Udinese

[King Binny]

As with Lille, Udinese have been pretty impressive in recent seasons. Their consistency is all the more commendable with the departures of their star players.

The Friuliani had been joint-top alongside Juventus for a couple of weeks but moved into sole possession of first place by beating Novara 3-0 after Antonio Conte's team had drawn with Genoa. If there are those who see the sign of champions in Milan's rousing comeback, then it is also worth raising a piece of received wisdom from American sports: defence wins championships.

Through their first seven games, Francesco Guidolin's team have conceded just a single goal and yesterday they held firm against a Novara side who had come into the game as the league's joint-top scorers so far this season. That would appear quite the departure for a team who became renowned last season for their swashbuckling and, at times reckless, attacking football though with Samir Handanovic between the sticks it ought not to come as so great a surprise.

Brilliance was not required of the Slovenian yesterday – though Novara did have more shots on target than their hosts – but few goalkeepers in any league have been in better form over the past 12 months. Although much was written about his aptitude for saving penalties last season – when he stopped a record-breaking six – few seemed to take much notice of the fact that last season he also went a league-best 704 minutes without conceding a goal of any kind at a key point of the season from February into mid-March.

The defence too, though, have been impressive – handling the departures of Cristián Zapata and Gokhan Inler, previously their shield at the base of the Udinese midfield, far more easily than any could have imagined. But the manager Guidolin was dismissive when asked if his team could contend for the Scudetto. He had spent a part of the second half gesturing to his own team's fans to ease off on the songs about even being top of the league now.

You could hardly blame them, given that this is now the first time in 11 seasons that Udinese have had first place all to themselves. But after Milan's performance in the lunchtime game, you could also understand why the manager might feel that not even a three-goal lead should be taken for granted.

Udinese are also looking in very good shape in the Europa League, with seven points from their first three games, and it is Italy's only other remaining representative in that competition who now sit second in Serie A. Lazio have done rather worse in Europe, a draw in Zurich on Thursday leaving them with just two points in the competition, but at home they followed up last week's derby win with a comfortable victory at Bologna. Their manager, Edy Reja, was not quite as reticent as Guidolin to talk about the title, though he too insisted this was not the time to get carried away. "Let's wait until the midway point to see who are the forces leading the way in the league," he said.

Udinese cashed €51m for Sanchez, Inler + Zapata. That figure can become €62.5m. Guess how much they cost Udinese? Yep, €4.5m

[quote author=Stulikesdrums link=topic=45444.msg1372433#msg1372433 date=1312064915]
All three cost €4.5? How is that even possible?
[/quote]

Might not be the exact figure but more or less that.

C. Zapata - Deportivo Cali for €500k to €1m in 2005
G. ?nler - FC Zürich for undisclosed fee reported to be between €600k to €1m in 2008
A. Sánchez - Deportes Cobreloa for £2m in 2006

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/chris-mcgrath-super-sanchez-is-the-latest-big-success-story-of-little-udineses-scouting-system-2297131.html

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/gabriele_marcotti/02/03/udinese.2/index.html

Pozzo devised a solution that has now secured 16 consecutive seasons in Serie A, and regular European competition.

Udinese built up a network of 50 scouts around the world, concentrated primarily in South America and Africa. They focused especially on youngsters from second-tier nations, and duly found Sanchez as a 16-year-old in Chile. He cost just €2m, but his sale this summer will merely consummate a policy that has already yielded a transfer surplus of €112m over the past decade.

Stars to have used Udinese as a stepping stone include David Pizarro, Asamoah Gyan, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Sulley Muntari, Andrea Dossena, Fabio Quagliarella and Gaetano D'Agostino.

England boss Fabio Capello admits that he’s been left impressed by Udinese and the Italian national side.

The Bianconeri are currently top of Serie A after finishing fourth last term, while the Azzurri were one of the first nations to qualify for Euro 2012.

“Udinese are now to be considered as a great reality of the Italian game,” Capello told Radio RAI on Monday morning.

“I saw them play against Arsenal in the Champions League preliminary round and they are now a worthy European outfit.

“Had they not sold their three prized assets in the summer – Alexis Sanchez [Barcelona], Gokhan Inler [Napoli] and Cristian Zapata [Villarreal] – then they could have won the Scudetto this season…