Football Season Guide

It’s been more than a decade since Udinese last fought for a European place. However, they never got as close to relegation as last season, when they only avoided the fall in the last week, thanks to an away win in Frosinone. Undoubtedly, it was a campaign during which almost all that could go wrong actually went wrong. They had to deal with an incredible injury crisis, especially in the attack, they just drew too many games, 19!, and won too few, 6, 2 of which in the last 3, and threw away an incredible number of points in the last minutes of play. Coach Andrea Sottil, who started the season, adopted a too defensive football and was sacked after week 9, when they still were winless. In came Gabriele Cioffi, who only slightly improved things but failed to repeat two seasons ago’s wonders, but he had to be sacked too, with 5 games and a bit left. Fabio Cannavaro eventually made a miracle but left after reaching salvation, failing to find an economic agreement with the club. Udinese thus hired an absolute new face for Italian football, 53-year-old Kosta Runjaic, who did great things in Poland at Legia Warsaw and Pogon Szczecin. He promises to offer a more aggressive football than the one displayed by the team in the recent past. Udinese let go two main players, midfielder Walace, who wanted out, and versatile Pereyra, who was not offered a deal renewal. And they hired talented Ekkelenkamp, from Antwerp, and Karlstrom, from Lech Poznan, set to replace them, with Quina being back from loan. The attack was the area where they suffered the most, last season, and they signed promising Pizarro and Bravo, both 19, while Deulofeu is still recovering from long-term injury. Brenner and Davis should be given more playing time, provided they are healthy this time around, while Sanchez is close to signing. They often displayed problems on the right flank and in came Esteves, 20, who showed promise last season. They are still looking for a centre-back and a midfielder.