Field Trip to the Model U.N.

By: vin | November 8th, 2008

Thank you, Zebrette. Thank you for keeping my faith in calcio alive.

If you haven’t had a chance to read the comments made by Quagliarella and Marino heading into tomorrow’s match with Inter (a.k.a. the Model United Nations), you friggin’ should. They provide quite a bit of insight regarding Udinese’s team culture as well as Marino’s deservedly praised coaching style. More importantly, they shed some light on how the club has been able to hold onto its stable of world-class players… players that could (quite frankly) make a lot more soldi elsewhere.

Quagliarella:

In the locker room the word ‘Scudetto’ is banned, not to be pronounced even in jest. Whoever does say it will get a slap.

We are going to San Siro to get a result, but it is impossible to make predictions now. The club only asked us to keep a low profile.

Coach [Pasquale] Marino tells us the same thing every day: ‘Have respect for your opponents, but not too much.’

It is the right philosophy, as we go on to the field to impose our style of play, not to be passive. Then we’ll just have to see what happens.

It is good that Serie A has torn up the script a little bit.

I never thought of quitting Udinese, as I feel great confidence and respect here. You can be on the bench because that is the system of alternation.

I don’t know if I’ll start the game against Inter and I won’t make a big deal of it. There is enough space and glory to go round.

Marino:

We must try to develop our own style of play. If we passively wait for the Nerazzurri in our own half, then sooner or later one of their many champions will place the knockout blow.

The team is in good shape and is getting accustomed to playing twice a week, especially thanks to the rotation system that has always been planned ahead.

When we meet a big side like Inter then there is no need to motivate the players. Tiredness just washes away when faced with such an important test.

This season the team has grown a great deal in terms of maturity and its ability to handle the pressures of an entire match.

A positive result at San Siro would help us build confidence, but would not change our targets for the campaign, nor our working methods.

Now… of the four people who may read my posts on occasion, two or three may remember that I took note of Marino’s striker rotation early in the campaign, and that I continue to mention it often. The comments above, however, reveal that I was not smoking anything when I hypothesized that the rotation was a Marino strategy. Clearly, it IS, and it works damn well, at that.

What’s more (and this is where Udinese amazes me), the players seem fully willing to ride the bench, start, or come in as substitutes. WHATEVER IT TAKES. Did you detect any ego in Quagliarella’s words? Me neither. THAT, kids, is a *true* TEAM mentality, and THAT is the Zebrette’s strength. Seriously. My hat goes off to Marino for clutivating a squad with what must be the least me-me-me attitude per player in calcio. Hat’s off to the players as well; Fabio f*&^ing Quagliarella… the same player that’s been courted by top clubs in the EPL and Serie A alike… is willing to sit on the bench if his coach thinks it’s best. That speaks volumes.

As for tomorrow, while Di Natale has a bug once again, I have a hunch that he’s somehow not ruled out entirely… but honestly, does it matter? If Di Natale’s out, Floro Flores will step in, and if I’m Inter, I’m not looking forward to seeing either player fly toward my defense. Floro Flores, Di Natale, Quagliarella, Pepe… and even Sanchez… every one of them can cause problems. At the same token, I am not looking forward to seeing The Great Zlatan (a.k.a Jar-Jar Ibrahimovic) and that troublesome (yet on one day / off another) Mancini coming at Udinese’s defense either…

…but speaking of Udinese’s defense, talk about underrated! With all of the commotion surrounding Udinese’s attack (and I realize that I’m a contributor to said commotion), it’s easy to overlook the fact that the Zebrette defense has let just eight in this season (compared to Inter’s seven). Moreover, Handanovic (hope I’m not jinxing him here) has been STELLAR as of late to the point where I’m going to place him into my elite don’t-know-how-Udine-have-held-on-to-this-guy group.

At this point, a few of the bloggers here at The Offside would probably throw some predictions out there, but I suck terribly at predicting anything. As a result, I’ll leave you with a look at two years worth of matches between Udinese and Inter, and remind you that Udinese has only improved since these matches took place. Enjoy:

October 22, 2006 (Udinese 0-0 Inter)