A simple glimpse at Juventus’s formation at the start of the 2010/2011 season would give you the impression that this team is capable of achieving Champions League football, and quite possibly competing for the Scudetto.

Some of our transfers have been well received

After all, it seemed the club wanted to fill all the holes in the team as a start, with goalkeeper Marco Storari brought in, to substitute for Buffon who was then injured, after a series of very impressive displays with Sampdoria. The defensive line has been bolstered with the promising pair of Marco Motta and Leonardo Bonucci, while the midfield was given the most attention with the arrivals of the elegant Alberto Aquilani, the resilient Simone Pepe, the continuously impressing Jorge Martinez, and the swift Milos Krasic. The front-line required necessary pace and speed, and since President Andrea Agnelli’s then dream Eden Dzeko seemed impossible, Fabio Quagliarella was brought in to add a second dimension to the attack. Along with strengthening the first team, the bench received its fair share of attention as well, with Leandro Rinaudo and Armand Traore being brought in as substitutes to the defensive line should anything happen.

The first signing, however, made by General Director Giuseppe Marotta was Coach Luigi Delneri, who managed to achieve a remarkable feat by getting Champions League football with Sampdoria. An experienced coach in Serie A, better known for his stubbornness to the 4-4-2 formation, be it fixed or fluid. Delneri also happened to be one of the most tactically intelligent coaches in Serie A, which is something Juventus desperately needed after a disastrous 2009/2010 season which mostly fell down to injuries and tactically inept coaches.
Come January, many things have changed, primarily with injury situations and players failing to live up to their potential, striker Alessandro Matri was loaned from Cagliari, experienced forward Luca Toni was brought in from Genoa, and defender Andrea Barzagli was bought from VfL Wolfsburg.

As we near the end of the season, with Juventus sitting at 7th place in what seems to be another disastrous season for one of Europe’s top clubs. Some question the choices Marotta has made, while some question some of Delneri’s choices in the starting formation, or some of his odd substitutions. While the decline from “Scudetto Challengers” to “out of Europe” can be due to many various reasons, judging the performances of Marotta and Delneri have been the highlight of them, and it warrants a better look into the minds and decisions of the former Sampdoria duo.

Lets kick things off with the man responsible for putting everything together, Giuseppe Marotta. Marotta didn’t have big shoes to fill, after all his predecessor was Alessio Secco, however he had a lot of work to do, as his predecessor was Alessio Secco. His first priority, understandably, would be to build an all-round stable team by filling in the gaps left by below average players. As well as reducing wages and the overall age of the team, and letting go of players that are past their prime. In short, building for the future.

A lot has been said about those who were sold or let go, and those who were bought or loaned. There is no point in trying to understand why Diego was sold to Wolfsburg, why Trezeguet was let go and why Caceres was returned to Barcelona. Some, like Trezeguet and Camoranesi, deserved a better farewell for staying with Juventus despite the drop to Serie B, while others like Diego and Caceres left question marks that are still unanswered.

However, with a full season under their belt in the Black and White shirt, it’s time to further understand and assess some of Marotta’s signings over the Summer and Winter transfer windows of the 2010 / 2011 Season.
It’s worth noting, that in the Worries and Potential sections, the players will be looked at prior to the season start. Sort of a “What Marotta saw in them” section to further understand why they arrived in the first place.

Name: Alberto Aquilani
Transfer: Season long loan with right to buy from Liverpool
Loan: No cost, the club only pays the players wages
Price: €16,000,000 right to buy over a period of three years
Fans Reaction: Extremely Happy
Worries: Just returned from an awful spell at Liverpool and has a bad history of being plagued with injuries.
Potential: Immense. Aquilani had already established himself, when fit, as one of the best midfielders in Italy, known for his precise passing and thunderous shots. An understandable signing by Marotta, the midfield needed someone of his caliber.
Assessment: To say Aquilani returned with a bang would be an understatement. He showed the entire world what he is capable of, and eventually cracked his way back into the Nazionale. Played a major role in the first part of the season, dictating play and starting counter-attacks, all while learning how to defend. The biggest concern would be his dip in form, as he went from being heavily influential to influential as the season comes to an end. However, that can be due to the entire team collapsing since the beginning of 2011.
Final Thoughts: Aquilani should be purchased, no doubt. The entire team is putting on sub-par performances at the moment, and Aquilani is the type of player that thrives on his teammates. If what Marotta said was true, and Juventus are indeed going to buy 2 or 3 quality, game changing players, then right now, we haven’t seen Alberto Aquilani in full motion yet.

