Hat tip to ooBia, for bringing this up in the previous comments section. If you ever find any cool video, pictures, suggestions, general comments, or anything you’d like to see in a post, email it to us at juventus [at] theoffside (dot) com.

“If Blanc wanted to show faith in Ferrara, he didn’t use the right words,” Moggi writes in the Libero newspaper. “That sentence ‘there are no more bonuses’ meant exactly the opposite.”

“He vented his disappointment at the weakest target: the coach. That’s a familiar method for those who don’t know anything about football. If Juve have showed problems against Napoli, it is down to a transfer campaign that was much celebrated but not at all pondered.”

“[Marco] Marchionni and [Cristiano] Zanetti have reinforced Fiorentina in exchange for bread crumbs. And Felipe Melo arrived from Florence for €25 million, but he does not have a curriculum to play for a team that must win in Italy and abroad, especially when you already have [Christian] Poulsen and [Mohamed] Sissoko,” said Moggi.

“And don’t get me started on Tiago…”

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

First of all, I’m not sure how Amauri gets shown a straight red for his kick on De Sanctis and Contini gets away with jacking Camoranesi in the face with his elbow without a card. There’s very little way of knowing whether either were intentional, unless we can lipread De Sanctis and Amauri’s interchange. “If you want to kick me, kick me in the ass afterwards” to which Amauri would have replied “I prefer the gingerness that is your face.” Anyways, it’s a non-issue because Amauri being sent off hardly changed the game, it just means he’s going to start every Champion’s League game for the next 2 weeks.

So the pointless debate is this- had Contini not bashing Camoranesi’s face in, would we have won the match? Here’s the pros and cons, IMO-

Pros:
Tiago’s brilliant clearance was the assist for Napoli’s 3rd goal
Tiago did not do much, and constantly exposed Grygera to 2v1s
Camoranesi maybe would have created another goal, would we have blown 3-0? Maybe.

Cons:
The entire team switched off after 2-0, does that null the above points?
Tiago realizes what a dumbass he is, and will perform better in the future. Hopefully.

Oh Seba, you have no idea how badly I am going to ruin this game for us!

By the way, as much as I cannot figure out Tiago’s deal, I am not blaming him for the loss. Everyone deserves blame. Ferrara wasn’t planning on playing him, as both myself and Ciro stated, Tiago is optimal in a 3-man midfield. Aside from that, apparently, he is useless. Especially when coming back from a month out in injury. Unlike Amauri (see below video), he does not have an excuse for fucking up.

And in other news…..the Savior of Mankind (aka Del Piero) is not in the list for the trip to the Holy Land. I guess the Jews will have to wait longer to greet the Messiah.

Little did I know how well pictures could sum up the feeling in my SOUL.

Truth be told, I actually like the city of Naples, even though mio nonno would smack me if he heard me say that. Is it gritty? Hell yes. Is there corruption and crime? Absolutely. Is it the real Italian experience? Probably, and it has the best damn pizza you’ll ever find in the world and some pretty gorgeous beaches in the Amalfi region, to boot. If you’re travelling to Italy, you definitely have to go to Napoli- after all, Pompeii and Capri are nearby!

One of the most ridiculous games I’ve ever seen…and not in a good way.

CONNECTIONS:
Juve Youth Pasts- Aronica and De Sanctis both played for Juve in their early youth, consistent with our policy to scout throughout Italy and sign the best youth we can. Sometimes it doesn’t work out. De Sanctis is a pretty good keeper though, he’s currently Italy’s #3.
The Cannavaro brothers Paolo Cannavaro, is of course, the younger brother of Fabio Cannavaro. Napoli could definitely use Fabio right now. The Cannavaro brothers grew up at Napoli together, then moved to the mighty Parma, and then split ways. This will be their first game against each other in Serie A since Calciopoli, where they again chose divergent paths. Fabio fled the crumbling Bianconeri to Madrid, whereas Paolo decided to drop from Serie A to Serie B to fight for his beloved hometown team, Napoli, showing (cough cough) outstanding loyalty and spirit. (cough cough)
Neapolitan Juve- Cannavaro and Ferrara are both Napoli legends, though Ferrara won several Scudetti with Napoli during his 10-year period. Fabio spent 3 years at Napoli before moving to Parma. Back when Fabio was growing up, he was Napoli’s ballboy and he has stated a number of times that Ciro Ferrara was his idol. Indeed, at a young age he was often referred to as “the new Ferrara.” The two have a anti-cancer foundation that they run together, the Fondazione Cannavaro Ferrara. I jokingly think the Neapolitan bond is why Nicola Legrottaglie, who erm, stuck with Juve in Serie B is sitting on the bench, as there is a bit of Barese-Napolitano friction. If Conte had become the coach, then surely Legrottaglie would have become his preferred starter.

