Football Season Guide

The past 5 seasons have been far from memorable for Udinese, who have hired and sacked lots of coaches, while always struggling for salvation and failing to repeat the wonders of the previous decade. In the past 2 campaigns, they only managed to achieve safety at the very end, thanks to Igor Tudor’s services. While he had not been confirmed at the start of the last season, this time around the management opted to give him an opportunity to prove his skills for the whole term. Then, they hired Pierpaolo Marino as sports director. He was one of the architects of Udinese at their best, under Zaccheroni and Spalletti, and he was given the reins again, which should prove that the Pozzo family are not exclu-sively concentrated on Watford. Tudor will not be able to count on Zeegelaar, a left-back, and Okaka, a centre-forward, in the new campaign as the two returned to their parent club despite proving fundamental for the final salvation. More players left over the summer but, among them, only Behrami, whose past campaign was a positive one, but spent more time on the sidelines than on the pitch, is worth mentioning. In terms of signings, Udinese hired two players like Jajalo and Nestoroski, who did well at Palermo, and were set free once the Sicilians failed last month. They were both much needed as Udinese lacked a real playmaker and a prolific striker. Moreover, they added Becao to the defence and that is a bit of a risk as he has no experience in Western European football. On the other hand, Walace should be a useful and skillful midfielder. Balic, returning from a loan in the Netherlands, could also be given relevant playing time in a role à la Pirlo. If Pezzella does not remain at the club, they will need a left-back while they might lose a lot in terms of quality if De Paul is sold to a bigger club.