Name: Alessandro Matri
Transfer: Half a season long loan with right to buy from Cagliari
Loan: €2,500,000
Price: €15,500,000 right to buy over a period of three years “Rumoured to be a forced option, which means Juventus are forced to buy him”
Fans Reaction: Happy
Worries: Hasn’t played for a big club or in European competitions. Buyout price, compared to Pazzini, seemed high.
Potential: Very high. Never had the opportunity to play with a big club (his 2 minor appearances for Milan don’t count) and spent most of his professional career in Cagliari. Known as a modern clinical striker, and bought due to Quagliarella’s and Toni’s injuries. Giampaolo Pazzini was always the primary target, as both Marotta and Delneri are familiar with him. However, Garrone wanted €15,000,000 paid directly, something the club couldn’t do. Enter Alessandro Matri.
Assessment: Surpassed all expectations. Scoring 8 goals in 14 games in all competitions. Got his first call-up to the Nazionale, and scored on his first appearance as well. There are no realistic downsides to his transfer as he has been only playing for two months. Can’t be blamed for some of the performances he has put in as the midfield seems to be starving him of the ball lately.
Final Thoughts: Matri, just like Aquilani, should be purchased without a doubt. In a day and age where decent strikers cost €25,000,000 and higher, a 26 year old striker familiar with Serie A for €18,000,000 seems more than just a fair price. His imminent future partnership with Quagliarella could be the lethal duo Juventus have been searching for all along.

Name: Armand Traore
Transfer: Season long loan from Arsenal
Loan: €500,000
Price: No buyout clause
Fans Reaction: Indifferent
Worries: A 21 year old Left back at Arsenal who hasn’t had much play time, a club known for giving youth a fair shot.
Potential: Low. Virtually unknown to Juventus fans. Was brought in as a substitute for Paolo De Ceglie.
Assessment: Traore hasn’t put in the best of performances, at best he was an average player. Didn’t have much playing time and spent a lot of the time being injured. His crosses and passes left a lot to be desired and unfortunately he isn’t worthy of the number 17 or the black and white colors.
Final Thoughts: With no buyout clause, Traore will return to Arsenal when the season ends, Hopefully not making a return any time soon.

Name: Andrea Barzagli
Transfer: Purchased from VfL Wolfsburg
Loan: No loan price, direct purchase
Price: €300,000, with a maximum of €600,000 based on performances
Fans Reaction: Confounded
Worries: Generally no worries, as he was one of the best choices as a 3rd defender.
Potential: None, his chances of being a starter are slim and he is at his prime. However he would make a great 3rd defender, and Barzagli understands that.
Assessment: Barzagli’s transfer took everyone by surprise. During a period where the club was severely lacking in the attack department, Marotta opted to sign a defender. With Legrottaglie heading to Milan that made sense, and that sense was overshadowed by the fact that the club needed a striker, desperately. However, Barzagli did more than redeem himself. He has put in some impressive displays, a prime example would be the game he played VS Inter, and has already proven to be a bargain for his price. His experience is something that is fairly obvious to see as some of his interceptions and tackles just scream class. At 29 years of age, he still has a good 3 to 4 years left in him.
Final Thoughts: An absolute steal. Along with Chiellini and Bonucci the central defense should be in safe hands for years to come. That’s without mentioning Frederik Sorensen.

Name: Fabio Quagliarella
Transfer: Season long loan with right to buy from Napoli
Loan: €4,500,000
Price: €10,500,000 right to buy over a period of three years
Fans Reaction: Shocked
Worries: Was never a prolific striker, inconsistent.
Potential: Unknown. At 28 years, he is at his prime, however he was always known for scoring some of the most beautiful goals, but never as a prolific striker. The fact that he was inconsistent was a major concern, which made his potential unpredictable. A chance that Marotta took.
Assessment: Without a shadow of doubt, the best signing Juventus has made this season. One, that is sorely missed as well. It is no coincidence that once Fabio got injured on that fateful day, that Juventus have been in decline. Came as a replacement for Diego, and one that has not been received well by the fans. His pace and his unpredictability tortured defences as well as giving the midfield a whole other dimension of attacking choices. Scoring 9 goals as a secondary striker, all while lacking the option of a proper clinical striker up front. His telepathic partnership with Krasic was something of beauty. Currently sitting as the top Juventus scorer this season, and he hasn’t played since January. This just shows how much the team misses his presence. With Matri’s arrival, Fabio should get the support required in the front line, all while supporting and getting support from the midfield as well, this might just be the start for him.
Final Thoughts: Despite the injury he received, which will very well have a major effect on his pace, there is no doubt that Fabio should be bought. A lot will be questioning whether he will have the same effect he had this season, and in all honesty it is unknown at this point. However his play-style and his unpredictability suite the formation and the play-style of this Juventus perfectly.

