All Arsenal need to know about Udinese

Udinese finished 4th in Serie A last season and now face Arsenal in a two leg affair for the Champions League group stage spot. Here is all you and Arsene Wenger need to know about Udinese Calcio SpA:

Manager: Francesco Guidolin first managed Udinese in 1998. After previously impressing at Vincenza he opted to join the Serie A outfit. In his first season he guided the club to a mid table finish. Only days before the 1999-2000 he was sacked by the Udinese board much to the surprise of the fans and the media. In November 19999, Guidolin was appointed head coach at Bologna; a club he previously played for. A fairly shaky Serie A outfit it seemed, Guidolin did well to guide the club to 11th in the league. He also guided the club to the third round of the Uefa Cup now known as the Europa League. Guidolin’s success at Bologna only improved each season. In the 2000-01 season he guided the club to 9th in the league an improvement from last season’s 11th place. In the 2001-02 season Bologna ended up in 7th in Serie A and also qualified for the Uefa Intertoto Cup where they were beaten by Fulham in the finals. His success wasn’t repeated in the 2002-03 season where a bright start ended in disappointment as they finished a mediocre 11th. Guidolin came under increasing pressure and eventually parted company with the club.

He remained out of the game for six months but in 2004 he jumped at the chance to manage Palermo. Guidolin worked wonders and took Palermo to the top of Serie A to claim the championship. He also guided the club to their first ever Uefa Cup qualification. Despite Guidolin’s resounding success he opted to leave the club after just one season in charge. His next job came at Genoa but it was short lived as the club were relegated to Serie C1 after alleged match fixing and Guidolin rescinded his contract. Having managed in Italy for numerous years Guidolin opted for France where he became the manager of AS Monaco. He was appointed in October 2005 and left that same season after the club finished a staggering 30 points behind the Ligue 1 winners Olympique Lyonnais.

After a second spell in charge at Palermo and a brief stint at Parma, Guidolin took the realms at Udinese in 2010 and guided them to 4th in last season’s Serie A.

Club’s Nicknames: Bianconeri= White-Blacks or Zebrette= Little Zebras

Stadium: Stadio Fruili

Star Player: Last season Udinese’s star player was definitly Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean forward was inspirational in teh 4th place finish and it was no surprise to the fans he was destined for bigger things. In this transfer window Sanchez agreed to join Barcelona for a fee rumoured to be around £44 million. Arsene Wenger will be glad the Chilean wont face his men when they do battle next month.

Summer signings:  Neuton- Udinese have signed the defender for an undisclosed fee from Gremio and he has agreed a five year deal at the club.

Juan Cuadrado- he has signed from Lecce along with his Lecce team-mate last season Christian Obodo both men have signed long term deals at the club.

Main threat: Antonio Di Natale poses Arsenal’s greatest threat. He has been Serie A’s top scorer for the last two seasons. Udinese like Arsenal love to play attractive football and spread the ball wide. He has great heading ability and Arsenal’s defence will have to be on top of their game.

Verdict: I think Arsenal will go through. They have enjoyed lots of success in Italy and I think over the two legs Udinese might struggle. It all depends on what team Arsene Wenger puts out. Will Cecs Fabregas play and possibly cup tie himself for Barca? Will Nasri still be at the Club? If Arsene Wenger puts out his strongest available line up he should make it into the Champions League group stage once again.