The usual Udinese: he travels at the average of one point per race

As in the last two years at 24 after 22 games. The top in ’17 -’18 (32) but then 11 defeats came in a row

UDINE. There is that game with Fiorentina to be recovered and that 3-0 at the table with Salernitana still to be confirmed, the fact is that to date Udinese’s points in the standings after 22 races are 24.

It is common opinion, especially considering the offensive potential, that this is the most complete squad that Gino Pozzo has made available to the coaching staff in the last seven years.

Yet the balance is the same as in the two previous years and only higher than one, that of the ’18 -’19 championship when Udinese, in the third return leg, was still at 19 points. That was the tournament that began with Julio Velazquez on the bench, then replaced by Davide Nicola in turn then taken over by Igor Tudor.

It was a troubled path that of the bianconeri who put together 9 points in 12 matches with the Spanish coach and 10 in as many challenges with the Piedmontese coach who in fact was unable to reverse the course.

Paradoxically, Udinese’s best first part of the season in the last seven years remains the one that then coincided with one of the darkest moments, namely that of the eleven consecutive defeats. On matchday 22 the bianconeri had climbed to 32, thanks to the success at Marassi against Genoa signed by Valon Behrami’s goal.

The following Sunday another point would arrive with Milan before starting the black series. Udinese never equaled: neither with Delneri on the bench nor with Oddo.

Incredible but true: the first division of the post arrived on the first day of return (1-1 in Verona with Chievo), a result then repeated the following week in Friuli with Spal. Then ten wins (including Oddo’s five in a row in December) and as many defeats. A completely different trend compared to today’s team suffering from “draws” like no other (as many as 9 times in which it has divided the stakes) and capable of winning only one more match (5 against 4) than the one that had stopped at 19.

At the beginning of the second round both the Udinese of Stramaccioni and that of the Iachini-Delneri duo had done better. Strama started very well and then braked in the second round, but he still managed to put together 28 points in 22 matches, the result of 7 wins as many draws and 8 defeats. Iachini won twice and drew once in seven days: exact average of one point per game sufficient to decree the change with Delneri.

The arrival of the technician from Aquileia led to a turnaround as even with him the “x” sign rarely came out (and Gigi will close at 45, best score from 2014 onwards). Along the same lines, the path of Stefano Colantuono replaced in March 2016 with Gigi De Canio. The Lazio coach closed the first leg with 24 points losing before the halfway point in Modena against Carpi and scoring another point in the first three days of the second round.

Summing up, therefore, the coaches pass, they try to improve the teams but the product at Udinese does not change. The average is just above the point per game, a trend that does not satisfy the company, convinced that it has set up a decidedly competitive team. But is it really so? To Cioffi the arduous sentence.