Name: Jorge Martinez
Transfer: Purchased from Catania
Loan: No loan price, direct purchase
Price: €12,000,000 over a period of three years
Fans Reaction: Questioning
Worries: Never played for a big club. Was never a difference maker. Price was too high and the purchase was made almost too quickly.
Potential: High. While never being a game changer, he has been putting impressive displays for Catania in recent years, and at 27 years of age he was in his prime.
Assessment: One of the worst signings of the year. Apart from the Milan game, spent most of the season injured or benched. When given the shot to prove himself, he was less than a shadow of the Martinez of Catania, putting in horrible performances one after the other. With 12 appearances to his name, and only one decent performance, this has been one year to forget for the Uruguayan winger / attacking midfielder.
Final Thoughts: Juventus are stuck with him for the next 4 years, unless the club decide to sell him for a massive loss. Could be given a second chance to redeem himself next season. However, trading him + cash for another, higher quality player seems a much better option that would benefit both sides.

Name: Leandro Rinaudo
Transfer: Season long loan with right to buy from Napoli
Loan: €600,000
Price: €5,000,000
Final Thoughts: Cutting to the chase, with 1 below average performance to his name and spending almost the entire season injured. Everyone can safely assume he is returning to Napoli and not coming back to Juventus, ever.

Name: Leonardo Bonucci
Transfer: Purchased from Bari
Loan: No loan price, direct purchase
Price: €15,500,000 over a period of three years
Fans Reaction: Pleased
Worries: Spent one season only in Serie A. No experience with a big club.
Potential: Very high. Considered one of the best young defenders in Italy, and has built himself quite a reputation partnering with fellow Bari player Andrea Ranocchia. Touted as part of the next-generation of Italian defenders to guard the back-line of the Nazionale.
Assessment: Considering this is his second season in Serie A, absolutely fantastic. Leonardo has not only grown as a player ever since he transferred from Bari, but is slowly building a great relationship with Georgio Chiellini. The defender cannot be blamed for some of the defensive errors that have happened during the season, as most of the blame would fall on the Fullbacks, since the central defenders need to cover for them as well. However, he has not yet fully developed to be the central defender that would be attentive and focused for an entire match, also struggles with fast and tricky players, but then again, he has just turned 24. Georgio Chiellini is known as the Juventus rock, however with Bonucci and Barzagli Juventus now have a mountain.
Final Thoughts: A wonderful breath of fresh air to finally see a young defender in the Juventus back-line that has what it takes. His understanding with Chiellini can only get better from here. A spot on purchase from Marotta, even though having two defenders will the same characteristics can cause some issues, however it should not be of major concern.

Name: Luca Toni
Transfer: Purchase from Genoa
Loan: No loan price, free transfer
Price: Free
Fans Reaction: Confused
Worries: Old. Washed up. Slow. Way past his prime.
Potential: None. Luca Toni is slowly nearing the end of his career, the only real potential Juventus fans see, is the possibility of him being a reason for Amauri to be sold.
Assessment: Initially, Luca Toni was thought to be the replacement for Fabio Quagliarella, despite Marotta insisting that he wasn’t. It could be the fact that both Amauri and Iaquinta were injured, and we only had Alex to depend on that prompted his purchase. Despite all that, Luca Toni has actually done well with the club. Mostly given a secondary striker role in which he holds the ball for as long as possible to allow the team a momentary break to catch their breath. However, he has been negatively affecting Matri when both are on the pitch. Despite that Toni understands that he is no longer first choice, and he is fine with it. Over all decent performances and one magnificent header.
Final Thoughts: It’s a bit tough to judge this one, on one hand Toni has done more than Iaquinta and Amauri have done for the club this year, on the other his wages are quite high for a player of his age, sitting at €2,000,000. This could have been a good opportunity to get an experienced striker, which could help out the two useless ones in the squad, or a panic buy. In any case, Luca Toni’s arrival was quite an odd and unexpected one. However I would say just for the sole purpose of him being a free transfer, it might not have been such a bad idea. The fact that he took a 50% to join Juventus, certainly helps his case as well.

Name: Marco Motta
Transfer: Season long loan with right to buy from Udinese
Loan: €1,250,000
Price: €3,750,000 over a period of three years
Fans Reaction: Approving
Worries: Didn’t have much play time in Roma. Has a few issues with consistency. Hasn’t really played continuous matches to be properly assessed.
Potential: Very high. Previous captain of the Italian U-21 National team and had everyone else backing him to be the next great Italian Right Back. Showed a decent level of skill and play for a player of his age, in the brief chances given to him, during his time in Udinese and Roma.
Assessment: To say Motta was a flop is an understatement. Motta is easily solely responsible for costing Juventus many points, and not only that. Horrible in every possible way, bad positioning, horrible interceptions and uncalled for yellow and red cards are just the beginning. His crosses are completely inaccurate and worthless, his passing is predictable and easily intercepted while his surges to the front often end up with the opposing team getting the ball and counter-attacking. If that wasn’t bad enough, Motta has a habit of just randomly kicking the ball when he is close to the defence, despite him having enough room and time to pass it to a fellow player. Every possible hope any Juventus fan had for Motta to be a decent right back has been put to rest. To make matters even worse, his horrendous performances have been negatively affecting Bonucci, Chiellini and Barzagli as well. With their constant presence required to watch over an area they shouldn’t have to worry about, the central defence struggles and the imbalance causes openings for opposing teams to take advantage of. Undoubtedly the worst performer for Juventus this season, and some may argue that he could be better utilized as a winger, but to that you just have to look at his passing and crossing to judge.
Final Thoughts: One can see the potential Marotta saw in him; but after a season of getting many chances over and over again, Motta is a disaster and should be shipped back to Udinese. However, some argue that due to his incredibly low price, he should be purchased and either kept as a 3rd right back or traded for another player. It’s hard to see that happening, considering how his approval is required if he were to transfer to another club, and Juventus don’t want to risk having another stubborn player who refuses transfers, receives his wages and does absolutely nothing to benefit the club. If indeed that was the cast, at 26 years old, sitting on a purchase agreement that sees him tied to the club for 4 years, it just seems a waste to spend €5,000,000 on him.

