At Udinese, the Cool Kids Sit in the FRONT of the Bus.

By: vin | August 5th, 2008

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.

Mesto - 26 - Right Back (Since Udinese had him on loan only, it’s not a huge shock that he’s gone, but with the rest of the backfield bolting for the door simultaneously, it hurts.)
Zapotocny - 20 - Defender (As is the case with Mesto, this one wouldn’t hurt so bad if it wasn’t for Dossena leaving too. The Zebrette have brought on defensive reinforcements, but they’re young reinforcements.)
Asamoah - 9 - Striker (He’s actually decent off the bench, but we wouldn’t have seen much of him this season anyway, since he’s the lowest striker in the pecking order, after Di Natale, Quagliarella, Floro Flores, and Pepe… all of whom are back for ‘08-’09. Also, the signings of Langella - ANOTHER Udine striker from Bella Napoli *and* Sanchez has made him kinda/sorta superfluous.)
Chimenti - 3 Goalkeeper (Hmmm… I didn’t see anything about Udinese signing a replacement backup keeper, and I don’t know for sure that Saulo is back from loan… so surely, they must be in the market. Right? No, seriously… they ARE looking for another one, RIGHT? I am not comfortable with just *one* backup keeper!)
Sivok - 1 - Defender / Midfielder (Wasn’t Spock’s dad called Sivok? In all seriousness, he was a standout at Sparta Prague, but Udine apparently had no use for him, which I do find a bit strange… but who am I to question Marino?)
Colombo - 0 - Defender (May have been on loan from ‘Leffe. I suppose Tornio can have him. He was hardly even utilized as a substitute.)

So… yeah. Not looking too good out in the back of the house right about now. As you’ll see in my next post, the reinforcements don’t have me brimming with confidence either… but that’s another topic for another day.