Cagliari-Udinese

By: Jeremy | January 16th, 2009

Wow, what a difference a couple of months make. After the early stage of the season, which included losses in the first five weeks, Cagliari fans were trying to figure out which games they were going to get the points needed to dodge relegation. Udinese meanwhile was in fine form and were touted as possible Champions League qualifiers. The last two games of the season versus Inter and Udinese seemed so difficult that if we didnt have our points by then, we were screwed and relegation seemed likely.

Fast forward 3 months and after a draw against Inter on the road that very easily could have been a win, we now head home full of confidence to face an Udinese squad who surprisingly only sits one point above us in the standings and who has not won a game since October. Instead of Champions League, Udinese is now looking at relegation worries if they do not turn it around quick.

While Cagliari has to be happy with its position at this stage considering their start, things are leveling off as we seem to be back to getting draws when wins were certainly possible. Despite the gritty performance against Inter, we still are winless in three games and that allows the relegation crowd to sneak up on you. Seven points clear is pleasing, but not safe by any means. We need some wins, especially at home where our fortune has been good for the most part.

Neither team faces any serious injury issues and we will have Bianco and Lopez back to soldify the defense. Everything else should stay the same with Acquafresca leading the attack. Hopefully he will make up for his easy miss last weekend. Maybe my boy Biondini will hit the back of the net.

Despite Udineses struggles, they are every bit if not more so as talented as Cagliari. With Di Natale playing, goals can come in bunches with this group. As with many players, their performance depends on their mental makeup and this team is a mess with low morale as the result of a serious run of bad games which can happen to most any team in Serie A. We are catching them at a good time and their fortunes are just a reminder that you cant let bad streaks ruin your whole season. While Udinese has to feel like they can use this week to reverse their fortunes, Cagliari has to feel confident that it can beat anyone, especially at home, after last weekends performance. No longer do Cagliari fans think that this game is one where we write off points.

As important as the game is, things are going on behind the scenes to improve the club with as little expense as possible. Marroccu and Cellino are still trying to decide if they want to invest the money in players to make a UEFA Cup run or save the money for offseason acquisitions when Acquafresca likely returns to Inter or gets loaned out again to a more high profile club then Cagliari to continue the next step in his move to be Ibras strike partner.

While we did buy half of young Roma defender Maggliochetti for very little, despite his promise he does not crack our lineup and likely wont absent marked improvement. Its like buying a stock that does not cost you much, but if it goes up, you will cash in rather then hold because the big club will want him back. He is Acquafrescas situation minus the promise.

As Poindexter mentioned in comments from the last post, we do have some interest in some players, but they are not better then what we have relative to their costs. They include Modio and Bogliacino from Napoli. Reginaldo from Parma has also been mentioned and he could be a surprise like Jeda was for us last year. I would love to grab him for some depth and he could surprise playing for us. While Valeri from Australia is still mentioned, unless he comes cheap, he is not a serious upgrade worth acquiring.

The leadership of the team is of the mindset to buy players cheap this winter and hope they turn out amazing and then spend in the offseason when more players are available. After last years lottery prizes, I wont criticize the moves as much. What will come in this winter is not on paper an upgrade and will be done to hope for a surprise result. Unlike last year where we needed a goalie and a creative midfielder, our weakness now is overall depth and lack of above average talent at too many positions. We have some great soldiers but no leaders. I still drool over where we would be with Foggia in our lineup. We need a big name striker so Jeda can be attacking midfielder or a big time midfielder allowing Jeda to stay up front. Our acquisitions this winter will not likely be names to make us get excited. This offseason is where we need to be watching more intensely what the team leadership does as surprisingly, many at the club feel safety is a foregone conclusion this year thereby making transfers not worth it as they do not want to invest in some names that really would bring notice to the team and its potential fortunes. Such approach could lead to disaster, but the prices of these good players has gotten so crazy that smaller clubs cant make the investments required to dramatically improve the club so I dont blame Cellino and crew if they hold still for now.

Either way, what has gone from a game where no points are expected this weekend, is now one where the home crowd will be disappointed if we dont win. With Udinese on the road, still mentally in a bad way, combined with us still living off last weeks game, I think we could get a real result here.

Prediction

Cagliari 2-1 Udinese

Valeri (midfield) From Grosetto