THE GOOD:
The French cannot conquer Turin- This is our 11th home game against a French side in the Champion’s League, which seems awfully low to me. The results? 9 wins, 1 draw, and the last draw you have to go all the way back to 1983-1984 Cup Winners Cup against PSG, which finished 0-0. It was also the last time we’ve failed to score at home against the French (put your sexual puns here) scoring 22 in the other 8.
Bordeaux cannot conquer Italia- They have never won a game in Italy, with 2 draws and 5 losses. Better yet, in 6/7 of them, they didn’t score. The only game they have scored in Italy (you’re reading that right) was a 3-3 draw against Fiorentina in 2000.
Juventus hasn’t lost at home in 5 years- Last time was that dreadful 0-1 loss to Deportivo in 2004. There have been 16 home games since then, with 11 wins and 5 draws.

Those statistics all read beautifully. If it continues to be so, we can assume Bordeaux cannot beat us, cannot score, and that we will triumph. Obviously football is about 90minutes, but these records are very encouraging.

Apparently he did have hair, once upon a time.

FORMATIONS AND LINEUPS:
Juventus- Definitely out of the game are Grygera, Del Piero, Diego, Salihamidzic, Sissoko, and Chiellini, who is serving his 1-game suspension from last year’s red card against Chelsea. Juventus.com chopped off a few names, as De Ceglie, Tiago, and Legrottaglie will be available to Ferrara, so don’t worry.

In defense, it is assumed that Cannavaro will return from his rest to partner Legrottaglie, with the absence of Chiellini. Grosso is likely to get the nod at left-back, despite playing 80minutes Saturday and last Wednesday in Bulgaria, and right-back I think Caceres will be given his Juve Champions League debut. While Zebina is fit to play against his countrymen, he’s just returning from injury so playing him might be a risk.

In midfield, I hope Camoranesi sits this one out. He’s been in mediocre form recently, and I think it’s equally due to his work to adapt to the 3-man midfield, but also simply, he’s played too much recently. Tiago should start over him, I assume that that was why Tiago was rested on Sunday, not because Ferrara prefers Camo, but because he wanted Tiago fully-fit for today. Felipe Melo will anchor the defensive-midfield, and Marchisio will likely be sent out to battle. These players have all played a lot recently and it’s proof of the depth you need in midfield. Sissoko and Zanetti could come in handy in this situation, but obviously both are unavailable. Maybe even Poulsen will get a cameo.

In attack, Giovinco will substitute for the injured Diego, and Ferrara will likely return to his current-duo of Iaquinta-Amauri, with Del Piero still trying to get over his injuries.

Predicted XI: (4-3-1-2): Buffon; Caceres, Legrottaglie, Cannavaro, Grosso; Marchisio, Melo, Tiago; Giovinco; Iaquinta, Amauri

Bordeaux-
I will be perfectly honest with you. I know very, very little about Bordeaux, except they produce wine, and good wine at that. Ex-Interista Laurent Blanc (actually, who played alongside Ferrara at Napoli with Ranieri as their coach) has done very well with the team, leading them to break Lyon’s Ligue 1 hegemony last season. Obviously ex-Milanista Gourcuff has been a revelation at the squad, so we will have to watch him closely. Aside from that, I don’t know who plays there or what their lineup is, so I’m copying Goal.com’s lineup and recommending you check out Jennifer at the Bordeaux Offside for more information.

Predicted XI- (4-5-1): Carrasso; Tremoulinas, Ciani, Planus, Chalme; Wendel, Diarra, Fernando, Gourcuff, Gouffran; Chamakh

Looks like they play with a pretty compact midfield. I’m guessing given his surname, Diarra plays a defensive midfield role. Our midfield is going to have a battle on their hands.

According to women, he is apparently quite good looking. I guess French women need someone to lust after, the other fantasista wouldn’t work out.

KEY PLAYER:
Juventus- Giovinco- Against a packed midfield like Bordeaux, Gio might struggle as he thrives on space to run at defenders. Expect him to get fouled a lot, this game is going to ask plenty of questions of him in which I will go to greater detail below.
Bordeaux- Gourcuff- Because he’s very good, and he’s the only one I know. I’m ignorant, I know, but I have better things to do than watch Ligue 1, like gnaw my arm off.

PREDICTIONS AND PREVIEWS: 2-0, in a tight affair like the Lazio game. Expect us to get on the scoresheet 2nd half, and late in the game. For other previews check out the Bordeaux Offside, and Goal.com.

FROM THE PRESS CONFERENCE-

Ciro Ferrara is preparing to lead Juventus for his first time in the Champions league. The coach, strong from a positive outcome of 5 victories in as many matches on the Juventus bench, will find and ex-team mate, Laurent Blanc on the Bordeaux bench: «I have great memories of us as team-mates – underlined Ferrara. We met recently in Nyon and it was a pleasure just like when I got to know he became the Bordeaux coach. There is a relationship of esteem and friendship which binds us». The friendship comes from the years spent on the field together, the esteem from the excellent results obtained up to now by the Frenchman: «They are the champions of France and are unbeaten for over 15 matches. This must make us reflect. Tomorrow, it will not be a normal match for us because it is the first in the Champions League. The first of the group stage always has dangerous twists but we want to do well. What differs compared to the championship? Well, the championship isa long race and a defeat now and then is acceptable but in the Champions League you cannot afford to lose. Our objective at the moment is to qualify from the group stage and to do so we must not drop any precious points. Therefore the match is much more delicate from this point of view».

For tomorrow’s match, Ferrara will have Zebina back but will not be able to count on Del Piero or Diego after the latter was forced to leave the field due to an injury during the match against Lazio: «Del Piero is continuing to work and when he will not feel any more pain he will be available while Diego has had good news. We had been worried after having seen him leave the field but the tests showed it is not a big problem. We will see if we can have him back by the end of the week or for the match against Genoa».

The Brazilian will be substituted by Sebastian Giovinco: «I am satisfied with all those who played against Lazio and even with him. There is no question anymore about whether he has matured. If he is part of this squad it is because we believe in his qualities and he has all the possibility to show them. A player must always take advantage of the occasions he is given. I read somewhere that I would not have fielded him when Diego was injured. This is not true. The simple truth is that Seba joined after the others due to his commitments with the Under 21 squad but I have always fielded him when he was available. Tiago as playmaker? He could adapt to that role, just like Camoranesi, but I do not want to go against the characteristics of the players. At the start of the season I said I did not want to put too much responsibility on one player and neither did I want to construct a team around one player. Juventsu, at the moment, is having positive feedback especially from the players who come on to the field after the start of the match and who are winning us points and this should be one of the strong points throughout the season».

Ferrara warned his players with regards to the next opponents: «Bordeaux is a team with important points of reference such as Gourcuff, Chamakh (who is very good when it comes to heading the ball and giving the ball to his mates), or Wendel who has great technique. They are well organized, they all defend, are clever at building up the action rapidly and have players like Diarra o Caini who are good from set-pieces and therefore we will have to be careful even when it comes to inactive balls».

The most renown player of Bordeaux is in fact Gourcuff who, after having managed to gain himself an important role with Milan, has become even more the start of the French team. This fact may bring to light the difficulty Italian football has in launching young players: «Sometimes players who arrive in Italy at a young age find it hard and for Gourcuff this was the case especially in a team like Milan. Some players manage to express themselves better in their own country and this seems to be the case: Gourcuff had shown he possessed great technical qualities but managed to find continuity in his country. With regards to the capability of launching youngsters it seems to me that Juventus has done so allowing them to reach high levels».

When looking for Gigi pictures, I noticed he has been awfully smiley lately. This is good.

Gigi Buffon- It is a new opportunity for the bianconeri to try and confirm themselves even in Europe:. This is the objective of Buffon – who was busy addressing the press conference together with Ferrara – and his team mates: «During Saturday’s match against Lazio, we never stopped fighting and believing in the victory even when we encountered difficulties. After just three matches in the championship it is still early to say for sure but we have undertaken the right road».

The bianconeri are therefore about to get back to Euroepan football and just like a year ago, the group stage is not a simple one. Buffon, therefore, wants a Juve that is ready to face the match against Bordeaux with the same ardor fielded against Real Madrid and Zenit: «last season we played against highly acclaimed opponents and yet we won the group and gave signs of being an important team. In the successive round we faced an improving Chelsea and we could have even gone through. Now it is still early to say if we can aim at winning the competition but we surely have a more competitive squad».