Name: Marco Storari
Transfer: Purchase from Milan
Loan: No loan, direct purchase
Price: €4,500,000 over a period of three years
Fans Reaction: Satisfied
Worries: None, his performances with Sampdoria cemented his reputation as a solid, classy goalkeeper.
Potential: None, at 31 years of age, Storari is at the peak of his career, can be a super-sub goalkeeper for Buffon for years to come.
Assessment: Absolutely fantastic. Commanding the back-line and making saves that would make even Buffon jealous. Put to the test several times and has always come out on top. There is not much more to be said about him, Storari has been the best goalkeeper for Juventus this year, edging out Buffon himself. The fact that he communicates with the defence and commands his area so well is something that cannot be taken for granted. He cannot be blamed for any of the goals on him, as it was mostly defensive errors. His highlight has to be during the Inter game, in which him and Bonucci bumped heads, then raised his thumb at the players and cracked open a smile. Confidence galore.
Final Thoughts: No-brainer by Marotta. With his master class performances with Sampdoria, and the relationship they already had between both of them and Delneri, he was the perfect choice to be the deputy for Buffon.

Name: Milos Krasic
Transfer: Purchase from CSKA Moscow
Loan: No loan, direct purchase
Price: €15,000,000 over a period of three years
Fans Reaction: Overjoyed
Worries: No rest due to the Russian League being played during summer. Not familiar with Serie A.
Potential: Massive. Krasic was known to be an extremely quick winger with a precise strong shot. Known also for his many screamers during his spell at CSKA Moscow and the Serbian National team. Was the star signing of the summer.
Assessment: It’s always hard to judge someone’s first year in Serie A. However, he has been proven decisive in many situations. The comparisons with Nedved are only physical unfortunately, as he still lacks that untiring fighting spirit that Nedved had. However, in his own way Krasic has been hugely beneficial to the team, scoring and assisting left and right in 2010. His form, since the beginning of 2011, has taken a massive dip unfortunately. This can be attributed to exhaustion as he hasn’t had much rest since joining Juventus, and it can also be due to the teams dip in form. Despite that, Krasic is an absolute star, if he can maintain consistency throughout an entire season then he could possibly be a major game-changer. The only issue seems to be that his attacks are very one dimensional, which can be attributed to the fact that he is more accustomed to being just an attacking winger, instead of an attacking and defending one. He usually receives the ball, sprints through the defence in an attempt to bypass defenders and eventually cross or pass the ball into the box. A lot of the defenders have learned all his tricks and have successfully contained Krasic, which can be a major concern for the next season. In his defence, however, the absolutely horrible defensive displays from Motta require him to fall back and assist in defending, something which he is clearly not familiar with. As Delneri mentioned early on in the season, Krasic is a great player, but needs to learn how to defend. Even when Sorensen is playing as right back, his lack of offensive abilities hinder Krasic as well. In the early parts of the season, he built an almost-telepathic relationship with Fabio Quagliarella, something which has greatly effected his form, as the lack of a quick attacker to move with him can cause issues in counter-attacks. It’s very hard to assess someone who is unfamiliar with the language and the league, all while suffering the incompetency of Marco Motta. As a first season in Serie A, he has been one of the most influential players in the team.
Final Thoughts: It was either Krasic or Dzeko, and Dzeko was Agnelli’s dream. Thankfully, we got the former, and the fact that he waited for Juventus made it all the more special. He came for a decent price, and despite his dip in form, he has been a great asset to the club, and one that could be devastating next year. His on-field relationship with Fabio Quagliarella was mesmerizing, and with his imminent return and Matri’s arrival, Juventus fans might truly see a different version of an unleashed Krasic next season.