Ciro Ferrara’s Farewell to Calcio- When Ferrara decided to retire, a honorary game was played in Napoli where Ferrara played one half for Juventus and one half for Napoli. Maradona had never been to Napoli since leaving the club, but promised to return for Ferrara’s retirement party. You could look at this as a tribute to Ferrara, or crashing his party by overshadowing him, but the kind of person Ferrara is, I’m sure he didn’t mind sharing the limelight.
Summer 2009 Mercato- Quagliarella and Cigarini ended up signing with Napoli, though Juve was briefly rumored to be interested in both, along with Lavezzi and Hamsik. I believe Quagliarella has stated he’s a Juventus fan, and no, his love for Napoli and Juve are not mutually exclusive, like a lot of the South, we are their 2nd team. (if not first) Napoli, in their (unsuccessful) attempt to find a left-back wanted either Cristian Molinaro or Paolo De Ceglie. Cristian Molinaro is from the Napoli region, PDC is from (close to) Turin…easy solution.
Juve Primavera- We raid Campania a lot. Recent piccoli gobbi from the Napoli region include- Domenico Criscito, Antonio Nocerino, Cristian Molinaro, Raffaele Palladino, etc. Current or recent Primavera players from Napoli are Carlo Vecchione, Ciro Immobile, and Salvatore D’Elia who’s Facebook info reads “tifoso del grande napoli!!” When checking where Vecchione and Immobile are from, I was surprised to see how many of our great young talents are from Turin- Rossi, Esposito, Marrone, Giovinco, Pinsoglio, and of course Marchisio and Giovinco Sr. We haven’t really had that in the past.
Napoli’s Jungle Fever- They love them some South Americans, in fact, they were the team that brought Amauri to Italy 9 years ago.

RECENT ENCOUNTERS: As schizophrenic as our record against Palermo. Knocked out of the Coppa in 2006, knocked them out in 2008. The last two seasons have been topsy-turvy. First, we lost thanks to two horrible refereeing calls from Lavezzi/Zalayeta dives in Napoli, 3-1. Then we won narrowly in Turin after a 80minute siege thanks to Iaquinta, 1-0. Then we lost in Napoli 2-1 thanks to He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named and co. at the bottom of our last Fall crisis, and then narrowly won in Turin thanks to a deflected Marchisio goal, 1-0. The moral of the story? This is a derby for a lot of people, in Turin, they come to play.

RECENT FORM:
Juventus- Improving: The 5-1 drubbing of Sampdoria helped pick us up a bit. (WWWDL)
Napoli- Steady: Mazzari has turned them around after an awful Donadoni start. Or is this still the post-coach changing bounce? (DWWLW)

The Curva Sud ready for Napoli back in Serie B…

FORMATIONS AND LINEUPS:
Juventus- (4-2-3-1): It’s worked, thus far. The deficiencies of the 4-3-1-2 are this: forwards in poor form, exhausted CMs, and playing two static forwards. With a healthy midfield, forwards who can actually score, and a second-striker up there, it will work. But for now, the 4-2-3-1 is unquestionably the formation, I mean hell, Gio is playing, Camo is uninjured, and Diego is sambaing. No complaints. When Del Piero and Marchisio come back, maybe we’ll switch back, they don’t fit into a 4-2-3-1 naturally. But there’s nothing wrong with having multiple formations. Out of the game are Sissoko (20 days, muscle twinge), Caceres (broken nose, 3-4 days) Salihamidzic (who knows anymore), Marchisio/Iaquinta (meniscus, 10-15, 25-30 days respectively), Zebina (French, 1 month), Del Piero (muscle tear, 3-4 days)