The squad was in fact strengthened by the signings of the likes of Cannavaro, Grosso, Felipe Melo, Caceres and especially Diego. The former Werder player will miss the European debut and even though the news with regards to his injury are positive (7 days of recovery) and put everybody’s mind at rest, Buffon thinks that Juventus is ready for the appointment even without its Brazilian champion: «Diego is an important player for us and we would like him to play in every match but a great team cannot depend on one player. In order to be competitive it must have an ample squad with many players of a high level».

THE GIOVINCO QUESTION: I meant for this to have its own post, because I think it’s a very important debate, but with the packed fixtures list I figured it was important to have a preview up about the first Champion’s League game. It isn’t a discussion on his recent comments, I understand his frustration, but about his role.

To me, Diego’s performance against Roma confirmed that perhaps Giovinco is not set out to be trequartista. The two goals he scored, I’m not sure Giovinco would have, he probably would have been knocked over by the defenders and taken a free kick, he doesn’t have the kind of power that Diego used to hold off the defense. As such, he gets knocked over too often and has trouble staying on his feet. Against Lazio, he was muscled off the ball a few times, but he seemed to thrive when he had space and drifted out to the flanks.

If he was moved up front to Del Piero’s position, he’d have a bit more space but more importantly, other players couldn’t be so foully with him as they’d be conceding free kicks in prime locations or even penalties. But from what I’ve seen, he doesn’t have a strikers killer-eye for goal, he is definitely more of a provider than a poacher.

So where is his ideal position? Is it as Ranieri saw it, on the flanks? Is it as a trequartista, or as a striker? (He gave some of his best performances last season as a winger) Is his mediocre performances at trequartista due to a lack of form, or his size? The counter-arguments are that he hasn’t been given a lengthy run out in the team, perhaps he could improve there. He is young, so many of these skills, such as becoming more of a goal-scorer, these could be learned. But some traits are inherent, like his size. Another possibility would be to convert him to a regista, like what was done with Andrea Pirlo. Giovinco has great vision, though it would waste his dribbling ability. So to close out the preview, where do you think Giovinco’s ideal role is?

Where is Giovinco’s best role?(polls)

C’e’ una stella che indica il camino, forza Juve, vincere e’ il tuo destino!!

The second which surprised me a bit, was not only starting Brazzo at left-back this weekend, where he performed admirably, but subbing De Ceglie over Molinaro on at half-time when Salihamidzic came off with an injury. Molinaro’s position at left-back has been more or less secure over the last two seasons, although I would argue it is as much to Ranieri’s preference for him as much as De Ceglie’s injuries. Had PDC been able to remain uninjured for a few months on end, he could have given him competition. I was one of Molinaro’s biggest critics in 2007-2008, though last season he sort of changed my mind. He is a decent fullback, defensively sound but offensively contributes little. Is he ideal? Certainly not, but he can manage for the time being.

Over the last week, reports have been swirling that Ferrara is indeed not satisfied with the fullbacks at his disposal. This summer it appeared he was unimpressed with De Ceglie and would push him to Napoli, their interest cooled off after his injury at the U-21 euros, or De Ceglie managed to convince Ferrara of his worth. (Given his sub over Molinaro against Chievo, possibly both) Zebina may be injured for a few months, who managed to slowly work himself back in the squad, and it seems pretty apparent that Grygera is not highly appraised by Ciro. Caceres performed well at right-back in preseason, but he seems more of a defensive right-back like Mellberg than an attacking one, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Cobolli Gigli’s comments yesterday that Juve was still considering making moves in the mercato confirms the above suspicion that Ferrara would like changes. Grosso has been re-linked back to Juve after not playing in the Europa League qualifiers for Lyon in effort to not be cup-tied, supposedly Juve wants to pay 1million euro whereas Lyon are looking for about 2.5million. Grosso would be a decent signing, he has never really done it at the highest level for club, but Inter he was only there for a season, and French football is a wacky thing in its own way. At Palermo, well, he made his way into the Nazionale. He’s aging, but I think at the club level it will be less exposed than for the Nazionale where matches are individually played at a higher intensity. A decent signing, but I am not terribly concerned with our left-back position.

The other player heavily linked is Brazilian right-back Rafinha, of Schalke for a fee of about 8million euro. As with Diego, I cannot speak personally about him as my knowledge of the Bundesliga is, well, whatever close to zero would be. You all know well about my disdain for South American footballers, but I would be satisfied with this signing.

Simply put, he passes all of my desired checks for a fullback. Is he young? Yes. Is he experienced? Yes. Is he offensively potent as well as defensively sound? According to reports on him, he is a good attacker, whereas his defense could still be refined a bit. We’ll say yes. Is he relatively cheap? Given his age, his experience, and the club he’s coming from, I would say 8mil is a very fair price. With De Silvestri definitively off the market, Juve may decide to go for one of these fullbacks, or given Grosso’s price, perhaps both.

BUT- Should they arrive, we certainly need to offload some fullbacks. We already have 3 per flank- Molinaro, De Ceglie, Brazzo, and Zebina, Grygera, and Caceres. First on my chopping block would be Zebina. Ignoring my personal disdain for him for a moment, Zebina is particularly injury-plagued, has the highest salary of the fullbacks, is old, and I don’t think that much of an improvement over the others. Molinaro and Grygera are competent reserves, should Ferrara choose to do so, with a mid-range salary, dedication, and young enough that they can serve us well for a while. Brazzo’s contract expires next summer, and I have no idea if the team has any inclination to renew it, I would imagine not. Should either of them arrive, I would imagine Ariaudo would go out on loan, because Caceres is perfectly capable at center-back. Should a right-back arrive, I think he would be shifted in position.

Am I thrilled with our current group of fullbacks? No, but a team is never as perfect as you want it. I think they are “good enough,” but should the management choose to go into the mercato, I would certainly have no complaints.

KEEPERS

7.5: Aside from a bit of an error on a (wrongly) disallowed goal against Gilardino, Buffon made no mistakes, as we’ve come to expect. He has made some solid saves, but has not been on the same level as previous years. The last two seasons he’s missed nearly 3-4 months due to injury, something that has surprisingly not really hurt our team. Perhaps remaining healthy will bring him back to his superhuman form, as of now, I would give the best keeper award to Julio Cesar, much as it pains me to say it. Seeing his reactions against Lecce when the season was quickly going down the toilet was even more painful.
BEST MOMENT: There have been some “great” saves, but unlike last year not any particularly “world-class” ones. I’ll give it to his save against Cagliari on Biondi.

ALEX MANNINGER- 6.5: Brilliant piece of work by Secco, given Buffon’s injury problems and the absurdly low price. A better keeper than probably all save 2-3 of the starters in Serie A, Manninger held down the fort during Gigi’s absence. No stunning saves, and he made a few “small” errors against Inter and Lazio but in general he was steady, consistent, and a reassuring presence at the back, which is all you can ask for from a backup keeper. On Football Manager, Manninger demanded playing time and eventually went to Roma to fulfill it. Luckily in real life, Alex understands his role and is fine with it.
BEST MOMENT: Juventus 4-2 Milan. Conceding two at home might not seem like a good game, but it was a deflected shot and a tap-in he could do nothing about. Aside from that, looked confident and was not troubled by Milan at all.

ANTONIO CHIMENTI- N/R: Thrown in to sweeten the Manninger deal along with the Belardi loan, he is the team’s muppet.
Best Moment: Never setting a foot on the pitch.

DEFENDERS:

GIORGIO CHIELLINI- 8: Not quite as good as last season and looked uncharacteristically nervy in some games, but as a whole, Giorgio was still a colossus this season. The steel and grit he provides in the back is crucial to the team. Continued his rock-solid partnership with Legrottaglie until the end of the season when injury and suspension pulled the duo apart; not surprisingly, the team started conceding plenty. I still don’t know if he was sent off for dissent or a poor refereeing call against Chelsea. Future captain of Juventus and the Azzurri.
BEST MOMENT: He’s scored a good amount of goals this season, but his header against the Toro brought us local bragging rights, 3 points, and furthered the Granata’s relegation.

