Deulofeu yes, Deulofeu no? While the club is wondering about the future of the Spanish forward, Udinese continues to drop points along the way, thus losing the value of that extraordinary start that had sent Pereyra and his teammates into the top positions of the standings. The draw with Empoli, which had followed the three before the break with Cremonese, Lecce and Spezia, had highlighted problems, the defeat against Bologna magnified them.
Sottil must have also put in something of his own with always the same changes (a bit like the same criticism made to Inter against Simone Inzaghi), but the problem lies at the origin. The lack of a right winger worthy of picking up on Molina’s legacy.
Fundamental exteriors
Even the rocks know it: to design a team with a 3-5-2 you need to have quality on the wing. Sottil was good at making up for the lack of a man to fill the right wing by betting on Pereyra, but when Deulofeu was injured, he lost quality close to the penalty area. To remedy this absence, the structure could be changed.
An example? The formula with a single striker and two attacking midfielders – Pereyra and Samardzic –. But there remains a huge hole on the right where Ehizibue has revealed himself not up to the task and Ebosele is still too immature. The big disappointment was the first, on the second, given his age, there’s time to work on it and make it grow.
Ehizibue makes no guarantees
On Sunday against Bologna, instead of replacing both midfielders, Sottil could have centralized Pereyra and introduced Ehizibue, but he obviously doesn’t trust the Nigerian. Hence the discussion of the short blanket which also applies to the defence.
Nuytinck was sold on the first day of the transfer market and Udinese will meet him again on Sunday, but with Ebosse making one per game, a replacement hasn’t arrived yet. Sure, there’s Masina who is striding to return to the field, but in the meantime the calendar doesn’t give a break and points continue to be lost along the way.
Withdraw
Ten games without a win is a lot. In the post match, as we have already underlined, Sottil was very honest in analyzing him. The history of the withdrawal is less clear. No one will be able to confirm it, but knowing Gianpaolo Pozzo it’s easier to imagine that it was he who imposed it and not Captain Pereyra who asked for it.
Withdrawals are always of little use, if it’s a superstitious choice, that’s fine. As long as, in the event of a victory over Sampdoria, there isn’t someone who says: it worked.