In defense, one would assume ItalJuve to line-up, though Ferrara has (refreshingly) showed his willingness to rotate. It keeps them healthy, refreshed, and gives our squad players some playing time. With Maccabi on the horizon, Ferrara might rest Cannavaro and Grosso, as he has done in the past, which is a good idea. They are superb playing once a week, but if the two frequently play 180min, the fatigue will set in. They are not 27 anymore. Legrottaglie has largely held his own, while not playing as well as Cannavaro, though the same cannot really be said for Cristiano Molinaro. I wouldn’t mind giving De Ceglie a chance at left-back and Legro a shot at the middle. Just no Molinaro, please.

In midfield, expect Gio-Diego-Camo to lineup again, with Poulsen-Melo supporting. Gio and Diego shouldn’t be a big concern about overworking, they are young and should have the fitness levels to play 180minutes a week, if needed. Camoranesi is another case. Positioning him in a 4-2-3-1 is nice, because it doesn’t require him to cover as much ground as in a 4-3-1-2 or 4-4-2, but I still worry about overworking him and causing an injury. We need him on the pitch. Tiago is back, but where does he fit in a 4-2-3-1? The way I see it, you have to have a lot of energy and pace to be able to make it in the 3 (he doesn’t have it), and endurance and defensive capabilities to be in the 2. (Also missing) Marchisio could play conceivably in both, though not ideal, I’m not sure I could say the same for Tiago, to which Ferrara agrees.

In attack, it’s a straight question of Amauri or Trez. Curiously, both arrived in Italy in 2000, though obviously took very different career paths. Amauri will get the nod, as he is in better form than Trez and provides more of a reference point for the 4-2-3-1. (That’s what consecutive games can do for you..ahem) Though don’t count out the T-Rez, who has just as many Serie A goals as Amauri this season, quietly getting back into form. (I cannot deny my love for Trezeguet. He may not do a lot of off-the-ball work, but his efficiency and place in this team are unquestionable)

Predicted XI: (4-2-3-1): Superman; Grygera, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Grosso; Melo, Poulsen; Camoranesi, Diego, Giovinco; Amauri

Napoli- Check out the Napoli blog for the best answers, Chris and Neil do good work over there even if they are blogging for Napoli.

Napoli has had a strange start to the season, a terrible one despite significant investments in Zuniga, Quags, De Sanctis, and Cigarini further confirming Roberto Donadoni’s general uselessness, though the problems with the team go much further, as they looked the same as when it all came apart under Reja. Poor discipline, perhaps? Lack of motivation? No left-footed players? Whatever it was, Walter Mazzari came in and seems to have figured it out. They’ve held their own admirably, though they lost to Roma, they have beaten Siena, Fiorentina, and had a great comeback against Milan this weekend. The only injury concerns for them are Santacroce (fell off the face of the world a year ago, recovery time unknown) and perhaps Zuniga. One thing I think was cursing Napoli was their strict adherence both under Reja and Donadoni to the 3-5-2. It wasn’t working, and it’s finally been scrapped.

Predicted XI: (4-2-3-1)- De Sanctis; Grava, Rinaudo, Cannavaro, Aronica; Maggio, Pazienza, Gargano; Hamsik, Lavezzi; Quagliarella.

That color looks good on you Fabio…hint hint

KEY PLAYERS:
Quagliarella- He’s had a very quiet start to his Napoli career. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Giovinco- He played well as trequartista, and is thriving in the new formation. Napoli’s defense is slow and not that good with tricky players, he could tear them apart.

PREVIEWS/LIVEBLOGS AND PREDICTIONS:
Goal.com (EN)
Football Italia
Napoli Offside
Football Italiano
Ferrara’s Thoughts
Eurosport Liveblog

FINAL WORD: As Christopher pointed out in his post, Napoli have an incredible propensity to concede in the first 15 minutes of play. Let’s capitalize on it. A swift punch to the Donkey cojones would be a great way to hurt their confidence.

