Udinese travelling in circles

Udinese were one of the most consistent teams up to the ninth day of the current season. With 20 points under their belt, Pasquale Marino's men were high up in the standings and being tipped as outsiders for a top-four finish.

However, that all changed in November as all the team managed to collect from their subsequent eight fixtures were two home draws against Genoa (2-2) and Lazio (3-3). In the latter match, they threw away a three-goal lead.

Since suffering a heart-breaking defeat to Inter at San Siro on November 9, when Julio Cruz struck the winner in injury time, Udinese seem to have lost the plot going down to unfancied teams such as Reggina (0-1) and Chievo (0-1) in a series of five straight defeats. But what happened to Udinese lately?

It's difficult to explain the dip in performances in recent weeks. Needless to say, the morale of the players is very low at the moment.

Club owner Gianpaolo Pozzo had played down suggestions from the press that his team was in the middle of a crisis but now he reckons that his players need to pull up their socks and work harder to return where they belong. Two points collected from the last-available 24 is too little for any club let alone an ambitious outfit like Udinese.

Last season, Udinese finished a creditable seventh place. More importantly, Udinese, under ex-Catania mentor Marino, improved their point-tally by a remarkable 11 points over 2006/07.

At the start of this season, Udinese continued where they had left off by playing some entertaining football and getting excellent results including a 3-1 home win over Roma.

Even in the UEFA Cup, Udinese did very well by finishing top in Group D with three wins (over Tottenham, Spartak Moscow and Dynamo Zagreb) and suffered only one defeat (vs NEC 0-2).

Marino has enough quality in his squad to come out of this embarrassing situation and they must start winning matches if they are to get back in the reckoning for a Champions League berth. The main task for the Udinese coach is to see his players regain confidence.

The coming days are also useful for Marino to determine whether he needs to reinforce his squad especially at the back.

The influential Christian Zapata and Felipe have been sorely missed in defence and Marino could be tempted to sign a stop-gap replacement for them. Lately, Udinese's suspect defence has been letting in soft goals.

Marino's 4-3-3 set-up has enabled Udinese to get excellent results in the past but it does not mean that they should stick to this system in future because in recent weeks, it has exposed Udinese's frailties.

The defence is very fragile and the midfield is offering little protection.

Moreover, the three strikers, unlike what they used to do in the past, are not helping enough when it comes to pressing or recovering possession.

One finds it hard to believe that a team that collected 20 points in their first nine outings have suddenly become so dreadful that they have collected less points than bottom side Chievo did in their last eight matches.

The Christmas recess has come at an opportune time for Udinese to stop and reflect on the errors committed in the last two months.

Serie A statistics

0home wins for Siena vs Inter as the Tuscany side suffered their third straight defeat. On Saturday, Inter beat Siena for the third season running. This was Inter's eighth successive victory. Bologna remained undefeated under Sinisa Mihajlovic after they drew 0-0 with lowly Lecce who are still in search of their first win since September 28. Walter Zenga's Catania put an end to their four-match winless streak (one draw and three defeats) as they overcame Roma by the odd goal in five. This was Roma's first defeat after five straight wins.

2nd successive home win for Torino against Napoli as the Maroons continued to show signs of improvement under new coach Walter Novellino. Torino's first win after three straight defeats coincided with Napoli's fourth consecutive away setback. Inconsistent Sampdoria suffered their third defeat in their last four outings as they were edged by Fiorentina at their Luigi Ferraris Stadium. This was Fiorentina's third win in a row and their first in Genoa since April 9, 1989 (2-1).

4th straight win for Juventus as the Bianconeri remained within sight of leaders Inter following their third consecutive success in Bergamo. For Luigi Del Neri's side this was their first home upset since going down to Milan on the eighth day. Against Palermo, Lazio returned to winning ways after a barren run of five winless games (two draws and three defeats) thanks to a Tommaso Rocchi second-half strike. All the Sicilians have to show from their last six away fixtures are two draws.

6 points separate Inter from nearest pursuers Juventus. Jose Mourinho's Inter possess the most prolific attack with 31 goals and the best defensive record in the division, 11 goals conceded. Only four teams are still undefeated at home - Inter, Fiorentina, Napoli and Genoa. The Viola still have to figure in an away draw. Lecce, Torino and Catania are still searching for their first away success of the term. Chievo have scored only nine goals so far. Reggina, with 33 goals against, have the worst defensive record in the entire division.

8 winless games on the trot have seen Udinese taking a nosedive in the standings. On Sunday, Pasquale Marino's side were humbled by Milan at the San Siro. This was Milan's eighth straight home win. A draw between these two sides has been missing since February 11, 1998 (0-0). Genoa clinched their second successive away win when they beat Chievo in Verona. Genoa are undefeated in their last five outings (two wins and three draws) whereas Chievo have lost all their last three fixtures. Cagliari-Reggina shared the spoils in Sardinia for the second season running. Cagliari have not beaten Reggina at home since a 2-0 success on November 30, 1997.

24 goals were scored on the 17th day: 13 coming from the hosts and the remaining 11 from the visitors, who managed four victories. Total number of goals scored so far amount to 417. Neither own goals nor hat-tricks were recorded. Four players - Maicon (Inter), Pato, Kakà (both Milan) and Takayuki Morimoto (Catania) - grabbed a brace each. Christian Vieri (Atalanta), Tommaso Rocchi (Lazio) and Jeremy Menez (Roma) came on as substitutes and scored. Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Diego Milito (Genoa) and Marco Di Vaio (Bologna) lead the scorers' list with 12 goals each. Meanwhile, two players - Federico Balzaretti (Palermo) and Paolo Bianco (Cagliari) - saw red.