Beginning now. Crossing fingers. Thanks lads for your cheers and good luck for your game. I'll follow you on web while watching my Udinese.
I hope the bloke who took that **** penalty isn't sent to us as punishment or the bloke who miss that one on one!
As a goalie i know that brkic wouldn't show it to maicosuel but brkic would be mightily pissed off at him
Groan ... some brazilian players should understand that even if they are good (and Maicosuel is a good player) they are NOT Totti or Pirlo, who can afford to succeed in such kind of penalties. What a pity! But it must be admitted that in the 210' Braga was slightly better. Udinese didn't show enough oh the good football she played last year and hopefully can play this year too. I'm worried because our manager, Guidolin, in after match interview, seemed very very depressed and maybe hinting at giving up. I really hope not, because he's absolutely a great manager. And then, after all, we have Europa League to play and if we improve we should try to go on as long as possible in it!
That penalty has already been nicknamed as the "20M€ spoon" (estimated different income from EL vs. CL)
What a shocking penalty that was. In fairness, Braga showed a lot more ambition and probably deserved to win it in the end. They came out 2nd half and just went for it. There was a 20 minute spell in the 2nd period when Udinese were hardly able to get the ball beyond the halfway line. Disappointing to see them go out, felt they had the quality to get past Braga but strangely, lacked the conviction to take the game by the scruff of the neck and make it their own.
what a debacle, I am so disappointed you can lose but not in this way. The second half they finished the fuel and there was no way to contrast Braga any more. I save only the goalkeeper, the 3 defenders and DusanBasta the rest was a disaster! This is not the Udinese I know. It'll take sometime before I recover from the shock.
It was very disappointing considering it started so well...in the 2nd half you played how we used to. Ironically we seem to be playing how I expected you to play
Not really. Braga is in a much better position in UEFA teams ranking than Udinese, so it was in the second group of teams. Udinese would have been in third or even fourth group. Anyway I hope the lads recover from shock and delusion and play a great Europa League!
It was strange to see the team go into it's shell in the second half almost wanting to protect the lead although you ould see Guidolin urging them to press up. And when Armero did his comedy turn well that was crucial. Braga just grew in confidence and the Udinese midfield disappeared. Brkic had an excellent game. Really tough to lose on penalties and that is £20M not in the coffers and possibly a player or two into the club. How will you view the EL ? As a serious chance for silverware or a nuisance and instead focus on the scudetto ?
Honestly, for scudetto Juventus is by far considered favourite. They won the last one and are reinforced with Isla and Asamoah from us (especialy the latter, greatly missed now). We are usually NOT considered as potential contenders from the press, except for a competent journalist who gave us a 5% chance. Personally, I think Europa League, although much less financially profitable than CL, should be taken seriously (well, Udinese always played it honorably) and if there's a chance to, at last, win something instead of just having a good position, IMHO that would be great! Edit P.S.: some more thoughts regarding scudetto. We seem diminished after Isla Asamoah and Handanovich sells. But Brkic seems an excellent goalkeeper. What we miss is one like Asa. But honestly the other serie A teams didn't do much better in transfer market with the exception of Juventus. Inter didn't buy much and sold many players and is going for young players. Napoli sold Lavezzi to PSG. Milan sold Thiago Silva and Ibrahimovich. All in all we seem to be weaker than last season but other teams seems MORE weaker. If the Pozzo's come up with some needed reinforcement from their miraculous scouting network, now or in January, I think we may do well again. But for our manager Guidolin, who is a down-to-earth man, first objective is save from relegation with 40 points, EVER ... and he would say this even if he had 39 points after 13 matches! LOL But he's right. We ARE a small team from a small city so first objective is safety, then everything comes after that is a bonus!
And ... of all the teams we could have from 4th urn, the multibillionaire Anzhi, with Eto'o, Traorè and an estimated total market value of his players quite higher than ours. :rant: It will be hard!
It is a tough looking group but Anzhi are more a team of individuals than a team and don't travel all that well. Liverpool are weak striking wise so may not pose that much of a threat as their name and pedigree suggests. Sherlock yes the old lady of corruption are probably favourites. Rossoneri fans are in a deep depression and Inter are rebuilding. I think you hve a very good chance of making the CL again . Roma and Napoli though look strong to me. But you're right safety first. And seeing some of the results last week with Sampdoria winning at AC Milan gives room for encouragement. Pescara, Cagliari and Palermo will have a tough time I think.
You may also come up against an ex player of ours at Anzhi, Tamas Priskin. You need not worry about him.