Name: Simone Pepe
Transfer: Season long loan with right to buy from Udinese
Loan: €2,500,000
Price: €7,500,000 over a period of three years
Fans Reaction: Understanding
Worries: Was always a jack of all trades, but a master of none. Never really spent time playing for a major club. Hitting his peak while barely achieving anything.
Potential: Realistically, none. Pepe was at the peak of his career and known to be average in everything he does. Known for his always giving it his all, constantly.
Assessment: Pepe has not really been a star performer, but he hasn’t been bad either. Known for his workman like spirit, he played every game with heart, whether he had a good or bad one. Constantly running up and down the flank, untiringly, and at least giving the defenders a thing or two to think about, but Pepe’s major effect has not been on the field, but more out of it. Known for being a clown, he has lifted spirits when down in the club, be it by making jokes during training or pulling pranks, like prank calling Aquilani while he was on live television. Every club needs someone to lift people when they are down, whether small or big, and fortunately Pepe has been there to help lift the mood a little when people were down. On-field, it’s worth noting that his performances were above average, mostly used as a sub for either Marchisio or Krasic, he always gave it his all. That being said, his all is usually found lacking, but then again by that point most people should have realized that Pepe was more of a joker in the midfield rather than a game changer. To his credit, Pepe has taken every role Delneri has thrown at him without complaining, from playing as a winger, to a second striker, to a left-back. His undying spirit has also occasionally paid off, such as a beautiful late-game equalize against Fiorentina and a late winner against Lazio.
Final Thoughts: Originally, Juventus fans had doubts to why Pepe was brought in considering the amount of midfielders at the club. However, his versatility proved to be quite useful as he was utilized at every possible way. It’s worth noting that Pepe might have been originally brought as a substitute, as every major club needs to have a strong bench. This was not a risk Marotta took, in fact, everyone knew well enough that Pepe was at best above average, but his untiring runs and his spirit are two things that have been lacking lately. The fact that he is versatile in the midfield, can play as a left back, is a hard worker, lifts the spirits of those around him and never complains about being on the bench should be more than enough reason for Marotta to fully purchase him from Udinese, and that he should.

That pretty much covers all the major transfers that have happened in Juventus during the 2010/2011 season, however there is one particular transfer that hasn’t grabbed headlines. Someone who up until October 2010, was virtually unknown to most people.

Name: Frederik Sorensen
Transfer: Season long loan with right to buy from Lyngby
Loan: €30,000
Price: €120,000
Fans Reaction: Went Unnoticed
Worries: None
Potential: None. Realistically everyone knew he was for the Primavera team and didn’t pay much attention to his transfer, not much was expected of him as he was too young and virtually unknown at that point.
Assessment: This is as good as it gets. A 19 year old central defender, from a second division club at a fairly average league, comes for a trial season at one of Europe’s biggest clubs. His transfer barely gets any recognition from the press, and no reaction from the fans. Injury plagues the team, and Sorensen is called to fill a role he isn’t familiar with, right back, in the first team. To say he has impressed is truly an understatement, as he has been nothing less than exceptional. He has been one of the most solid defenders of the season, and the statement that truly makes you realize how special he is, is the fact that he has been the best right back for Juventus in the 2010/2011 season. Obviously, being young and a natural central defender, he is very limited in attack, however that should not be a concern since it’s rather doubtful that he will be a permanent right back. His highlight has to be the Inter game, playing a crucial role in defence, silencing Samuel Eto’o and assisting Matri for the winning header. Juventus fans today, may be witnessing history in the making.
Final Thoughts: €120,000 for one the most promising central defenders in Europe, and one who has impressed Calcio fans with his natural defensive talent and positioning. At 19 years of age, Sorensen is definitely a safe pick for the future, and has over 10 years to give to the club, and at €120,000 that is daylight robbery. Sorensen can be considered as an official Juventus player as there is no doubt Marotta will be buying his rights from Lyngby. If he doesn’t, some serious questions will be raised.

With that done, it seems the only think to left to judge in regards to the transfer window is the man responsible for those players, Giuseppe Marotta.

Marotta has done an impressive job, and no blame can be placed on him for signing players that once had great potential, and eventually failed to live up to it. Considering the right-back was occupied by Grygera, the midfield was a complete mess which also included Poulsen and the disastrous pairing of Melo and Sissoko. Chiellini’s central defence partner was Fabio Cannavaro, and the attack included Amauri who at that time went a year without scoring in Serie A and the injury-prone Vincenzo Iaquinta.

