Quagliarella = Sixth Zebra to Score

By: vin | September 28th, 2008

First off, apologies for not posting more frequently. When I drop off the face of the Earth for a few days here and there, chances are, I have a grad school assignment due, and am allocating my time appropriately. Not to worry though; this next one’s due on Oct. 1, and after that, I should be able to ramp up the posts to two per week until the my assignment.

Now… Let’s get down to business:

As the title of this post indicates, we’re talking about goals here. Specifically, check out the number of Udinese players to find the back of the net this season. Impressive, no? (Sorry if the font’s a little small; the table was pretty wide, but I wanted to include all of it.) Only two other squads have had their goals shared between as many (or more) players: Milan (7) and Roma (6).

I think that there are two lessons to take from the statistics above. First, Pepe and Floro Flores are contributing just as much as Quagliarella and Di Natale. I know I’ve briefly mentioned Marino’s striker rotation before, but especially after the match against Bologna, I think that Pepe and Floro Flores deserve special recognition. During that match, with Quags rested (until the 81st minute) and Di Natale sidelined with the flu, both Pepe and Floro Flores really asserted themselves as strikers worthy of the minutes Marino has given them. So, take note: It’s not just a Quags & Toto show.

Second, the Zebrette are playing as a cohesive unit, perhaps more so than any squad in the lega calcio at the moment, and it’s fantastic to watch. In fact, the goal distribution, striker rotation, and the way the team appears to be getting along have combined to remind me of the Azzurri, circa 2006 World Cup, where the squad’s dozen goals were shared between 10 players. That’s the kind of team effort that I see in the Zebrette, and we, the fortunate tifosi, get to reap the benefits… benefits like three unanswered goals in Bologna, and a clean sheet against Siena:

Next up:

Borussia Dortmund visit Friuli on Tursday, October 2, and then Udinese host Torino on Sunday, October 5. (After that, our ragazzi get a well-earned respite until October 19.)