Alberto Aquilani’s doubt has something existential even if not in the absolute sense of Shakespeare’s Hamlet with his “To be or not to be”. It more simply concerns the composition of Catanzaro’s midfield. Indeed, the characteristics of the three starting midfielders.
The question has been recurring since the beginning of the season and, probably, continues to circulate in the head of the coach, who has alternated between two registers without finding a synthesis that allows him to combine the highest possible quality with the highest degree of balance. Or rather, he seemed to have found the right balance in the period in which the team achieved three victories in a row, but with Pescara he tried – legitimately – the other solution.
Last Friday the Giallorossi were in fact spread with a 3-5-2 which was redesigned into 3-4-2-1 because Oudin, the theoretical midfielder, moved up to the attacking midfield, more on the line of Cisse or Iemmello than on that of his two teammates, Pontisso and Rispoli. So the latter two had to limit descents and insertions a bit to keep a closer eye on coverage even if they don’t have Petriccione’s instincts and sense of position. I can’t wait to see it a little, considering the space that Dagasso had to shoot from almost 30 metres, favoring the opponent’s doubling, which was however avoidable with a little more reactivity from the defenders on Pigliacelli’s rebound.
In previous matches Aquilani had instead opted for three more traditional midfielders, with Buglio or Petriccione together with Rispoli and Pontisso, therefore without a midfielder with strong offensive skills like Oudin. In this way he had gained more balance when not in possession, but on the other hand he had lost a bit of flair in one-on-one situations. The problem of the lack of imagination did not arise against Palermo, Mantua and Venezia, but arose again against Empoli, where it would have been used to try to increase the danger in the face of a team huddled back and even more hidden in a handkerchief after the lead.
This is why Oudin’s choice with Pescara seemed logical. The Frenchman had worked well for two weeks during the break, he is in better athletic condition than when he arrived at the end of August, and then if there is someone like him in the squad, a way must be found to insert him and make him work.
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