“Saturday for the bianconeri a key game with Genoa but I would play this one to get through the round”

GIULIANO GIANNICHEDDA. The double ex on the week of fire that awaits Cioffi’s team, starting from today’s Cup match

THE INTERVIEW

“Saturday in Genoa will be the watershed match for the Udinese championship, but if I were still Juventus I would play this eighth of the Cup and aim to go through, knowing that anything can happen after that”. The invitation to Zebretta comes from Giuliano Giannichedda, a double ex who, in terms of cups, has a lift with Udinese, the Intertoto in 2000 in Friuli, and the Italian Cup won with Lazio in 2004. For two years the “Gianni” is a selector of the National Representative Serie D under 18 and 19 of the National Amateur League, and also due to professional deformation, he does not lose a game.

Giannichedda, is the Cup a problem or an opportunity for Udinese who came out with broken bones from Covid?

«It can be an opportunity for several reasons, the first of which is dictated by the possibility of going close to a final phase where anything can happen. Going forward can give enormous satisfaction and then allows the less busy players in the league to play minutes. I remember that in Udine we always went out on the pitch to play for it and I would do the same now because lifting a cup is a great emotion ».

Sarri and Cioffi are struggling with absences and problems related to Covid. Who is worse off?

“The last Udinese matches have been absurd, especially the one against Atalanta which was a farce, and therefore we will have to see the condition of the bianconeri and the formation that Cioffi will be able to field, about which I have read more than something at Coverciano, and I know that he is a fussy boy who is very committed at work ».

The weaknesses of Lazio?

«It’s a team that has totally changed since last season, both in terms of the game system and in terms of the coach and some players. In the current game the midfielders struggle more because they find themselves running back fifty meters if they are bypassed and it is no coincidence that Sarri prefers more circular players in the median, as a matter of balance. This is the reason why Luis Alberto is struggling to find space, as he should find space in the Cup and have many motivations. The real problems, however, are in defense, where compactness is still lacking and whoever takes over is not like whoever is replaced ».

So watch Luis Alberto on both sides?

«I hope to see Samardzic, a talented boy who, as soon as he manages to understand certain times, will be able to make a great contribution. I’d say Beto too, if he were to play. I did not expect the Portuguese to be so ready and with the right mentality. He knows how to play on the bank and is also too generous to be a first striker. Then I also liked Deulofeu very much, but now he has lost a bit of brilliance ».

As an expert on the role, does the Udinese median need to be adjusted in the transfer market?

«Walace is a very good player, even if he is not very dynamic, and he does enough filter. I would say that the midfielders are a bit muscular and many balls that then reach the attackers are complicated to manage ».

What eighth do you expect?

“A Lazio that will play the game and that will have to pay attention to the Friulian restarts, but also a match that could have less intensity than expected due to Covid, with few changes and players called to play every three days”. –