So far, Udinese Calcio has been the surprise team in the Italian Serie A. With impressive performances, the team of coaching novice and Klopp admirer Andrea Sottil has pushed itself into the top group. Oliver Bierhoff also knows that Udine is a place where players improve. Now there is an unexpected top game against Atalanta Bergamo.
Pierpaolo Marino has already seen a lot. Almost four decades ago, the Technical Director of Udinese Calcio started his managerial career at SSC Napoli, at the time of Diego Maradona. On Monday evening (October 3rd, 2022), the 68-year-old was overwhelmed by his feelings as rarely. He had tears of joy in his eyes and his voice faltered as Marino joined the journalists after Udinese’s 2-1 win Hellas Verona. It is “like a dream“, commented Marino, visibly touched, on the strong performance of his “Bianconeri“. To add to the wish that this dream that he and Udinese are currently living should, if you please, not end so quickly.
Sport Director Pierpaolo Marino
A dream that can also be statistically proven. With 19 points after eight games, Udinese have had the best start to the season in their history. Just a point behind, the team from the north-east corner of Italy are currently third, behind tied leaders SSC Napoli and Atalanta Bergamo. Which means Udine will get the unusual benefit of a top-flight game at home against Bergamo this weekend. Third against second, Udinese against Atalanta – the top game that hardly anyone expected.
Udinese’s game knows only one direction
Even more surprising than Udinese’s placement are the performances that have earned the team their top spot. It doesn’t matter which opponent you’re up against, no matter what tactics they use, no matter what the standings are – Udinese’s game only knows one direction. Goalscorer idol Luca Toni commented after the victory in Verona as an expert with the Italian colleagues from “DAZN” shaking his head in disbelief: “They attack from the first to the last minute!“
No other team in Serie A practices such aggressive pressing as Udinese, no one looks for the way to score so quickly and consistently. This high-speed attacking football is the work of a newcomer to Serie A coaching. Udine, where they’ve always given chances to talent on the pitch and on the bench, has been working since the summer Andrea Sotil (“My role model as a coach is Jürgen Klopp“).
Around the turn of the millennium, the now 48-year-old was a tough defender at clubs that oscillated between Serie A and B, including Udine. As a coach, Sottil has been active in the lower league so far, most recently in Serie B Ascoli Moved from a relegation to a playoff spot. Sottil perfected Udinese’s already offensive style of play in just a few weeks and gave his team a dominant appearance on the pitch that one is used to from established top teams but not from a team from the provinces.
Udinese coach Andrea Sottil
A German talent
The current dream in Udine also has German elements. Manager Marino mentioned one player by name in his teary-eyed comments after the Verona win: Lazar Samardzic, who played for Hertha BSC and RB Leipzig in Germany. Born in Berlin with Serbian roots, he was the match winner in the game against Verona, in which Udine struggled to score goals despite permanent dominance. Until the 20 year old Samardzic came, as so often, as the first joker from Sottil in the second half. The German U21 national player prepared the equalizer with a casually chipped pass, and with a free kick drawn in a perfect arc he did the preparatory work for the winning goal.
Samardzic reminds him of Gianni Rivera, Marino said afterwards. There is hardly a greater compliment for an attacking midfielder in Italy. As if that wasn’t enough, the manager, euphoric about the current form of his team, added: In his opinion, Samardzic has what it takes to become a superstar. Mind you, says someone who worked closely with Diego Maradona for a few years.
Lazar Samardzic in the German U21 uniform
The man in the background
So far, Marino in Italy has been known less for euphoric superlatives than for serious, hard work. Because of his knack for spotting and nurturing talent, Marino was recognized as the manager with the best scouting work a few years ago when he was still at Atalanta Bergamo. Now – again – at Udinese it seems perfect match to one. scouting-Champion Marino at the club, which not least his successful presence in Serie A for more than 25 years scouting owes.
Udinese club patron Giampaolo Pozzo, a successful engineering contractor, took over the club in the 1980s. In 2008, the rather taciturn Udinese sold his company to Bosch and concentrated entirely on football. Pozzo, in one of his rare interviews, emphasized that he does not invest, “to put me in the spotlight, like Berlusconi“, but because “Football is the family hobby” be.
In addition to the traditional Italian club Udinese, the Pozzos have also owned the English championship club since 2011 Watford FC. In the decades at the helm of Udinese Calcio, they have one scoutingdeveloped a network that is among the largest and best in Europe. Only in its early years, in the 1980s, indulged Giampaolo Pozzo his club with the Brazilian Zico a world star. Otherwise, Udinese is a club that doesn’t want to buy stars, but wants to develop them.
Udinese technical director Gianpaolo Pozzo
“Udinese Talent Factory”
Players from lower leagues or abroad are brought in again and again with the aim of making them better in Udine and more valuable on the transfer market (“Football Italia”: “Talent Factory Udinese“). Only in the summer did Udinese Rodrigo de Paul sold to Atlético Madrid for 35 million euros. Alexis Sanchez, Juan CuadradoSamir Handanovic, Marcio Amoroso, Piotr ZielinskiKwadwo Asamoah and Fabio Quagliarella are other examples of players who grew up or got better (again) in the Udinese talent factory. The name Oliver Bierhoff also belongs to this group. Pozzo got him from Ascoli, who had been relegated to the second division at the time – and Bierhoff became top scorer in Serie A, shot Germany to the European title and brought in Udinese a remarkable 12.5 million euros with his move to AC Milan.
Next to the Berlin Samardzic another German-born player joins the ranks of Serie A’s surprise team. Tolgay Arslan, formerly active for HSV in the Bundesliga, switched to Udinese in the autumn of his career after many successful years in Turkey. Again, this is quite a Udine pattern. The young talents in the team are joined by experienced players who have been marginalized at other clubs, but who they believe can rise again in Udine.
Partnership with Watford
And then there’s the exchange between the two Pozzo clubs, Udinese and Watford. Over 50 players have switched in one direction or the other over the past eleven years. Always with the aim of placing the respective kicker where it is best for the respective club and its own development.
A striking example is Gerard Deulofeu, the undisputed star of Udinese at the moment. A technically gifted ten, who has already played for FC Barcelona and AC Milan and then after Watford went. When he was relegated there in 2020, they opened the doors for him in the Pozzo world in Udine – and the Spaniard has been shining with outstanding performances ever since and especially this season.
Other top performers are goalscorer Beto (brought from the depths of the Portuguese league by Portimonense), dribbling artist Roberto Pereira (also after descending from Watford come), the Argentinian defense young star Nehuen Perez and the only 19-year-old, outstandingly fast winger Destiny Udogie (Italy U21 national team). Tottenham Has udogie already signed for 18 million euros but left him in Udine for this season. That the Brazilian Walaceonly moderately successful at HSV and Hannover 96, in the current surprise team in Italy as a decisive man in defensive midfield, is further proof that in Udine players tend to get better rather than worse.
Opponent Bergamo has a similar philosophy
Udinese’s aggressive 3-5-2 have also dominated established top sides this season, including beating Inter Milan 3-1 and beating Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma 4-0. Current opponents Atalanta Bergamo have long followed a similar philosophy to Udinese: develop stars, don’t buy them. And has made it into the Champions League a few years in a row and has become a regular in the top flight of Serie A. This is what the dream they are dreaming of in Udine looks like. And which they hope will continue this weekend.