NICOLA LEGROTTAGLIE- 7.5: A very good campaign from the former winner of the dubious bidone d’oro prize. Alongside Chiellini, the duo had the best defensive record in Serie A until the end of the season. Like Chiellini, he is not quite the same when playing without his partner. Still a bit vulnerable on the counter-attack, but with Giorgio’s pace by his side, it is generally not a problem. Deservedly called back into the Nazionale and could be going to WC2010.
BEST MOMENT: Against a team like Atalanta, Juve often had trouble finding the motivation. Atlanta has a dangerous attack with Floccari and Doni, but in the andata in Bergamo, Legrottaglie organized the defense wonderfully and the less-evil Nerazzurri barely had a sniff on goal.

CRISTIAN MOLINARO- 6.5: If you look at my player ratings from last season, I gave him a 4.5 and hoped for his departure. He has upped his game significantly the season, and always gives his all, playing the most minutes of any Juventus player this season. Defensively he has developed into a reliable left-back, and I can honestly say when he was up against Robben and Malouda, I was not panicking. He did well to contain the both, which is not easy. I’d give him a 6.5 or possibly even a 7, but he is still woefully lacking in the offensive department. Please, someone teach him to cross!
BEST MOMENT: Containing Robben very well in both Champion’s League games, to the point that Schuster switched Robben to the other flank to try and attack Grygera/Salihamidzic, or defending against Balotelli perfectly in Juventus-Inter.

ZDENEK GRYGERA- 5.5: I’ve always liked Grygera, but towards the tail end of the season it has been painfully obvious he is not the caliber of player to man our right flank. He’s been caught out of position and responsible for several goals. Last season he started out poorly but grew steadily into his role, but sadly has not really continued this growth. If only Criscito was right-footed…
BEST MOMENT: He’s not as defensively sound as Molinaro, but he provides more up front. Without a doubt this goes to his goal against Inter at home, in stoppage time, that allowed us to save face.

PAOLO DE CEGLIE- 5.5: I maintain PDC should be played at left-mid instead of left-back, where his pace and crossing ability are even more useful. Until the end of the season, as a left-back, his defending was pretty mediocre. A run out of games could give him the confidence and experience to become a great left-back though. He gets his own rating as a midfielder.
BEST MOMENT: In the Pro Bowl of the Serie A, the Coppa Italia, PDC pulled a Sean Taylor, refusing to give in to the nature of the glorified friendly. Except he managed to take himself out with a crunching tackle against Napoli.

HASAN SALIHAMIDZIC- 5.5: In the games he’s played at right-back, he’s offered the same thing we expect from Brazzo. Nothing flashy, nothing fancy, but hard work and consistent mediocrity, which for a reserve defender is not a bad thing. Was injured for too much of the season, though. Like PDC, he gets a separate rating as a midfielder.
BEST MOMENT: Mr. Versatility allowing us to sub a midfielder for a defender and still be balanced.

JONATHAN ZEBINA- 6: The exact opposite of Grygera in that I’ve never liked him nor particularly rated him. Neither did Ranieri. Was out all the beginning of the season with a thigh injury, but has grudgingly earned some respect from me with his performances towards the end of the season. Is he a better right-back than Grygera right now? I would say that’s true.
BEST MOMENT: Not conceding 2-3 penalties, not being sent off, and not slapping a cameraman in his first game of the season. That’ll do.

LORENZO ARIAUDO-6: Didn’t exactly pull a Motta or a Santon, but slowly brought into the team by Ranieri in the Coppa and eventually used in Serie A. When he played, he did not look very nervous, which he credited Legrottaglie’s presence and instruction for. One for the future, the question is, loan him for experience, or keep him as a reserve? He has the capability to play well as a reserve or in rotation, but it might deprive him of vital playing time. If he goes out, he definitely should go to a Serie A squad.
BEST MOMENT: I’ll go with his debut in general. He looked pretty good out there given his age and confirmed our youth academy is producing some great talent.

OLOF “The Beard” MELLBERG- 6: I thought it was great to compare him to Loria, who Roma actually spent money on. It makes me feel a lot better about his transfer. Against Real Madrid, Roma, and other big games, Mellberg played wonderfully, making crucial tackles and generally being dominant in the air. Against the lower, weaker teams, he was schooled. A good reserve, but no one is suggesting he take a starting place anymore, unless perhaps at right-back. At right-back he is not as adventrous as Grygera or Zebina, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There are rumors of Olympiakos offering 3million euros for him. No dice, it would cost much more to get an equally capable replacement.
BEST MOMENT: He’s a reserve, unless we are playing in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. There he should automatically be guaranteed a starting shirt.

DARIO KNEZEVIC- 2.5: He gets a bad enough rating for his awful performance(s), but also, he was brought in as cover, yet managed to be injured nearly all season, taking a cue from ex-Juventino Jorge Andrade. Brilliant defending such as in the Napoli game where he inexplicably decided to try and an audacious clearance despite no pressure…giving the ball to an unmarked Lavezzi. Even when he was healthy towards the end of the season, Ranieri chose Ariaudo over him. Thank God we only brought him in on loan, he is on the first bus back to Livorno.
BEST MOMENT: Snapping his knee so he wasn’t even an option. I’d rather play Grygera or De Ceglie as center-back.

JORGE ANDRADE- 0: We spent 4.5million euros per game on this guy. I don’t blame him, I blame Agricola. This is the stuff he should be failing. We nabbed him instead of Gabriel Milito much in the way we got Poulsen instead of Xabi Alonso. It does comfort me to see Milito out for the last year with a knee injury.
BEST MOMENT: Tearing up his contract.

MIDFIELD

MOMO SISSOKO- 7: Momo came under a bit of criticism as the season went on for his propensity to win the ball and turn it right back over, but was a titan in the midfield for the first half of the season. Great performances against Real where he never stopped running, constantly pressuring the other midfield and forcing them to abandon Guti as a playmaker and stick to the wings. Broke his foot after being played too soon after injury, and in some games we missed his energetic presence in midfield.
BEST MOMENT: His goal against Palermo, where Sissokodinho actually worked.

CLAUDIO MARCHISIO- 7.5: I would argue jointly with Nedved, he was our best midfielder this season. Early injuries to Zanetti and Poulsen moved him up the pecking order, and give credit to Ranieri for playing him early in the season over Tiago. (though I will never understand why Ranieri chose Tiago over him for the game at Stamford Bridge) Energetic, young, Italian, and from Turin, it can’t get better. Shows great confidence and maturity for his age, positioning himself very well. As the season has moved on, he’s started to display a bit of goalscoring ability, which, with a bit of training I’m sure he could be great at. Should have been called up over a few players for Lippi’s most recent Nazionale squad, but Lippi probably wanted to leave him to the u-21 team.
BEST MOMENT: Hard to decide, as a whole performance, the 4-2 win over Milan was brilliant, he was all over in midfield distributing balls, winning them back, dribbling through the Milan midfield and unleashing some screamers. For a single moment, his goal against Fiorentina. Followed a genius Del Piero assist through and calmly chipped one of the best Serie A keepers. With the confidence and ease in which he did it, you would have never known it was his first professional goal.

CRISTIANO ZANETTI- 6.5: I docked him a little bit because of his never-ending injury struggles, those thigh strains really are a killer. But since his return from injury, he’s shown us what we’ve been missing. An engine in midfield, pressuring the other team well and winning balls back, he also is a quite good passer of the ball. It’s that combination that neither Tiago nor Sissoko have. He will be an important part of next season if he can stay healthy.
BEST MOMENT: His wonder-volley against Atalanta, possibly the Juventus goal of the season.

TIAGO- 6.5: Tiago, Tiago, Tiago……I can’t make up my mind on you. The Portuguese midfielder put in some very good performances this season and had more or less won a starting spot before he got injured for 2-3 months, but alternated that with some utterly average ones. I do like he’s showing more emotion and a real commitment to the Juventus cause, but the jury is still out on this one.
BEST MOMENT: Flattening Balotelli. No really, I’m serious.

PAVEL NEDVED- 8: The Czech warhorse had a great season, providing plenty of assists and becoming the highest scorer among non-strikers. Played well even though he was abused with 180min week-in-week-out by Ranieri. When played as a center-midfielder, was excellent and I think we should have moved him there and prolonged his career. It seems he had made up his mind to retire in the last month, despite not annonuncing it until the day before, because he played like a man possessed. Never won the cup with the big ‘ole ears, but certainly deserved to. Enjoy retirement, Pavel.
BEST MOMENT: That wonderful volley against his personal punching bag, ASS Roma, seconds after entering the game.