The squad desperately needed to change, and most importantly, needed to be younger. While some might argue that a few “champions” or “stars” could have made the difference this year for Juventus, the prime answer to that would be Jorge Martinez. While he is no star, however his injuries and delayed returns made his presence this year in the team pretty much worthless. Now picture if Marotta had splurged on one of those “champions” or “stars”, there wouldn’t be an adequate replacement for them in the team if they got injured in a similar way as Martinez did, as all funds would be spent buy those players. Marotta has in one season, created the base for a future team, with adequate subs and starters to help Juventus be what it was before.
Alessio Tacchinardi said in a recent interview that Juventus had a few stars and the team was built around them. The current team is being built with that model in mind, everything is in place, the only missing key components are the 3-4 “game changing champions / stars” that Marotta has promised to purchase for the 2011/2012 season. This was originally a 2 to 3 year project, so patience is required, and it has to be mentioned that at the same time as improving the first team squad, young players for the Primavera and the future of Juventus are being purchased as well.

As far as transfers go this season, Marotta has done an exceptional job, and earned himself more time to see his project through. From transfers to the man responsible for making everything click on the field, Luigi Delneri. While Delneri is not a big name in the coaching world, he is well respected in Serie A. Tactically superior to most of the Serie A coaches right now, if not all.

Delneri managed to form a team that, prior to Quagliarella’s injury, was competing for the Scudetto. His great work with improving Krasic and Aquilani’s defensively has not gone unnoticed, however his greatest work this year has to be Felipe Melo.

Melo was, to say the least, one of the worst deals for Juventus in the 2009/2010 season. With a little bit of faith from Delneri, Melo has transformed into a beast in the midfield. The most consistent player for Juventus, excluding “that” Parma game, and by far the best player this year.

Despite his great work with players, some of his choices have to be questioned. For example, playing for a draw against Fiorentina and Lazio, when the team could desperately use the points, or some of his substitutions. Granted, some of his odd substitutions have paid off, like subbing on Luca Toni in the Genoa game, however a lot of that can be attributed to luck as well.

His lack of “going all in” is also a major concern, as perfectly demonstrated by no other than Jose Mourinho, when his team is falling behind, he throws all his cards in. Delneri has yet to throw in 3 attackers and 2 offensive midfielders in hopes of equalizing or possibly winning the game, something which can be attributed to his lack of a winning mentality. Furthermore, Delneri plays an overly defensive game, absorbing pressure from teams and playing on counter-attacks, something that will definitely be exploited if the team gets to the Champions League and plays a big team. Something that also causes a major concern against teams with a better and faster offensive force, playing under the same strategy.

There is also the concern that the team can only play well against a big team, defeating Inter but losing to Bologna, Bari and Lecce certainly don’t help his case, although truth be told, a lot of the blame falls on the backs of the players themselves for under performing.

Delneri has taken a lot of the blame for this season, and he rightfully deserves some of it. Some still wonder why Motta is even considered as a starter with Sorensen available. However, Juventus have lacked continuity in recent years, and it would do them good to keep the ex-Sampdoria coach another year, and provide him with better quality in hopes of achieving better results.

Although the dream coach for the club would be Didier Deschamps for most Juventus fans, his arrival seems difficult without Champions League football. While Andres Villas Boas has truly demonstrated he has the winning mentality required, he has pledged his allegiance to Porto for the next year to try to win the Champions League with them.

For the time being, it’s a safer, better bet to give Delneri another chance at Juventus, all while providing him with the star quality the team so clearly lacks, in hopes for a better result next year. Though perhaps after the Chievo game, Delneri’s time in Juve should be reconsidered. However, only when an adequate coach has been found…

Written by Tariq Falaknaz- Follow him on Twitter

You can read my review of the Catania game, and it rings exactly true. We meet a crappy squad at the Stadio Olimpico, one that has little left to play for. We dominate the first half, score two goals. One goal conceded- and we fly into a mad panic, showing no tactical shape or defending capability whatsoever. And sure enough, we take a sucker punch. Thank God that Uribe sucks and Marchisio was as always, in the right place at the right time, otherwise I’d be even more bitter than I am.

There is something seriously wrong with this team, and I blame most of it on Delneri. As a coach, he has miserably failed to make the Stadio Olimpico a home fortress. We are by far worse at home than on our travels, unable to keep a clean sheet or maintain a goddamn lead. We might talk about our garbage fullbacks, and that is a valid concern, but for God’s sakes, Ranieri managed to grind out games with Molinaro and Grygera on the flanks.

That’s what is greatly disappointing to me about Delneri. When I wrote about Gigi Delneri’s prototype “plan” for Juve you’ll note I spoke about his defense, particularly the ability to hold out leads. His teams are usually stingy. They grind out wins, much in the way Claudio Ranieri did, and while I expected more drawing than normal like we did with dear Claudio, not in the way we have been. Today’s game might have been endlessly entertaining to a neutral, but there is no doubt I’d take a boring 0-0 Ranieri draw over a Delneri draw. At least when Ranieri is up, he finishes out the game, and moreso, when he makes a defensive sub even at 0-0….it stays that way. Delneri makes defensive subs against Catania and we concede 2 more. We may play with grit on occasion, but we lack the steel reserve that the old Juve had.

