Udinese, with Sampdoria you need a victory to change pace and be safe

The bianconeri, after two precious draws with Lazio and Milan, need the three points to extend the relegation zone

UDINE. We need a win. It is useless to go around so much. To give even greater value to the draws obtained with Lazio and Milan, Udinese today must beat Sampdoria to change pace, extend the relegation zone and dedicate the three points to patron Pozzo forced to the pits due to a health problem.

Okay, the Bianconeri, compared to the Sampdoria who support them in the standings at an altitude of 26, have the parachute of two games to recover, but from a psychological point of view, significantly approaching the wall of 30 points would mean taking a good step forward in the standings and it would give Becao and his companions a bit of peace of mind.

After the crash in Verona, Udinese reacted pretty well with Lazio (that remains a missed opportunity given how much Sarri’s team had been reworked) and well at San Siro with Milan where, beyond the referees that penalized both the formations not only the Rossoneri, Cioffi’s team gave encouraging signals. Now we need others: the continuity of performance is the characteristic that differentiates a normal team from a higher level. From this point of view, Udinese struggled both under the Gotti management and under that of Cioffi.

In terms of quality, Sampdoria is not a team inferior to Udinese. The attacking couple Quagliarella-Caputo are not at first hair, but they know how to move in the penalty area and in midfield Sensi and Candreva considerably raise the technical level of the department. It will be a challenge between two completely different ways of playing football: the 4-3-1-2 of Giampaolo who never gives up on the back four and the attacking midfielder behind the strikers and the 3-5-2 of Udinese which tends to do density in their own half and then restart with the verticalizations for the tips and the forays of the two men in the wing.

An important variable in the tactical outline of the match could be represented by the use of Pereyra from the first minute. How important the Argentine is for this team can be seen in the two sections of the match with Lazio and Milan. Not only that: with an opponent who takes sides with a three-way midfield, you find the spaces with sudden changes in front of you with the midfielder and the winger. The tactical plan, therefore, is soon revealed.

Giampaolo asked his team to equalize the physicality and competitive spirit of the bianconeri, Cioffi trusts in the thrust of the public. A setting more worthy of a Serie A match, with the capacity increased to 75% and the popular prices proposed by the company, can be an extra boost for Udinese.

We were going to write “weapon”, but given what is happening in north-eastern Europe it is best to avoid. By the way, today during the warm-up the Bianconeri will show a Ukrainian flag on their shirts and some LEDs will be lit on the sidelines. Symbolic gestures, but necessary.