MAURO CAMORANESI- 7.5: Sigh…..when Mauro plays, he’s magic. Unfortunately over the course of the last two years, that “when” is becoming more and more rare. Only was fit enough to start in 1/3rd of Serie A games this season, his presence has been missed. We need to hire some Asian massueses on-call 24/7 for this guy, we can split them with Zanetti, Zebina, and all the other players that got nasty thigh strains this season.
BEST MOMENT: Soldiering through a dislocated shoulder against Reggina for the first half, and scoring a nice goal in the process.

CHRISTIAN POULSEN- 4.5: Everyone I’ve talked to in Spain has crowed about Poulsen, saying he was arguably one of the best midfielders in La Liga during his two year spell. Given the talent in this league, that’s no small compliment. Similarly, people have told me about his success when at Schalke. But he hasn’t reproduced that form at Juventus. To be fair to Poulsen, he was A. Coming under the impression as a vice-Xabi Alonso, when he is in fact a reserve to Zanetti. And B. He’s dealt with injuries all season and has been unable to get a decent run out. But in the few games he’s played, he hasn’t stamped his authority on the pitch. Christian hasn’t been awful, but has really made zero impact either. I’m not entirely ready to give up on him, yet, it seems quite clear from his play that his confidence is completely shot. Maybe it’s because we greeted him by calling him a “rubbish player.” Maybe it’s because he was quickly moved to 3rd-string. Whatever the reason is, let’s hope he can sort it out. He’s a good player and has plenty to offer Juventus.
BEST MOMENT: Dumb-luck goal against Catania in stoppage time after a whiff of a clearance from one of their defenders, a simple tap-in but was so significant in reviving Juve’s form.

HASAN SALIHAMIDZIC- 6.5: As stated in his defender rating, Brazzo, as many of our players, has been plagued with injuries all season, and thus unable to produce his best form. In the brief time he was healthy, he played 2 sensational games that made me wonder why he cannot play more often like that.
BEST MOMENT: His game (sorry for music…eh) in the 4-1 thrashing of Bologna. Brazzo was wonderfully dangerous and created plenty of great opportunities for the forwards and scored a very intelligent goal.

MARCO MARCHIONNI- 5.5: Infuriatingly inconsistent, that’s the best way to describe his season. When we signed him on a free transfer from Parma, he was one of the best wingers in Italy. Injuries and a lack of playing time have certainly limited his explosiveness. (Side note, if I told you last August we would have our most injury-plagued season in 5-6 seasons, which one of you would have predicted Marco would have remained healthy? Yeah, keep your hands down.) In general he provides good delivery and decent defensive cover, but he is in average match fitness, has a far too heavy touch, and sometimes drifts out of the game for long periods. I don’t think we should sell him if we are going to keep with a winged 4-4-2 formation as he is a good reserve to an often injured player. But Marco has not seized his opportunities when given.
BEST MOMENT: Nearly completely changed the game with a great turn and long strike against Chelsea in London. Certainly not his best moment, but unfortunately I will remember his season for his heavy touches against Inter and Milan that could have killed the game…he was lucky against Roma that Riise left him completely unchallenged in similar circumstances.

SEBASTIAN GIOVINCO- 7.5: Instead of the “Magic Fairytale of the Atomic Ant” perhaps he could write a book “How SuperSeba was criminally underused in 2008-2009.” As many of you know, I generally supported Ranieri, but one of my main sticking points was why he didn’t play Giovinco a lot. I still don’t understand it. I can see concerns about his physical strength and being able to hold up the wings, but in every game after the first few months, Giovinco had a massive impact when playing. The only game I remember where he was average after November or so was the 2nd derby against Toro. He’s obviously has no Cassanata issues, and everytime he played, we played better. I would love for someone to ask Ranieri and get an honest answer, I don’t think it’s that he had any personal beef against him or anything, Ranieri and Giovinco are both nice guys. The last thing I will say is that many attacking Ranieri for not playing Giovinco enough, a fair criticism, but many extended that to complaining Ranieri wasn’t giving our youth a chance. In the last two years, Criscito, Nocerino, Chiellini, Molinaro, De Ceglie, Marchisio, and Sissoko, all young players got solid runs out. Some cut it, some haven’t.
BEST MOMENT Either his 1v1 with Del Piero against Catania in the Coppa where there was a wonderful teacher-student embrace, or his goal against Lecce where he whipped in a free kick quite obviously with instruction from the master.

PAOLO DE CEGLIE- 7: Everytime De Ceglie played at left-mid, which was not often enough, he tore the other team apart. Given his pace and his excellent crossing, he provided fantastic service for the center-forwards. I’d like to see him play up there more, I think he could be a better winger than fullback, and Italy could really use a left-winger, we haven’t had one in ages.
BEST MOMENT: The 4-2 Milan demolition derby where PDC tore apart Milan’s right-flank, getting Zambrotta sent off and providing a perfect cross for a beastly Amauri header to give Juventus the lead. Close 2nd his cross against Lecce, came on as a substititute late on, and his first touch of the ball is an inch perfect cross again for Amauri who bangs it in late in the game to give Juventus the win, 2-1.

FORWARDS

ALESSANDRO DEL PIERO- 7: Del Piero has really fallen off since Christmas time, like Amauri, but that shouldn’t make us forget his unbelievable start to the season. Match-winning goal after match-winning goal, splendid free kicks, and a goal against Zenit, and 3 against Real Madrid to singlehandedly give us the group win. One of the best assists I’ve seen to Marchisio against Fiorentina, but other than that, he’s been hot-or-cold. Needs to refind his shooting boots.
BEST MOMENT: Tough call…but I’m going to go with Del Piero’s first goal against Real Madrid. Good long direct ball from Marchisio to Del Piero who dummies for Amauri. Amauri then turns and passes it back to Del Piero…with Casillsa coming a bit out of the goal and Blanco defenders hot on, Del Piero skewed pace for class. Top right corner, Casillas no chance. That was the shot heard round the world. Juve is back in the Champion’s League, baby.

AMAURI- 7: Like Del Piero, Amauri has fallen way off the pace from his terrific start to his Juventus career. In the fall Amauri was singlehandedly saving our season, scoring something obscene like 11 goals in 17 games. Powerful in the air, skilled with the volley, he’s a class forward. If only we could figure out what the hell stopped that dynamic duo. With Diego, Giovinco, Marchisio, Criscito, Camoranesi, and perhaps D’Agostino, he should get some mouthwatering service.
BEST MOMENT: Doppietta against Milan. Brazilians can samba too, Dinho.

VINCENZO IAQUINTA- 7: Yes, I’m aware I gave them all 7s, but I think it fits for the importance they each played in the campaign, with minus a few points for inconsistentcy. Iaquinta is the direct opposite of what happened to Amauri and Del Piero, he struggled for playing time in the first half of the season and had niggling injuries preventing him from expressing his best form. There were strong rumors that Roma or Zenit wanted him in January, but the Calabrian Cannon never wavered in his faith to the bianconeri. Once he shook the injuries…..well, he’s been Serie A’s form striker for the last 2-3 months or so. Let’s hope he can keep this form going for the Confederation’s Cup and then next season. After waiting his time on the bench, Juve has repaid his faith with a contract extension until 2013. Bravo, Vincenzo!
BEST MOMENT: Probably his goal against Milan, (see a trend here?) where he used all of his force to hold off Flamini, who was having a good game himself, and got himself in the right position to head it into the net. Vincenzo di forza!

DAVID TREZEGUET- 4: The player does not deserve the criticism for most of the rating, but the only “untouchable” of Ranieri’s 2007-2008 team has been anything but this season. After undergoing double-knee surgery to prolong his career 4-5 years, David has never really been given a run out in the team, particularly after his poorly-timed outburst against Ranieri following his substitution against Chelsea. His poaching instinct is still there, he just needs to get a few games out. Obviously there have been very strong links to his departure, but one would hope with Ranieri gone, Trez will decide to stay. I think this’ll be summer #6 of massive rumors about Trez leaving. The management’s words have hardly helped things, either.
BEST MOMENT: There’s been few…so I guess his goal against Palermo assisted by Amauri will have to suffice.

MANAGEMENT:

CLAUDIO RANIERI- 6: He had to go at the end of the season, no doubt, but with some average players in the squad (Poulsen, Tiago) and a hell of an injury crisis, he managed to do pretty well. In March, we were in the Coppa semis, 2nd place within striking distance of Inter, and the Champion’s League round-of-16. Then it all came apart, quickly. My chief complaints with him was the way he never seemed to get pissed about poor performances, and some of his strange team selections, ie- not enough tinkering/rotating, and not playing Giovinco. Give him some credit for giving Marchisio a very good run out.