Speaking of comparisons between Delneri and Ranieri, what the hell was with substitutions today? He made one, and while it worked out alright, I didn’t agree with putting on a slow attacker when the game is blazing end-to-end stuff. Ranieri made late subs if he made them at all, and Delneri took a page from his book today. When your team is suffering badly out there, one of the easiest ways to turn things around is to jive things up with a few substitutions, it shows you’re unsatisfied with the way things are going, and can lead to a tactical shift. It is incredibly clear that this Juventus cannot hold a lead. Chievo was absolutely assaulting our goal, the team was in complete disarray, no one was performing on a tactical or individual level, it was chaos. That is the time you need to throw on two players, if only to pause the game and scream at the players to mentally press reset and get back into position. Instead, we just watched Chievo score two.

Another strange similarity between Ranieri and Delneri’s sides at Juventus is the complete failure to achieve a difficult objective. We can get fired up for the big teams, sure, but we can’t beat the little sides, and whenever we come close to reaching “the dream” be it the Scudetto under Ranieri, or the CL under Delneri, we fail, miserably. The squad deserves some tongue-lashing for this, but ultimately it may speak to the limitations of these two managers- they cannot inspire a team to break through that final barrier to achieve a tremendous objective with a great team. It’s probably why neither will ever win a league title.

Disappointed Gigi is disappointed

LE PAGELLE:

Buffon: 6- Didn’t have much to do, but could have been sent off again with a reckless exit against Pelissier.

Motta: 5.5- An okay display from Motta, at least he got one side of the pitch right today. Nearly permanently missing from his defensive duties, but helped out a lot up top and a key reason why Milos looked good today. Still- this was an improvement for Motta, still not good enough by any means.
Barzagli: 6.5- Andrea has been surprisingly consistent ever since arriving in January, and as I’ve said a few times, I think he makes a better pairing with Giorgio or Bonucci because he’s more like Legrottaglie- the two are rather similar and it can work, but not as naturally. Not responsible for the team entirely giving up any defensive performance.
Chiellini: 5- Alright, so he nearly scored a goal, but Keyser Giorgio was otherwise terrible today. Bad clearances, bad touches, bad giveaways, poor manmarking, it was a real disappointing performance. He was all over the place, and not in a good way.
Grosso: 5.5- Did okay. Grosso has actually been somewhat reliable in the last few months, but at his age and salary, he’s not the way forward. I’m still all for selling him this summer if we can get Ziegler in.

Krasic: 6- A much improved display from the last few months, particularly with his decision making. Previously Milos would sprint up the wing and deliver a terrible ball or worse, just simply lose it, but he delivered some decent ones today. Rightfully booked for diving- his reputation precedes him, but it’s probably just because he never rolls around agony. Look- everytime he dives, he just kind of looks around. You’ve gotta act better if you’re going to convince the ref.
Marchisio: 6- I thought he was better than a lot of sites are giving him- he didn’t see too much of the ball, but a few of his through passes opened up Chievo, and he was battling hard defensively. Still doesn’t look totally comfortable switching back to central mid after over a year pushed out of position, but you can’t knock his tactical intelligence.
Aquilani: 6.5- Really should have scored in the first half, when an excellent cross ball to Milos was headed down to Motta. A few misplaced passes aside, Alberto did well to spread play. Unfortunately, as a team, we surrendered the midfield around the 60th minute.
Pepe: 6- A hardworking, efficient performance. Glad to see some natural width on the left.

Del Piero: 7- Another excellent performance from Il Capitano, a perfect penalty, a lovely assist, and a few good plays here and there to open up the game. Came close on a set piece. Great individual performance to celebrate his contract renewal.
Matri: 6.5- Worked real hard up top and was largely starved of service during the first half, but turned on his Trezeguet mode to finish past Sorrentino beautifully for Juve’s 2nd. Drifted out wide as the game progressed, which hurt the team’s attack.

Delneri: 4- What can I say more? Poor subs, and he does not have this team drilled on set pieces or defending. The team was without any kind of tactical identity for about 15 minutes, and he did nothing other than throw Toni on.
Toni: 6.5- Thought he did real well with the brief time he saw. Hit the post with a header, knocked down several balls to teammates, and generally made a nuisance of himself up top.

Things I Think I Think:

#1- I hate Pelissier. I hate Sardo. I hate Chievo: Before the match, I was chatting with Papai about Pelissier, and I mentioned that he’s the #1 player I would like to buy for the explicit reason of never having to face him. Julio Cruz used to be “that guy” but has since completely disappeared. I think I said the same thing back in November when he scored the last equalizer against us. I hate that sonofabitch. I dislike Sardo too, who marked his 2nd goal against Juventus, the culmination of one of the most average careers in the league. And I hate Chievo- nevermind their affiliation with Inter, they are a godawful team, one content to play 10 men behind the ball for an entire season to stay in Serie A. They aren’t the real team from Verona.