C’E UNA STELLA CHE INDICA IL CAMMINO: FORZA JUVE, VINCERE E’ IL TUO DESTINO!!

“We are very happy.  It was a perfect evening due to the result, the match played and the way we handled the match.  This is the spirit of Juventus.  Clearly, if we see tonight’s match this would seem like the best tactical approach but in an entire championship sometimes you have to change”.

“Today the players played like great champions.  They were perfect and I can only thank them and say a big well done.  This would be the perfect Juve but I am aware of the fact that it is not easy to maintain this rythm.  It is however, the starting point of our team”.

Asked who according to him is the man of the match, the Juventus coached said: “It is hard to pick out a single player because today played as a team and in such cases you create more and suffer less.  Even the players who came on did really well”.

From now on: “This should be the charge that launches us.  It is true we came from a series of negative results and this conditioned us but we showed that we can come back and now we have to maintain this”.

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

tic toc tic toc tic toc… KABOOM!!!

Tonight won’t be the type of showcasing you hoped it would Cassano.  If I’m Ferrara I’m betting you have more trouble playing against yourself than my defenders.  So, my guys are gonna play you tight hoping you start feeling like the calls aren’t going your way.  Once the fuse is lit, watch the implosion from a safe distance.  I’m sure you’re a nice guy Antonio, but there’s no fucking way your going to just walk into our house and continue to build a case for South Africa tonight.  Not now, not against my Juventus.

Mannini, incredible positioning.  Pazzini, much more dynamic then I had thought.  Castellazzi, great hands.  But in my opinion against the Bianconeri, the three of them can’t do this thing by themselves.  Take Cassano out of the game and you take Sampdoria out of the running tonight.  That said, we need to play great at the same time.  Oh yea I forgot about that part. Ciro’s take on the match:

“We need a top level Juve to beat the team which is in most in form at the moment. To win we must play a great match. Decisive match? Here they are always decisive and we must try to take advantage of the home stadium”.

“Cassano? He is strong this year as he was in the last year or when I played against him as a player. He is decisive and fundamental but Sampdoria had an excellent game organization which allows even other players to do well”.

To face a well launched Sampdoria, Ferrara would have liked to have a complete squad, however after Iaquinta he also lost Caceres (nose fracture) and Felipe Melo received a blow in the last training session. All this, however, does not frighten the coach:

“I am hopeful about Felipe. I think he can recover without any problems. Injuries and suspensions are part of the job. The important thing is knowing how to manage these situations. Nonetheless I have an excellent and numerous squad at my disposal. I have faith in those who will be playing and Samp at the moment is capable of motivating the team”.

juventus.com

In other news, Caceres was operated on this morning and will be discharged from the hospital later tonight. Apparently he’ll be able to resume training as early as Saturday. Anyways, the usual suspects are still out injured which means our lineup will probably look like (4-2-3-1) : Buffon – Grygera, Cannavaro, Chiellini, Grosso – Sissoko, Melo – Camoranesi, Diego, Giovinco – Amauri. Our youngster Immobile was called up but he probably won’t see any PT. On their end, Semioli is out so expect a (4-4-2) consistinng of: Castellazzi – Stankevicius, Gastaldello, Lucchini, Zauri – Mannini, Palombo, Poli, Ziegler – Pazzini, Cassano.

myp2p.eu (match thread), atdhe.net (direct match link)

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

-Juventus closed their books with a profit of €6.6million over the last year. Inter lost €154.4million in the same period. One of these clubs is not like the other…
-Ranieri says he and Juventus wanted Stankovic at Juve last season, but the Juve fans sank the move. This is his way of confirming the “sway” of Ultras in Italy that Capello spoke about. I’m sorry, we’ll be quiet and eat our prawn sandwiches. (I think Juventini and Interistas are both quite happy it collapsed anyways)
-Today, with the certification of the fiscal results was a board meeting, in which Jean-Claude Blanc was formally named the President of the club, the first foreign ever for Juventus. He has resigned his position as General Manager.