ALESSIO SECCO- 6: Amauri, Giovinco, Marchisio, Manninger, good. Mellberg, De Ceglie, average. Knezevic, Chimenti, Poulsen, fail.

After the words come the facts. The day after the announcement and the official presentation of Ciro Ferrara came the time to begin work on the field. The adventure has begun, for him as coach but also for all the members of his technical staff. At the start of the afternoon session all the team got to know those collaborating with him. The faces are known to all since they are those of professionals coming directly from the youth sector.

The deputy-coach is Massimiliano Maddaloni. Michelangelo Rampulla will get back to coaching the goalkeepers while Dodo Sormani is the new technical assistant. Only Andrea Scanavino has been confirmed as trainer and is a sign of continuity from the Ranieri period.

Here are the presentation details of the four collaborators of Ciro Ferrara:

Ciro Ferrara

First of all a first class player who was capable of winning 6 scudetti on the field. He is also a valid manager capable of leading the youth sector in one of the most important times in its history. He is now also the coach of the first team. Since 1994, when he joined Juventus, Ciro Ferrara has made of the relationship a stronger one each day.

Born in Naples on the 11th of February 1967, as a player he played 500 matches in the Serie A, 247 of which with the Napoli jersey and 253 for Juventus, the team which he played for between 1994 and 2005. Besides 8 scudetti (one of which was revoked), he won 2 Coppa Italia, 5 Italian Supercups, a UEFA Cup, a Champions League and an Intercontinental Cup.

He formed part of the technical staff of the Italian national team who went on to win the 2006 World Championships as an assistant to Marcello Lippi. Since 2006 he is the personal responsible of the Juventus youth sector. In 2008, with the return of Lippi as Italian national coach he was once again appointed as assistant to the national coach.

On the 18th of May he replaced Claudio Ranieri as coach of the first team.

Michelangelo Rampulla

Two years later, Michelangelo Rampulla returns to coaching the goalkeepers of the first team after having been part of Didier Deschamps’ technical staff.

This is another experience for one of the most loved persons by the Juventus supporters. Born in Patti (Messina) on the 10th of August in 1962, his name is linked to Juventus since 1992. For 10 years, as a goalkeeper, he was part of one of the most successful periods in the history of the club.

After having shelved his gloves, he remained with Juventus undertaking various roles within the youth sector (Primavera goalkeepers’ coach, goalkeeper coaches’ coordinator and coaches’ organization coordinator) but also as the person responsible of the Juventus Club Doc Coordination Centre. This, apart from that of goalkeepers’ coach during the Deschamps period in the 2006/07 season.

Massimiliano Maddaloni

As deputy-coach, Ferrara re-embraces an old companion who formed part of his adventure since the times of the Napoli youth sector. Massimiliano Maddaloni will be undertaking the role simultaneously with that of Primavera coach.

Having joined Juventus at the beginning of the 2007/08 season as coach of the Allievi Nazionali, he has been successful since the beginning of the season as Primavera coach. Having won the Viareggio Cup in February and gone close to triumph in the Coppa Italia, the bianconeri under his direction are currently busy with the final phase of the championship after having dominated the elimination phase.

Born in Napoli on the 22nd of June 1966, his sports curriculum includes a long parentesis as professional footballer in Serie C and D between 1985 and 2000. As coach, before his arrival in Turin, he coached Tuscan teams (Viareggio, Forte dei Marmi, Versilia and Cecina) in Eccellenza category, Serie D and Serie C.

Adolfo Sormani

A historical name for Italian football is now part of the staff. Son of Angelo Benedicto, Adolfo “Dodo” Sormani, is the new technical assistant to Ciro Ferrara, with whom he has already been collaborating for two years within the youth sector.

Born in Genova on the 11th of August 1965, he is close to the end of his second season with Juventus as technical instructor within the youth sector. This is the latest stage in a career which saw him first as a player (for a number of important team such as Parma, Napoli, Avellino and Sambenedettese) and then as coach of Serie D teams like Portosummaga, Conegliano, Chioggia and Cattolica.

Andrea Scanavino

Andrea Scanavino represents continuity in the technical staff. He will keep the role of athletic coach. His collaboration with Juventus will continue after he joined in 1999, the year in which he was enrolled as the person responsible for the recovery of injured players.

In these years he collaborated actively with all the professionals who came along: from Giampiero Ventrone (during the two periods of Marcello Lippi and with Carlo Ancelotti) up to Riccardo Capanna, and through the times with Massimo Neri during the Fabio Capello era and Antonio Pintus during the time of Didier Deschamps.

juventus.com

 IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

For this one we get back Goldie Locks and Mellberg, but lose Chiellini to a suspension and Marchisio to a small injury. De Ceglie and Grygera have recovered fully and join the list of 20 players called-up: 1 Buffon 4 Mellberg 5 Zebina 6 Zanetti 8 Amauri 9 Iaquinta 10 Del Piero 11 Nedved 12 Chimenti 13 Manninger 16 Camoranesi 17 Trezeguet 18 Poulsen 20 Giovinco 21 Grygera 29 De Ceglie 30 Tiago 32 Marchionni 33 Legrottaglie 41 Ariaudo.

Probable line-up:

Amauri Iaquina

Nedved Zanetti Poulsen Camoranesi

De Ceglie Mellberg Legrottaglie Grygera

Buffon

Ranieri on the game:“Now we will be playing against Atalanta, a compact team. Del Neri teams play restricted to 30 meters. We will have to field will and determination because they have nothing to lose and therefore will be aggressive and will base their play on counter-attack. We have to try to get back the second place and at the same time keep an eye on Fiorentina who are close behind us. It all depends on us”.

Hmmm… so we need to win and Del Neri knows our counter-attack is our Achilles’ heel. This should be fun. What does Ranieri tell his men if there’s 10 minutes to go and they’re still tied at zero with no fans to help their cause? Well after he subs on Zebina for Grygera and waits 9 minutes to bring in Poulsen ahead of Giovinco, he better tell them to push up and go for goal. That is if he still values his job.

Btw, congrats Inter on another Scudetto. Feels a lot better if you win them on the field, no? Also come Monday/Tuesday we’ll have our Juventus Offside version of a Diego post up, culminating all the rumours (and your comments) in the last two years about him. Until then bianconeri…

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

Derby history from Juventus.com:

Towards the derby: interesting facts

The derby della Mole is always a moment which is long awaited by the Turin supporters of both teams. In view of the match scheduled for Saturday night let us discover a few interesting facts.

The biggest victory for the bianconeri
This dates back to the 20th of April 1952, when Juvenus beat Torino 6-0 with two goals each by Boniperti and John Hansen. The other scorers were Karl Hansen and Vivolo.

The most awaited victory
25th March 1979: after a series of negative results which lasted for 10 derbies the bianconeri managed to win 1-0 with the match winner scored by Cabrini.

The first Juventus goal
It was scored by Ernesto Borel. It was the 30th January 1907 and the derby was one by Torino (2-1). Speaking of round figures the 100th goal was scored by John Hansen in the derby won 5-1 and played on the 25th March 1951. The 200th goal was scored by Tricella during the derby won 2-1 on the 1st of May 1988.

The Juventus top-scorer
Giampiero Boniperti is the Juventus player to have scored most goals in the derby with 13 goals, followed by John Hansen with 9, Borel II with 8 and Platini with 7.

Platini always left his mark
Ten derbies and 7 goals. This is the goal-scoring rate of Le Roi in the stracittadina. The best of his performances dates back to the 26th February 1984 (Juventus-Torino 2-1): the granata went ahead on the 55th minute with Selvaggi. Michel first equalised with a header following a cross by Vignola (66th) and then put the bianconeri ahead from a splendid free-kick.

Great comeback on the 7th March 1982
The rain was pouring down for most of the match which was rich in emotions and incredible changes. Torino opened the score and scored a second but Juventus did not give up, equalized , turned round the result and won with an amazing 4-2 thanks to two goals by Scirea and goals by Tardelli and Brady.

Torino e´bianconero!

Recent form:
Juventus- Mixed: We´re not in Championship-winning form, but neither is Inter or Milan. Juve have been struggling recently in Serie A, though picking up the points. In the last two weeks the team suffered two 1-goal defeats in the Coppas (1-0 Chelsea, 1-2 Lazio) while disappointing, both ties are certainly still open. If you want to know why Alex Ferguson´s ManUre is so laden with silverware, you only have to look at their March form. This is the crucial time, and we need our team to start going on a positive run. A win against the Toro could spark it.

