done in every friendly this summer, the coach managed to give quite a few players time on the pitch; in this case, 19 of them, to be precise. That number included Sanchez, who came on with Di Natale and Obodo in the 58th minute. NOW – WHY am I bringing up “Wonder Boy” Sanchez? I mean… the kid just came in off loan, after all, right?
Well, around the beginning of the month, it was rumored that none other than Villarreal were interested in him, and when I saw Villarreal’s name on the friendly fixtures list, the word “audition” most definitely popped into my mind. (I think Marca started the rumor, in case you’re wondering.) Of course, Sanchez’ playing time probably had nothing to do with Villarreal’s alleged interest, but you never know. The calciomercato can be shady like that.
Speaking of the mercato…
Category: Udinese Team NewsIt All Begins At Friuli.
By: vin | 3 Comments
I’m not just talking about Udinese’s campaign here, ladies and gents; on Saturday, August 30 at 5 p.m. local time, the Zebrette and the Rosanero will kick off the entire 2008-2009 Serie A season, hopefully in front of an energetic home crowd. It should be an interesting match too, as both squads saw their fair share of players bolt for the door during this mercato, and I’m sure that supporters from both sides will be anxious to see how well their teams have filled in the gaps.
Now… as for the list of fixtures post-August, I’ve posted it below. Additionally, I’ve added my own color-coding scheme, which can be interpreted as follows:
Category: Udinese Team NewsNew Zebras
By: vin | 17 Comments
Since outgoing transfer action was touched upon in my last post, I figure we’ll run through Udinese’s summer signings this time around, even though we wound up discussing ‘em a bit in the comments section last time.
To that end, let’s get started:
Giovanni Pasquale (from Livorno) – He’s a 26 year-old product of Inter’s youth system who spent some time at Inter prior to being loaned out to Siena, Parma and Livorno, in that order. If I’m not mistaken, Udinese has actually purchased him. It’s clear that he’s had experience in Italy’s top flight (unlike most of the other defensive reinforcements), so Pasquale is a valued addition given the departures of Dossena, Mesto and Zapotocny. He was quite fit last campaign (and apparently indispensable for Livorno), playing a full 90 minutes in all but two matches. He’ll come forward from time to time, but you wouldn’t know it from his statistics (no goals).
Marco Motta (from Torino) – A veteran Udinese player (2006-2007) who was sent out on loan, Motta is now back in the black and white for real. He defends on the right-hand side and is coming of of a decent season with Torino, but it should be noted that he did start collecting yellow cards late in the campaign. I kind of see Motta as a pseudo-Mesto… that is, kinda like Mesto, but not as good.
Alexis Alejandro Sanchez (from River Plate) – It’s not a joke to say that they call this kid (19 years old) “The Wonder Boy.” (He needs a new nickname immediately; don’t worry; I’ll get right on that.) Udinese brought the Chilean phenom on in ‘06, and he’s been out on loan ever since. Now he’s returned, all grown up… well… maybe. I’m not sure what Marino’s plans are for Sanchez, but if he’s as good as they say, he’ll probably stick with the grown ups and function as a backup winger / striker. One note about him though: I remember seeing something about an English squad showing interest, but hopefully, Marino will tell them where to stick it.
Alain Nef (from Piacenza) – Inler clearly needed a Swiss buddy on the squad, so Marino brought Nef on. Actually although he has no Serie A experience, Nef was a central figure for Piacenza in Serie B. I believe he can play in either defense or midfield, so I’m not sure where Marino will put him, but at Nef gives the coach a couple options. What I do know is that even though he’s just 26 years of age, Nef, Pasqual and Lucovic are the old men of the back line.
Nikola Vujadinovic (CSKA Sofia) – It sounds like Vujadinovic is chomping at the bit for a chance; the 22 year-old Montenegran defender says that it’s his “dream” to play in Italy, and that he’ll “fight to prove” that Udine is “the right place” for him. Can’t argue with that attitude.
Jan Koprivec (from Cagliari) – This 20 year-old Yugoslavian keeper didn’t play during the normal campaign last season, but word has it he did pretty well in a few of Cagliari’s Coppa Italia matches. Nonetheless, he’s still more or less unproven, and he’ll probably end up cutting his teeth on the Primavera squad, barring any tragedies.
More after the break…
Category: Udinese Team NewsAt Udinese, the Cool Kids Sit in the FRONT of the Bus.
By: vin | 16 Comments
If there’s one thing that you have to worry about with a upper/mid-table team that has a talented roster, it’s a mass-exodus, and I’ll openly admit that I feared for exactly that when Andrea Dossena left for ‘Pool earlier this transfer season. Luckily, with Quags, Di Natale and now Inler sticking around (yessssssss), it seemed like my fears were unfounded… until I looked at the defense.
Here’s the Cliffs Notes version: The Zebrette midfielders and forwards have decided to hang around for the most part (thankfully), but the back of the house looks like a high school keg party at which that the cops just arrived.
At least* seven players (including Dossena) have departed from the Stadio Friuli thus far during this off-season. While some of the players that left weren’t exactly staples of the starting XI, the killer is the loss of three main or (at the very least) relatively important defenders, plus a backup keeper.
*Depending on the source you refer to, some list more than seven names, but I get the feeling that they’re Primavera players being loaned out for the sake of experience.
Put it this way: Other than Dossena, (whom I’m assuming everyone knows is a big loss), here are the players who have left, along with the number of times (in red) that they started in ‘07/’08.
Category: Udinese Team NewsWhy Support Udinese?
By: vin | 56 Comments
Alright. First things first: No, I didn’t get lost on my way to the AS Roma blog. Believe it or not, I’m here on purpose.
At this point, the few who recognize my name might be wondering, “why the hell is a Giallorossi supporter blogging about the Zebrette?”
Hmmm… Well, that IS a valid question, so I’d like to at least try to give you an equally valid answer, because I know that it’s not enough to just say that “if the Giallorossi didn’t exist (Heaven forbid!) I’d get behind Udinese ’cause they sometimes remind me of Roma.”
Yeah… I’m guessing that you’re probably looking for a more substantial reason than that. Well, if that’s the case, I guess it’s good that I actually have a few more reasons for supporting Udinese, and maybe… just maybe, these reasons will get you to don the zebra stripes yourself, if haven’t already.
So… why support Udinese? Allow me to tell you:
Category: Udinese Team NewsZebrette Rising!
By: Jason | Add Comments
After a busy week of teaching my 5th-8th graders, I have found the time to catch up on the studs of Udinese. After downing Livorno with a wonder strike by Quags, Udinese was had picked up their second win on the bounce and things were looking up. However, every Friuliani in the land was trembling at the thought of the Viola who have been having in their own right, a very productive season. Staring into the faces of a team that is a legitimate UEFA Cup contender and has been flying along with their domestic campaign, an erratic Udinese side must have been worried.
Category: Udinese Team News
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