UDINE. On the wings of enthusiasm, being careful not to fall. Fall into one of the championship traps. Udinese flies carried away by the compliments that rain from everywhere, fueled by the position in the standings of the bianconeri who, after seven rounds, have collected 16 points, one less than the two leaders Atalanta and Napoli and now look to the recovery, just set for the next Monday, when they will play the last postponement of the day, against Verona.
Pressure
Just the fact of playing after all the others in the resumption of the championship after the break could be an additional complication, given that now everyone expects performances along the lines of those of the first days from Udinese which has a “streak open ”of five consecutive victories.
In short, Andrea Sottil will also have to be good at regulating the tension within the group, a group that will already know the result of Napoli-Torino, Inter-Roma and Empoli-Milan, five of the top nine in the standings, on Saturday. The day after Lazio-Spezia, Atalanta-Fiorentina and Juventus-Bologna to complete the picture of the left side of the ranking, where Udinese aspires to be.
The other side of the coin? Even Verona will have some pressure on them, they are in a delicate position, the coach Gabriele Cioffi has already been questioned and must score points to get out of the hindrance.
Defence
Seven goals conceded, three in the last six days. Sottil has worked a lot on the stability of his rearguard and he knows that this is a basis on which successes can be built, exploiting the talent and physical impact of Udinese. But the squad is rather stingy in immediate solutions, thanks to Masina’s knee injury (out for at least six months), Nuytinck’s poor flexibility (left-handed and not very fast in moving in the short term) and the young age of the elements of outline, mostly of the apprentices purchased in perspective. So watch out for the holders’ disqualifications.
Calendar
Because the Bianconeri’s journey will be anything but simple, especially in the next four days. After the away match in Verona, in fact, the menu includes Atalanta and Torino at home for Sottil with a detour to the Olimpico in the middle, at Lazio. Then there will be opponents now on the right side of the standings, Cremonese, Lecce and Spezia before the great closing in Naples to make room for a month and a half at the World Cup. And there, if Udinese remains high, market rumors could resume share, such as those on Becao courted by various Premier League clubs. But it is a risk that you can gladly take …