Torino- Poor, but improved: Pre-season I picked this team to finish comfortably in midtable. The team has a solid defense/keeper (they conceded less than Genoa, Napoli, Atalanta, and Udinese last season) yet struggled to score. With the addition of journeyman striker Nicola Amoruso alongside Rolando Bianchi (with Rosina in support) I was sure they would avoid relegation without any Uefa ambitions. I was wrong. Their offense has improved marginally, but their defense has leaked far more goals than last season. The team was struggling in the relegation zone, but 2009 has been relatively positive. The team has gone unbeaten in 7 (although true to Toro form, only 1 was a win) and is starting to claw itself out of the drop.

Pavel´s last derby?

Formations:
Juventus- 4-4-2, baby. With Chelski on the horizon, Ranieri might choose to rotate a bit, as he did against Palermo. Injured for the match are Legrottaglie (suspended anyways), Grygera, Camoranesi, De Ceglie, Zanetti, and of course, our favorite, Andrade. Knezevic (please don´t play) and Zebina make their 1st-team return after lengthy injury absences. As Ranieri doesn´t favor either anyways, don´t expect to see them on the pitch. Ariaudo has been called up. He´s got a tricky situation in defense. Marchisio will likely represent the Torino-homegrown faction, as Giovinco will probably start on the bench again.
Predicted lineup: Buffon; Salihamidzic, Mellberg, Chiellini, Molinaro; Marchionni, Sissoko, Marchisio, Nedved; Del Piero, _______

That blank spot is because Trez could definitely get the nod, he´s looked dangerous in the short time he´s been back from injury whereas Amauri has been struggling up front a bit.

Torino- 4-4-1-1, according to most reports. The Torino Offside is kind of like the team´s form….sometimes on, but generally nonexistant. (Should the Toro win (gasp) I expect it to briefly explode alive) They typically play Rosina behind Bianchi, now that Amoruso has left. Injured for the Toro are Abbruscato (Elvis), defenders Rivalta and Di Loreto, Palermo´s favorite Aimo Diana, and Nicola Ventola. Paolo Zanetti is suspended. Gasbarroni, a Juve youth product, may make his Derby della Mole debut, only on the Granata side.
Predicted lineup: It´s a crapshoot, because I have better things to do than watch boring 0-0 relegation battles. Sereni; Rubin, Dellafiore, Natali, Colombo; Gasbarroni, Dzemaili, Corini, Abate; Rosina; Bianchi

For those wondering what Juve has been up to recently…

Key Battles to Watch:
Makeshift Juve defense v. Rosina´s creativity&Dud- Juve- Fast talented dribblers have occasionally troubled us, and Rosina is a trickly little midget. Bianchi doesn´t worry me too much…once heralded as the future of Italian football, his reputation has pretty much collapsed in the last year and a half. Juve should be able to keep them at bay.
Gigi Buffon v. Boredom- Gigi- Torino has not scored against Juve since 2002, from a penalty. Expect Gigi to have a quiet night in front of goal, but if called into action, he will be prepared.
Struggling Juve Offense v. Leaky Toro Defense- Push- Toro´s defense has been pretty poor this season, but Juve has been struggling to score up front recently. We all know in derbies recent form doesn´t matter. If recent history is to tell us anything, it´s to expect a low-scoring game. Recent results (1-0 Amauri, 0-0, 1-0 Trezegol) have been cagey affairs.
Juventus Dominante v. Juve choking: DOMINANTE: This season we´ve sometimes choked when we have a golden opportunity to cut Inter´s lead. With Inter playing Juve Primavera #2 one might fear us doing it again. But this is a derby, and we´re playing at the same time. (almost)

Amauri, segna per noi!

Prediction: We´re gonna take this one. Too much is at stake. 1-0, Iaquinta as a sub.

Oh and to get things a bit spicy…

And the ever-favorite…

Uefa Champions League – 25 Febbraio 2009

Stamford Bridge – Londra – h 20.45

Oh, how the times have changed at Stamford Bridge since Mr. Ranieri got canned back in 2004. Well not exactly. I mean John Terry, Frank Lampard, and Petr Cech are still there. Also Chelski favorites under “The Pompous One” such as Robben, William Gallas, Claude Mikelele, and Gudjohnsen were also either brought to the Blues or nurtured by The Tinkerman himself. So I guess in a sense not that much has changed really. But player personnel aside, Claudio Ranieri will make his return to the London based club in front of many fans who probably wish they could have the Italian tactician back instead of the mess they have now Goose Hiddink.

But Scolari’s out and the Goose is ready to go. Hiddink takes over as the interim head coach until the end of the season when his future at the club will be further discussed- unless he’s fired before then. Last weekend the Dutchman’s side defeated the in form Aston Villa after Anelka struck his twenty first goal this season, in contrast to Drogba who’s only found the net once all year. The biggest change you’ll see in Hiddink’s side is in the introduction of a 4-4-2 formation with the aforementioned Anelka and Drogba together up top.

Drogba Anelka

Kalou Lampard Ballack Mikel

Cole Terry Alex Bosingwa

Cech

Hiddink’s recent thoughts on his side:

Chelsea must, and can, impose their game and not play reactive football. I like proactive football, and that’s the way we worked in this (one week) period of training, to re-establish a proactive team. I cannot have a judgement about the recent past, what I try to do is find the strength of this team and one of the demands is imposing our way of playing.

Hiddink being proactive

It seems though Goose, that the only one doing the imposing these days is Frank Lampard, who owes it all to Ranieri. Against Villa he practically gift wrapped Anelka’s goal and has been Chelski’s only bright light as of late. Anyways with direct orders from Ranieri, Sissoko will eat him up and spit him out. Conveniently for Juventus, Ballack seems to be playing at levels only seen since his house league days and the once grand Petr Cech has been looking a little shaky recently to boot. Against Villa, Chelski’s defence was exposed a couple times and with a little more creativity they could’ve easily put one or two goals past the Blues. So I’m excited, the problem is Drogba might be too. Keep your fingers crossed there.

For Juventus though, we’ve been waiting for this moment for more then two years. Big victories against big clubs is apart of our petigree and we’re hoping to prove a bit of that at Stamford Bridge. Del Piero, Camoranesi, Nedved, and Trezeguet will realise the magnitude of this game but it will be important for them to stay relaxed and not get too nervous (they’re pros but it can happen). ADP will start with Amauri up front, as Ranieri will look to Il Capitano for more of the magic he showed at the Bernabeu vs Real Madrid back in 2008. Everyone and their nonna’s know he’ll be the key to our success in this game.

Del Piero Amauri

Nedved Marchisio Sissoko Camoranesi

Molinaro Chiellini Legorttaglie Grygera

Buffon

Against Palermo Tiago looked cool under pressure didn’t he? I mean, shit, it only took him two years to adjust. Anyways, he played a solid game and the pair of CM’s complimented themselves surprisingly well. The argument that Ranieri will start him over Marchisio this Wednesday to me is a fallacy. Marchisio should be well rested, and although the ex-Chelski man is in surprisingly good form at the moment by his own standards, Marchisio has more Champions League experience this year and he’s definitely more dynamic. I think Ranieri had the option of playing Marchisio on Saturday but knew Hiddink would be watching. You see he’s a tricky old man that Ranieri, he threw a bone to Tiago whilst keeping the book on Marchisio closed until Wednesday. It’s brilliant, might not be true, but it’s brilliant.

Ranieri being proactive

Nedved can’t play another 90 mins just days after his effort in Palermo can he? Well no not effectively at least (sorry Pavel please forgive me). But knowing Ranieri, he wouldn’t take the risk starting the young Giovinco in a game like this. However Seba’s almost guranteed some playing time now so relax- let’s say around the 85th minute or so lol. Now aside from Del Piero, Camoranesi’s play is the next most important key to this game, if not equally as important. His creativity is glaringly vital here and now is the time we need him to find his form. Camo I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you, don’t let me down.