Lastly, outgoing President Gigli was a bit emotional, declaring-

“It was 3 intense years. First, in particular, let me thank the “loyals” (ADP, Buffon, Trez, Camo, Nedved) Then I thank the fans, I remember that summer day in which I met the fans for the first time, I remember meeting the employees, those of the headquarters and those of Vinovo. I remember you the investors, in particular those who contributed to the underwriting of an increase in capital. I remember the consultants of CdA, and especially the independent consults, who gave us the guarantee of running the club in a transparent manner. I remember with emotion and sympathy the Neri and Ferramosco families, and I will remember them always, just like I will always remember their sons. I thank the media, with whom it was always difficult to communicate with, and I share the thought of John Elkann, “We must always look to the future and put in the best effort and determination.” I will always remain a fan of Juventus, a fan of Blanc, and I assure you that the team will obtain brilliant results.

Without a doubt, he was the head of Juventus at its’ most tumultuous period of all history. When he inherited the team, it was in crisis, the entire board of directors had resigned, the stock had plummeted and confidence in the team, from the market and the pundits, was that we would take at least 5-10 years to challenge for the Scudetto. With the help of the loyal heroes, this management was able to quickly return us to the highest echelons of calcio, all while planning for the future with an emphasis on our own youth academy, but also the finance we need to be among the world’s strongest. The stadium no doubt is the vision of Blanc, but it is the final goal of Gigli’s administration- Robust financial independence and finally, perhaps for the first time in 20 years, a home for the soul of Juventus.

There were some bumps along the way, and there are some rightful criticisms of Cobolli Gigli’s adminstration, though the gift of financial independence is perhaps the greatest one that can be bestowed on a club. At this time, debts have caught up to many big teams. Milan and Manchester are selling clubs, Liverpool, Chelsea, Roma, and Arsenal make few moves on the market without selling, and Real Madrid of course finances their transactions with astronomical loans. We made a serious outlay in the mercato, spending nearly 40-45million, without financing it with debt or burdening any potential future investment. For me, Cobolli Gigli’s administration has brought us back very quickly, and given us the security and stability that will ensure we remain the “Fidanzata d’Italia” in the future. I tip my hat to you, sir. Well done.

The Good:
Gianluigi Buffon- Superman had nothing to do. Then was called into action following a nice team move from Siena and responded brilliantly. Then had nothing to do. That is the mark of a great goalkeeper, to stay completely attentive even when absolutely nothing, I repeat nothing, was going on. The commentators I was watching repeatedly made jokes about Buffon being able to put his feet up in a lawn chair, and then when there was a passback, they’d say “And now Buffon can go back to his chair.” Then Adrian Healy said “They should have charged Buffon admission for this game.”
Legrottaglie+Chiellini- The unstoppable wall of 2007-2009 that was broken up by Cannavaro made a brief reunion today, as Ferrara (wisely) decided to give Cannavaro a break. (Seriously, he’s 35. If Ranieri was coach, he’d be playing 180min every week, period) Legro hasn’t looked that great this season, having played irregularly and with the team saying “fuck you” and dropping him to the bench, but he played well today, and Chiellini was superb as usual. Siena couldn’t get passed the two.
Paolo De Ceglie- This is where I disagree most with Goal.com’s player ratings. First, it’s stupid to compare him to a fullback when he played most of the match as a midfielder. Second, I thought he was one of our better players on the pitch. His distribution wasn’t great, but he was one of the few midfielders who looked like he was doing something, hustling up and down and creating chances.
Ekdal- He looked very lively out there, along with Maccarone one of the few Siena players who did, and he’s only 20 years old. A full season with Siena will do him very good, I was impressed.

