Udinese soar high

Udinese were off to an abysmal start this season, losing all their first four Serie A fixtures – vs Genoa (0-1), Inter (1-2), Juventus (0-4) and Bologna (1-2).

They drew their next match against Sampdoria and after that Francesco Guidolin’s men showed remarkable improvement, collecting 33 points in 17 outings (an average of almost two points per game).

In the wake of such a poor start, few club owners would have resisted to the temptation of sacking their under-achieving coach.

Instead, 70-year-old Giampaolo Pozzo, who has been at the helm of Udinese since 1986, continued to give his backing to Guidolin, urging him to lead the team out of the tunnel.

Indeed, that was an inspired decision as Udinese have been reaping rich dividends ever since.

Guidolin is one of the most respected coaches in the Serie A.

Bar for a dismal stint with Atalanta (in his debut season in the top flight in 1993) and another poor showing on the Monaco bench in 2005/06, he has done consistently well wherever he has been.

Guidolin was the mastermind behind Vicenza’s rise from the Serie B to the top flight in the late 1990s.

The 55-year-old even led Vicenza to a shock 1997 Coppa Italia success and then all the way to the semi-finals of the Cup Winners’ Cup the following year.

In 1998/99, Guidolin led Udinese to a mid-table finish. He was fired at the end of that season after showing intentions of moving overseas.

After coaching Bologna, Palermo (four times), Monaco and Parma, Guidolin was re-hired by Pozzo to replace Pasquale Marino.

So far this season, Genoa and Juventus were the only sides that left the Friuli stadium with the three points in their bags.

However, since that hammering against Juve on the third day, Cagliari (1-1, on the 10th day) were the only other side to avoid defeat against the northeasterners.

Since October, Udinese have been firing on all cylinders and teams of the calibre of Palermo (2-1), Napoli (3-1), Fiorentina (2-1) and Inter (3-1) were left to lick their wounds after playing at the Friuli.

Sunday’s 3-1 win against Inter further exposed Udinese’s marked progress of late.

It was their first home victory over champions Inter since a 2-1 win in March 2003.

On Sunday, Udinese were in complete command after Dejan Stankovic’s early lead had come against the run of play.

Despite conceding first, Udinese never threw in the towel and kept pounding the Inter defence until they got the breakthrough. The margin of victory gives full credit to a side brimming with confidence.

If they maintain the same level of consistency, Udinese will surely challenge for a place in Europe.

They have been strong at their own backyard and recently they also managed to step up a gear away following a 4-4 draw with Milan and a stunning 4-2 win at Genoa.

Guidolin focus

Udinese are not involved in any other competitions this season so Guidolin can concentrate exclusively on the team’s remaining 17 Serie A fixtures. Moreover, Udinese, unlike the big-spending clubs, are not under any kind of financial pressure to obtain European qualification at all costs.

Guidolin is showing his mettle at the helm of a team that comprises several quality players including Antonio Di Natale, Alexis Sanchez, Christian Zapata, Mauricio Isla, Kwadwo Asamoah, Gokhan Inler and Giampiero Pinzi.

These players are all very much sought after in the transfer market and as happened in past years, most will join the highest bidders next summer, if not by the end of this month’s transfer window.

Strange, but it has always been Udinese’s policy to acquire unknowns, mostly South Americans, for bargain prices, mould them into top-quality players and then offload them, making significant profits in the process.

Since 1995, Udinese launched the career of players like Oliver Bierhoff, Christian Amoroso, Sulley Muntari, Nestor Sensini, Vincenzo Iaquinta, David Pizarro, Martin Jorgensen, Gaetano d’Agostino, Simone Pepe, Andrea Dossena and Fabio Quagliarella, among others.

Udine was the place where Alberto Zaccheroni and Luciano Spalletti also started their coaching careers.

Whilst the club has always been run at a profit, the team has attained some truly remarkable results, including qualification to the Champions League in 2005.

Guidolin’s boys are currently eighth and trail fourth-placed Lazio by only four points.

Many believe this team can go all the way and emulate the Udinese sides that finished third under Zaccheroni (1997/98) and fourth under Spalletti (2004/05).