Sissoko, who has already more than doubled his goal tally with Liverpool (3 vs 1), showed some great work ethic again and nicely finished on his second goal of year. I’ll be honest though, Palermo gave him way too much time and space in their final third. For guy with a hard shot, they were asking for trouble there and Sissoko rightfully made them pay the price. Against Chelski we can’t make the same mistake. Thus Sissoko’s effort will be vital for us in our midfield. I’ve noticed that tactically when our opponents try and play up field, behind our midfield line and just in front of our defense, Ranieri turns Momo into a libero. Similar to a sweeper, Momo will roam a few feet above our back line and soak up some of the pressure. I can’t imagine anyone in the world better suited for that than Momo. I expect Chelski to do well coming forward so we’ll have to watch that area very carefully. I wonder if Ballack’s ass is still stinging from the last time he got Momo’d?

Speaking of our defense now, Giorgio is unbelievably important to us here. As if that wasn’t painstakingly obvious. Our defensive line against Chelski will have be tighter and more organized, and his wonderful sense of timing and movement, being a real step above Legrottaglie’s, will provide us with just that. He’s of a different class plan and simple. Just shut up Nicola and ride Chiellini’s coattails to success. Without him we’d be dead meat defensively in this competition. Thank God he’ll be there to keep us in check for our offside traps. That could be the difference between Drogba and Anleka… making the difference, or not. 

I wonder what Ranieri’s thinking of doing with Mellberg? He didn’t play Saturday so he could be well rested for this game, right? I mean he was arguably playing his best defence up until he was left on the bench Saturday so that would suggest he’s planning on playing here wouldn’t it? Mellberg could either be starting with Chiellini in the middle, or like he did against Lazio a few weeks back, he could fill in for Grygera at RB. Really I don’t care which position he plays, I just want him on the pitch defending. He isn’t sick at coming forward but neither is Grygera. Also he’s probably at least as good as Legro, and Nicola just played 90 mins v Palermo. But who knows, it’s not as clear cut here.

And finally, Buffon. My God he hasn’t lost a step since coming back. Still the best at coming off of his line, still the quickest at reading the play, and still fearless cutting down angles with surgical precision. It’s true, some days you’d rather be lucky than good. But I’d always want Gigi back there in any case. He’ll be solid for Wednesday, he always is. Lastly, Mr. Abramovich this one’s for you… a one… a two:

I’ll give you all I got to give if you say you’ll love me too
I may not have a lot to give but what I got I’ll give to you
I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love

Can’t buy me love, everybody tells me so
Can’t buy me love, no no no, no. – The Beatles

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

Boy-oh-boy do we like to do things differently here at the Juventus Offside. Man-crushes, binge-drinking, and good ol’ fashioned rival club bashing have normally been the specials of the day until now. Today, Alessio and I proudly present to you all our post pre-season predictions. Now you may be asking yourself some simple, and very valid questions like: Hasn’t the season already began? Shouldn’t we be focusing on current issues? Why would you guys even attempt to win over our hearts now with this late lame-ass effort?  Well my friends the answer is simple… I’m incredibly lazy. The truth is Alessio had his part done about two months before the season began, and I, well, have a love affair for beer. However, time heals all wounds and you’ll be glad to hear Alessio is slowly talking to me again. Moving on, here now are some answers to some pressing questions about what we can expect this season, six months in the making.

What do you think about our transfer season?

Alessio:Overall, I’m pretty satisfied with it. We brought in quality reinforcements, and while we weren’t thrilled about it at the time it appears they were perfect for us. My friend Anthony remarked that we only brought in reinforcements where our youth players weren’t coming through, and that bears mentioning. Instead of a fantasista like Van der Vaart or Diego, we have Giovinco. Instead of Grosso as our left-back, we have De Ceglie. (Sorry, marco!) And lastly, instead of Xabi Alonso as our midfield general, we have Marchisio who put in a great performance the other day against Artmedia. We didn’t have a prima punta or defensive midfielder coming through, so we got Poulsen and Amauri. We have some great depth, I’d like maybe one or two more defenders, like Criscito. Not Knezevic. Rather than feeding him to the wolves (literally) we should have slowly integrated him in, subbing him in and playing Coppa and “smaller games.” Regardless, we have good cover.Manninger is a top-class backup keeper. I didn’t like getting rid of Belardi, but when we realized Chimenti wasn’t our starting backup, I was much more relieved about it. He did great against Italy last week. So in general, I think Secco and co did some good work this mercato. If we offload Tiago and sign Appiah on a free transfer, good deal. Appiah wants to play in bianconero badly, and there’s no doubt he’d be better than having Tiago on our bench, and he’s probably got similar (or lower) wage demands.

roberto:If you had some how been able to look into the future at the end of last year and tell me who we’d end up signing, I would’ve looked you in the eye while I slowly placed my hand atop a searing stove element. We needed quality defenders (plural) then, and we still need them today. Until that area’s addressed, Secco’s still an idiot.

What did you think of our pre-season friendlies? How did they go in your opinion?

Alessio:I never put too much stock into pre-season friendlies, but I was happy with them. Our management is planning for a big year for us, so we had several prestigious friendlies. I think (and so does Legro) we played too many, we don’t want injuries or our players to be exhausted. Last year we had some problems with Del Piero and Camoranesi missing pre-season and with Serie B, they started out poorly. 1/2 our team was at Euro2008 or the Olympics, so they’re all in good form. Best was 0-0 against Manchester United, we proved that we can hang with the best.

roberto:I think our pre-season this year was a calculated gamble by Ranieri and Juventus. Fearing his job would be on the line, Ranieri had to make sure we were more than ready before the start of our Serie A campaign to guarantee our entry into the Champions League group stage. So, we scheduled a lot of games within a short period of time. This of course raised our chances of someone getting seriously injured. However, the Tinkerman knows that there was really no alternative for achieving match fitness in time other than playing (you guessed it) matches. When all was said and done, Juventus put in some descent performances along the way, made it into the CL group stages, and came out virtually unharmed.

Who will be our breakout star this season?

Alessio:Hard decision, I think all our signings will do well. I was enthusiastic about signing Tiago, but he had shown elements of his lack of “personality” before, and Almiron was unproven at a top level. I can’t see that happening to our new arrivals. Maybe nothing eye-popping, but I don’t think they’ll flop. Everyone says Giovinco, and I think he will light it up. I’ll go with Marchisio though, he really impressed me against Artmedia. I’d been talking him up before but he distributed the ball well with good passing, showed some good individual skills, and showed no hesitation in challenging for the ball. His performance made me forget about Xabi Alonso already, let’s hope he continues to grow.

roberto: “Our” breakout star is going to be Amauri. Ask yourself one thing: Is there another striker like him in the world?

Who will make the biggest impact this year?

Alessio: Dr. Agricola. Seriously. If we can stay relatively healthy and injury-free, we can do very well this season. Other than that? Camoranesi. He’s proven how crucial he is to the team and he’s without a doubt our most creative player, and his crosses are beautiful. He needs to stay injury-free.

roberto:Amauri will make the biggest impact this year. Aside from focusing on his array of abilities for a minute, think of this guy’s potential on the international scene. No doubt he’ll make his Azzurri debut as soon as his passport comes in, plus he’ll be enjoying his first taste of the Champions League with Juventus. I’m telling you, sooner or later, you’ll be forgetting about Giovinco… in a good way.

Last season injuries and suspensions hurt our backline badly, and in January we were regularly fielding a Legro-Grygera center-back partnership. Do you think our defense has enough depth for this season?

Alessio: I’d be a bit more comfortable with another player, but I think we’ll be ok. Andrade’s relapse was a real downer, because I thought we would be well covered. I wish we brought back Criscito and slowly integrated him, he could be great alongside Chiellini. One an enforcer, one more of a positional-Cannavaro/Nesta style defender. We have Chiellini, Legrottaglie, Mellberg, Zebina, Grygera, Salihamidzic, Molinaro, De Ceglie, and Knezevic, most of these players can cover in alternate positions. I think yes. I think with the Champion’s League TV revenue and maybe a bit of leftover transfer kitty, Secco might be waiting till January to either bring in reinforcements or an added team member, which is a good idea.

roberto:No chance. I don’t see our defensive personnel having enough gas for Serie A, international duty, and the fucking Champions League. Come January, we’ll need to make a big move (when have you heard that before?)… But of course by then who’s going to be eligible to play for us in the CL?

We’ve finally made it back to the Champion’s League after a two-year absence. Do you think we have a legitimate chance at winning it? How far do you expect to go?