Bravo, Ashton Kutcher

The Mediocre:
Grygera- The ultimate “meh” performance. Held his own defensively, didn’t contribute too much offensively, hooked for Caceres at the break.
Amauri- Thank you for scoring, but he still looks awful up front. Kind of ironic eh, as he started the season brilliantly, though sans goal and now he’s scoring despite looking totally static up front.
Poulsen- Not a bad game, not a great one either. I think with Poulsen we can see that he’s better when he’s not playing as a defensive midfielder, strange as it may be. When he’s given a bit more freedom to pass and move around, he plays a lot better, and he put in a few good passes/crosses yesterday. I’d still like to see this kind of fire in him though.

The Bad:
Molinaro- Defensively untroubled, as much of our team was, and on average position played farther up than Camoranesi. Had zero impact offensively yet again, and his passing was pretty crappy.
Trezeguet- He got in the way, he had few chances at all, and he didn’t look very predatory out there. Some might say this is proof of his decline, but I still think he’s got it, it takes more than 2-3 games to get back into form though.
Ferrara- Extremely harsh to put him in this category given we got the 3 points, but come on…why not play Giovinco?! He could have been played as a CM in that match given the dominant possession and the fact that Siena didn’t look like they wanted to win at all. Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Buffon accidentally got some limoncello in his eye while sitting and watching the game

Other news/thoughts from this weekend:
-When asked whether he’d return to Juventus, Capello responded “Never say never.” I just vomited a little bit in my mouth.
-Player ratings for the match: Tuttosport, Goal.com, Datasport.it- Google Translate works pretty good here
-Did anyone else notice how advanced Chiellini was playing? He was frequently moving up the field, almost like a modern-day sweeper. I guess it was his frustration with the rest of the team- If they won’t do it, I will!
-Iaquinta has to have surgery on his meniscus, like Marchisio and similar to what Buffon will undergo. 30-40 days out, apparently he started feeling pain during training on Saturday.
-Fabio Grosso’s 2nd son was born today, Giacomo Grosso. Congratulations to him and his wife.
-Today’s training consisted of a light session for those who played yesterday (translated oddly by Juventus.com as “moisturizing”) normal training for those who didn’t play, and gym for Amauri, Sissoko, and Melo. The injured players did not take part today.
-Diego has a very irregular shaving routine. Has anyone else noticed this? Some days like Wednesday he’ll be scruffy. Then yesterday, clean shaven. Same earlier in the season against Chievo and then a week later Roma. It’s kinda funny.

Hope this article helped to brighten your Mondays a bit. If not, send comments/criticisms/suggestions to juventus [at] theoffside (dot) com, and remember- Sampdoria is only 2 days away. (Is that supposed to excite us, or terrify us?)

A panorama I took of Siena from the top of the Duomo

Siena is a minnow team of Italy, from a city one half the size of Bergamo, home of the “Queen of the Provinces.” The team gained their first-ever promotion to Serie A in 2002-2003, quite an accomplishment. Juventus has occasionally had troubles with smaller teams, see the plucky fights from Bologna and Livorno earlier this season. For some reason, we’ve always struggled against Catania over the last few seasons. Thankfully, Siena is not one of these teams. In the grand total of 5 league games played in Siena, we have won 4 and lost 1, scoring 12 goals and conceding 2 in the process.

The last two years Siena has been something of an underrated miracle. We all talk about the stunning salvation of Cagliari two seasons ago, or the resolve of Chievo last season to avoid relegation, but Siena has managed to stay in Serie A despite extremely limited resources. Mario Beretta led them to salvation 2 seasons ago, and current coach Marco Giampaolo did the same last year, and was linked with several big clubs last summer. He decided to stay, and it will be another tough year for Siena if they are to survive. Right now they are 2nd-to-last in the standings, with only fellow Tuscans Livorno underneath them. They’ve been my pick for relegation for the last 3 years running more or less, and only time will tell if like Reggina, their luck runs out at the end of the season.

