New Zebras

By: vin | August 9th, 2008

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…

Emanuele Belardi (from Juventus) – This goalkeeper, on loan to Udine, is essentially a replacement for Chimenti, who was also on loan from Juve. You’d think that as Buffon’s backup, he’d have to be pretty damn good (Tough act to follow? How ’bout YES.), but apparently Juve didn’t think so. Belardi DID allow seven goals in five matches (four started, one substituted) last season, which comes to 1.44 goals allowed per match – WAY worse than Buffon (0.88), but not too far away from Handanovic (1.29).

Gaetano Cala (from Messina) – I will freely admit that I know nothing about this guy other than the following: 1) he played for Messina in Serie B last season, 2) he is a defender, and 3) Udinese got him for really, really cheap. (Well… that last one’s just speculation, based on the fact that Messina gave up its Serie B membership after the last campaign, and is now set to start ‘08-’09 in Serie D… and they don’t even have a coach yet. Point being, players were probably beating the doors down to get away from Messina.)

Daniel Bradaschia (from Treviso) – Alright. I’m drawing a blank here too, but this is a striker… and a young one (19 or 20 years old) at that. Think possible Primavera candidate here, along with (possibly) Cala, Koprivec (above) and Asamoah (below).

Kwadwo Asamoah (from Bellinzona) – Not to be confused with Asamoah Gyan, also a Ghananian, Kwadwo Asamoah is a 19 year-old striker on loan to Udinese. I can’t really see him getting much playing time, since he’s got at least four guys starting ahead of him, but who knows? Personally, I think Udinese just wanted another guy named Asamoah.

Fernando Damian Tissone (from Atalanta) – OK, so this guy isn’t actually a completely new signing. Tissone, an Argentine midfielder, was with the Zebrette in ‘05-’06, where he appeared in around 80% of the squad’s matches, many times as a substitute. It probably doesn’t bode well that ‘05-’06 was an awful year for Udinese, but I’ll try not to hold it against Tissone.

Antonio Langella (from Atalanta) – Hold on a sec… You’re saying that Udinese picked up a guy who wasn’t born in the 1980s? Like Di Natale, Langella appears to be hitting his stride late (albeit in substantially less awesome fashion); he doubled his goals per game average last year (with Atalanta, 0.29) compared to years prior (with Cagliari, 0.14).

Langella is capable of playing as a striker or a winger, and if I had to guess, I’d say we’ll see him in the latter role. Also, there’s something of a sub-plot here; Di Natale now has a buddy up front who’s his age, *and* is also from Napoli, which also happens to be the birthplace of Quagliarella and Floro Flores. So basically, Marino is constructing a Neapolitan Expeditionary Strike Force up in Udine. Hey – whatever works.

Ighalo (from Lyn Oslo), Mazzarani and Formiconi (both from Cisco Roma) – Not too much detail here: Ighalo is a 19 year-old Nigerian who may or may have not already had an agreement with Norwegian club SK Brann before signing with Udinese. Mazzarani and Formiconi are also 19 year-olds. The latter is a defender, and the former is a midfielder. Forgive me for not getting excited about another three 19 year-olds.

Stuff to Worry About

1) You may remember that last time, I was happy that Inler was sticking around. Well, let’s just say that I’m hoping it wasn’t wishful thinking on my part, as there have been some scary rumors concerning both Inler and Quagliarella in recent days. Hopefully, they’re just rumors, but until the transfer window closes, this is something to keep an eye on.

2) I keep on telling myself that pre-season friendlies mean nothing, and for good reason, because if they DID mean something, man, would the Zebrette ever be f***ed this season.