Alessio: We could win it, but I don’t expect to. On our day, we can beat any team in Europe. But with injuries, suspensions, exhaustion, and general poor form, we won’t be always playing in top shape. So it all depends how the season ends up, I would like a quarterfinal finish. Of course it would be nice to win it in Rome, which as all Juventini know is the stadium where we won it last, against Ajax. Extra bonus of winning it in Roma’s territory, but I’m not holding my breath.

roberto: Here’s what I think the issue (or question) is concerning our Champions League hopes this year. Can we expect our club’s inherit grit and determination to make-up for our obvious lack of depth in our back-line? The answer my friends is harder than fuck to come up with. All I know is that in sports, anything can happen. Juventusis off to a good start this year and with a little luck we can certainly go far. Who wouldn’t like to see our boys that battled Serie B lift the trophy up above their heads in Rome?

Can Ranieri deliver us the Scudetto this year? What do you think are our chances of victory? What is the key to Juve winning the Scudetto?

Alessio: Yes, in my opinion our Champion’s League commitment might be our undoing. I don’t think the Italian media is giving us enough credit. I think Inter has a bit of an advantage, and Milan/Juve have an equal chance with Roma just slightly behind. If we don’t get some penalty bullshit this season and Inter’s defensive injury crisis continues, I think we have good odds. As of now, Bwin is giving 2.20 on Inter winning the league, Milan 3.50, Juve 5.25, and Roma 6.00. (Fiorentina is far behind) It’s going to be a pretty open championship and I think any of the big 4 could feasibly win it.

roberto: Ranieri is a good coach. Personally I think this will be his last best shot at winning anything with a top club, and I hope he can be successful. The guy is a class act who seems to know what it takes to win. This year our lads look like they’re in good shape which leads me to believe we can certainly contend for the Scudetto this year. What’s the key to Juventus winning the Scudetto? The name of the game is consistency folks. It always has been, and always will be. If we can put out a more consistent performance than Inter this year, the league championship is ours.

What are your opinions on Milan’s mercato? Inter’s? Roma’s? Fiorentina’s? Other squads?

Alessio: Long question. Here we go:
Milan-They did well in bringing in reinforcements, they’ve been too weak over the last few years. Sheva, Ronaldinho, Borriello, Zambrotta, Senderos all have high potential, whether each player attains it is up to debate. They didn’t really reinforce the positions they needed, but they do have quality players, but it’ll be a battle for many of them to get back to glory. I don’t think they are enough to win the Scudetto, but they don’t have the Champion’s League to worry about. Hopefully Pirlo can get back to his best.
Inter-When Mourinho first arrived, the media was predicting a whole-scale revolution, but most Calcio fans knew one really wasn’t happening. Muntari and Mancini are pretty good pickups, however as most people have been saying Mourinho is their best signing. I don’t think he’s god, but he’s certainly better than the tactical dunce that was Roberto Mancini. If they pick up Quaresma, they have done very well in the market. Suazo’s had a year-to-forget and should pack his bags, for whever.
Roma-About time they started moving, Prade should have done this a month ago when they were training at Trigoria, so it’ll take a bit for the team to integrate. Menez is a quality pickup, and I’m sure he’ll be kicking ass in the spring, he’ll need some time to adjust. Baptista and Riise I’ll hold off final judgement though, Riise doesn’t impress me and Baptista had sort of been floundering over the last few years. They almost have enough depth, 1-2 more players (out-and-out striker and a CB) would be perfect.
Fiorentina-Home run. Quality and quantity. Prandelli should be happy he has backers like the Della Valle brothers and Corvino as his talent scout. Vargas will be sensational. They could do with another CB though, they didn’t properly replace Ufjalusi. If anyone can get Gilardino to his “Serie A Young Player of the Year” best it’s Prandelli.
Catania- Great work in the market, I think Zenga and co. will comfortably survive relegation and they’ve set some building blocks for the future. ~10 points above relegation.
Torino- A team destined for the relegation battle couldn’t do better than picking up relegation-specialists Amoruso and Bianchi. They had no firepower last season, but with Rosina and that duo up front, the Toro will also avoid relegation. Good pickups.
Others-Lazio and Palermo seem similar, both brought in a lot of new recruits and I’m not sure how they’ll settle. Palermo’s midfield still sucks. Midtable for both. Genoa brought in Palladino as their new #10, so I’ll be watching, Former Juve youth coach Gasperini did well in getting Ferrari for their leaky defense, not enough for a Uefa cup push but also mid-table. Napoli did great work yet again, they are really rising. 

roberto:Milan Milan Milan. Much like Juventus, they forgot to do anything significant about their back-line. Flamini this, Ronaldinho that. Zambrotta was a good move but last I checked, he isn’t exactly who you’d want in Kakakladziii’s boots. Inter just fucking pisses me off. Now they finally an official mascot in their gypsy Quaresma. Roma still pisses me off, but I like what they’ve done with the place. Just a matter of getting everyone on Spaletti’s page… or off it, who knows. Fiorentina is grooving with Gilardino’s revelation. I’ll add Lazio here as they’ve really found a star in Mauro Zarate. The kid is dope.

With the Big 4 temporarily enlarged to the “Big 5,” who do you think is going to finish in 5th place?

Alessio:Tough call. I’m going with Fiorentina. I think the Champion’s League is going to take a toll on them (even if they have a good bench) and they’ll slip a bit. Not as catastrophic as Lazio but a slip none the less. No offense to Viola fans.

roberto:Napoli, you watch.

Giovinco, De Ceglie, and Marchisio all impressed on loan last season. Do you expect them to winning starting spots by the end of the season? With young players like Essabr and Pasquato out on loan will they have similar seasons?

Alessio:Not quite starting roles for all, but I think Giovinco and De Ceglie may be starting towards the end of the season. Marchisio will be playing often but he won’t be first choice quite yet, I don’t think. Essabr and Pasquato? No, I think they need 2 years on loan, they have great potential but are very young. With Rossi, Esposito, and Ekdal also around we will be set for years to come.

roberto:Molinaro shits himself to sleep every night thinking of the day De Ceglie takes his starting role from him officially. Oddly enough, many Juventini have the same dream however we have very different endings. Marchisio will get to start and so will Giovinco. They will impress, and we will all rejoice in song. Molinaro is garbage… I just wanted to add that.

Who’s going to get relegated?

Alessio:Lecce, Cagliari, and Reggina. Lecce’s team doesn’t impress me, Cagliari was very stupid to not keep their coach, and Reggina isn’t going to survive if they keep dumping their star forwards. Berretta is a good coach but I’m not sure he can do it with Lecce. I think they might be replaced by their hated rivals AS Bari. BWIN is calling Lecce, Chievo, and Reggina with Siena, Catania, Cagliari, and Bologna very close.

roberto: Cagliari, Reggina, and Bologna. Too bad for Jeremy over at the Cagliari Offside. The man works hard… go check him out.

This year, Empoli took the hardest dive, from a Uefa cup finish to relegation. What team do you think is going to do comparatively poor this season? Who will rise the most?

Alessio:I don’t think any team is going to have a comparatively disasterous season. But I think Udinese is going to drop out of the Uefa cup spot.

roberto: Inter, they really need some steady coaching in there. Oh boy, look out day 13!

Despite eventually being sacked, Claudio Ranieri was very popular in England while with Chelsea. Do you like the Mister? Do you think he is capable of leading us to silverware?

Alessio:I do like the guy, he seems like a good motivator and a good tactician. His subs were sometimes off last season, but I do think he can win us silverware. If we get the Coppa Italia we get a silver star (for 10). If we win the Scudetto we get our 3rd star. I’d love a Scudetto, Coppa Italia, and quarterfinal CL finish.

roberto: I feel like I already answered this question. Yes and yes.

If you could add one player (realistically) or one particular position to the squad, what would it be?

Alessio:Fabiano Santacroce. A solid young center-back. I’d like Criscito to return as an alternative.

roberto:If De Ceglie wasn’t around I’d love to have Maxwell from Inter. Just think of the quality we’d have with him and Nedved on our left side. But, if I could only have one player than I’d have to go with a centre-back. Maybe Ferdinand… Maybe

For shits and giggles, predict Serie A 2008-2009

Alessio:
1. Inter
2. Juve
3. Milan
4. Roma
5. Fiorentina
6. Napoli
7. Lazio
8. Sampdoria
9. Udinese
10. Palermo
11. Genoa
12. Atalanta
13. Torino
14. Catania
15. Siena
16. Chievo
17. Bologna
18. Cagliari
19. Reggina
20. Lecce

roberto:
1. Juventus

 IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!