CONNECTIONS:
The Bianconeri Alliance- For the last few years, Siena has operated as one of our partner clubs for transfers. Genoa and Empoli did similarly 2 seasons ago, Genoa did too well with our players and Empoli did too poorly. Right now in Serie A it is Siena and Bari that we have a good relationship with. Left-backs Paolo De Ceglie and Cristian Molinaro both spent time on co-ownership in Siena, as Juventus youth product Michele Paolucci is currently doing, alongside Albin Ekdal. Neither have seen much playing time yet, only making 2 and 4 sub appearances respectively, but may be called up in the future to help Siena avoid the dreaded drop to Serie B.
Marco Giampaolo- Rumors say that Giampaolo was one of the possible coaches for Juventus, and he confirmed he was indeed contacted by management this summer. He had a unremarkable playing career, sort of like his younger brother and current Serie C journeyman striker Federico Giampaolo who was in the Juventus Primavera for a few years.

RECENT ENCOUNTERS:
Excellent- As I already stated, we have an 80% record in Siena and last year was notable as in the 2nd-to-last game of the season, Ferrara made his first appearance as head coach. Del Piero scored a brace, assisted on his 2nd by Marchisio, who he had previously assisted for his goal earlier in the match.

RECENT FORM:
Juventus- Improving: (WDLDD)- Hopefully the Maccabi win can help us morale-wise.
Siena- Disastrous: (LDLDL)- A straight ticket to Serie B, on current form.

FORMATIONS AND LINEUPS:

Juventus- (4-2-3-1): With Marchisio and Del Piero out, I think we’re going to stick with the 4-2-3-1 as it worked quite well against Maccabi, creating plenty of chances. Tiago, Marchisio, Salihamidzic, Zebina, and Del Piero are out with injury, but otherwise the roster is fairly full.

In defense, Grygera will likely return as Zebina is taking a well-deserved month’s vacation having played an incredible 30minutes without a break. ItalJuve will retain their places.

In midfield, we will probably again see Sissoko and Melo anchoring the defense, both of whom are impressive to be ready. Sissoko has played a lot since his return from injury, and has not shown any fitness concerns, whereas Melo has recovered from that brutal tackle on Wednesday with just some severe bruising. One or the other may be swapped with Poulsen, who has put in some decent performances recently. I would hope for Giovinco-Diego-Camoranesi to retain their places, as they all worked wonderfully. Some websites have suggested Iaquinta will take Giovinco’s place as a left-winger, and I hope to God not. Based on how Gio played, why on Earth would you take him out? Iaquinta can play that position, but he’s not meant to.

Up top is anyone’s guess. There’s been some reports that Trez is feeling pain in his knee, but there’s no such report on Juventus.com and he’s been included in the squad list. I think we should start him, as I think he’s ideal with the attacking trident up top, unless Amauri is in form, which he is not. Iaquinta might get a choice to start, but he’s cooled down since the first few days of the season.

My XI: (4-2-3-1)- Buffon; Grygera, Cannavaro, Chiellini, Grosso; Melo, Sissoko; Giovinco, Diego, Camoranesi; Trezeguet
Predicted XI: (4-2-3-1)- Buffon; Grygera, Cannavaro, Chiellini, Grosso; Melo, Sissoko; Iaquinta, Diego, Camoranesi; Amauri

Maybe it’s 2 years of Ranieri, but Ferrara has just made so much sense lately that I feel it’s high time to be a bit disappointed. I hope I’m wrong.

Siena-Copied from Goal.com’s preview, as I have no idea what is going on in Siena. “Luca Rossettini and Anssi Jaakkola are the only injury concerns. Michele Fini is serving a three match ban. Abdelkader Ghezzal joins him in the stands with a one game suspension.”
Probable Starting XI (4-3-1-2): Curci; Rosi, Terzi, Bardao, Del Grosso; Vergassola, Codrea, Ekdal; Jajlo; Maccarone, Calaio.

KEY PLAYERS:
Juventus-Trezeguet/Iaquinta/Amauri: Whoever the hell is playing prima punta better score. Preferably more than once.
Siena- Massimo Maccarone: The Milan youth-product is not a good striker, but neither is anyone else at Siena. Siena fans will be hoping for him to have a good game

PREVIEWS/LIVEBLOGS AND PREDICTIONS: 3 points are absolutely necessary. Siena is in crisis and will fight hard, but we must win. I am hoping for a 3-0 win.
Goal.com (EN)
Football Italia
Juventus.com Liveblog
Eurosport Liveblog

Ferrara: «We want to win in Siena»
Ciro Ferrara returns to Siena, where at the end of last championship he made his debut on the Juventus bench: «It is a happy memory and return. I will never forget that first match, the excitement, the hotel in which we stayed and where we will also be staying this time and which is exactly overlooking the stadium. For me it was my first match as coach ever and the excitement was great. Returning is a pleasure. I also remember the victory against Siena. I remember everything to the slightest detail: anxiousness, tension, pressure due to the particular moment of the team and obviously he result which coincided with those of Milan and Fiorentina thus favouring us. It was a perfect day».

Turnover – It could be that some players are rested. Nowadays the only periods when we don’t have mid-week matches between now and December is when the national teams are playing. We will have to get used to give breathing space to those who play all the matches. I have an ample squad. I would obviously prefer not to have any injured players but I stress the fact that against Maccabi I has three players in the stands. It is true that there is a greater difficulty when it comes to changes but I can adapt a defender.

Few goals – By seeing the statistics I can tell you that Juventus is amongst the top teams when it comes to shots on goal, goal opportunities and ball possession. The stats are important because they speak of us as creating goal opportunities and attempting many shots at goal, however at the moment we are not managing to finish all of them. It is not however, a question of tactics it is simply a moment and does not represent a problem.

Tactics – On Wednesday in the Champions League I changes formation but in the last few days we worked on both formations. I see that even other teams change tactical approach according to the particular match. On Wednesday Juventus had 19 shots on goal and therefore managed to do so notwithstanding the fact that we had only one striker. However, if now we were to return to the normal tactics I don’t think it would create confusion. It is not a problem with the high level players we have. It is we both solutions that we can have an excellent equilibrium. The formation is of little importance. What are more important are the equilibrium and will fielded in each circumstance.

The match against Maccabi – Wednesday’s approach was good but was conditioned a bit by the final minutes due to the fact that we were forced to win and we were a bit scared of our goal being equalized. We have to avoid this and must always give the impression that we can manage the 1-0 without taking risks.

Three important points – Winning in Siena would win us three points of equal importance to those obtained against Maccabi. It is a tricky away match and one that must be interpreted in the right manner. Giampaolo is risking? I don not know about his situation. I have a good relationship with him and think well of him, but obviously I cannot allow myself to be conditioned by all this. We are thinking exclusively of a victory.

Del Piero – His recovery is proceeding well but we need to examine this day after day in order to have him back at 100%. I think that by the end of the month he will be back with the team even if not in a definite manner.

The players care only about cars? – I am sure that Giovinco and Marchisio, for example, would like to have a Ferrari but I think they are very much concentrated on their work. I agree with Mourinho, however, on the fact that the environment has changed a lot, that there are less values and that sometimes the sporting aspect is of secondary importance. It is ahrd to keep one’s feet on the ground. When a youngster makes it big, after playing one or two matches in the Serie A he is immediately offered conracts worth millions, they think of him with the national team, in other words they give him everything and then they just take it all away at the first moment of difficulty. Pressure comes also from the families. Everybody thinks they have a Maradona at home and then these 14/15 year olds cannot withstand the pressure.

FINAL WORD:

It was a particular afternoon for Claudio Marchisio and Jonathan Zebina. The two players were protagonists at the New Holland Grand Prix organized at the Torino Esposizioni where many stands including a children’s area, information stands and a space called the penalty area in which Jonathan and Claudio took part in a very particular event: with the control panel of a New Holland bulldozer they took part in a penalty shoot out using the arm of the bulldozer to shoot the penalties sending many balls to the back of the net.

«It is always fun to take part in these events – stated Claudio and Jonathan – We were never aboard one of these machines and it was interesting to be able to manoeuvre them». At the end of the event the champions then spent some time with the public, signing autographs and taking photos to the enthusiasm of the many Juventus fans present.

If I can find a video of that, I’ll post it, it sounds hilarious.

Forza Juve!!!!!!