#2- Delneri could choose his words better: Before the match, he said he’d give himself 100% chance of being on Juve’s bench next season. After the match, he merely said “the club will decide.” Also, worst reaction ever to the match. He was arguing with the referee Gervasoni as the game ended, for what, I have no idea. Then he follows that up with the stupidest comment during the post-match interview he could have possibly said. For a man who’s had doubts all season about whether he is merely a good “provincial” coach, he suggested maybe Juve weren’t that big of a club. The fans are scared we’re turning into that, with the powers that be currently residing in Milan and Rome. Don’t confirm it. Also- if we are a “small” side, shouldn’t you be doing well?

#3- Beppe Marotta had some interesting words: “The statistics are clear, we’re ubneaten in 8 matches, but with 4 draws, 3 of which we let a 2-0 lead slip to a lower table team, this shows a lack of personality and balance in the team, we need to work on goals conceded- unfortunately we were unable to in this year, but now we will do it. [Fuck you, Motta. Does this mean we get real fullbacks?] We have very clear ideas, soon we will have a general meeting to discuss the situation for the good of Juve, there are two games and we will take a final decision after Parma. [Before Napoli?? Strange] Delneri has a two year contract and has the necessary basics to be our coach next year, but we need to evaluate everything, and it’s not right to say yet what we will decide. This week the CdA will meet, and there is determination from John Elkann and Andrea Agnelli to support Juve, but it’s wrong now to name figures, since we’re a publicly traded company. The team and everything will be evaluated, Juve at 1-0 should manage far better, in the case you’re ahead, you cannot let the other team back in like a team with such an inferior character. We will find players who do not succumb to this, so it does not occur again.”

#4- Like I said v Catania, I don’t like the hybrid 4-4-2/4-3-3: I think we play immensely better when we have two natural wingers, and I don’t buy the idea that Marchisio needs to play there to accomodate Aquilani and/or Grosso/DeCeglie. Grosso is doing “alright” back there, and Aquilani has improved his defensive game. Where does that leave space for Marchisio, I don’t know, but playing him at left-mid (or any CM for that matter) just bogs us down immensely. Maybe play it against big teams, big away matches, whatever, but when we’re playing a “small” team at home, we need to unlock them. Our width caused Chievo a lot of trouble today.
#5- Pazza Juve- How Juve became Inter and Vice Versa: I wrote this over a year ago. Is it just me, or is it eerily accurate?
#6- The coaching situation: I’m very disappointed with Delneri, but I said this a few weeks ago after Catania and I still stand by it. Where the hell do we go from here? I strongly believe the coaching continuity is an underrated part of a club’s success, and we have not had it since Calciopoli. I remember being one of the few who thought sacking Ranieri with 2 days to go (the first Juve coach to be sacked mid-season in 30 years or so) was absolutely ludicrous. Then we sacked Ferrara mid-season, of course I think we all know now that sacking Delneri with 4 games to go is pointless. He can do a better job next season with an improved team, but can he make 3rd? Sadly, that’s our aim, and I’m not so sure. It depends on who’d replace him. Mancini, Spalletti, Gasperini, Mazzarri I don’t think any of them can do much better, and so it’d be pointless to can him to go for another year of “this coach needs time to mould us.” There’s one man that we need to give an iron-clad 4 year contact- Andrea Agnelli and Beppe Marotta need to fly to Marseille and beg Didier to come to us. He just won his 3rd piece of silverware in his 2nd year at Marseille, and possibly could hit a domestic double two years running.

THE JUVENTUS OFFSIDE SHITLIST
- Andrea Agnelli: (2 weeks) Two words, Andrea. SILENZIO STAMPA.
- Mauro Bergonzi: (Lifetime Award)
- Gigi Delneri: (3 Weeks) A shambolic game v Catania followed up by a disgusting display v Lazio followed with a shambolic display against Chievo. Great.
- Catania: (Seasonal)
- Vincenzo Iaquinta: (Seasonal)
- Milos Krasic: Looked good today, particularly the final balls.
- Marco Motta: Good enough improvement.
- Jonathan Zebina: (Lifetime Award) The new Roby Baggio finishes his Brescia career on the bench?

“Alla Juventus vincere non è importante, è la sola cosa che conta”

These damn Juve fans are just everywhere…

A win over Lazio is always enjoyable, so the guys had fun here. Aaron was unable to join us so with Simone Pepe (Lars) now on board permenantly we knocked the dust – and a few drunk Brazilians – off and dragged Mike “TeamGREASE” D.G. out of the bar.

The result is as you’d expect. Turn on, tune in, listen up (headphones advised this week)

Enjoy the show

Aaron, Marco, Lars, Mike and Adam.

Read post on Erik Lamela (by Dan Colasimone) discussed on show here

I don’t even know where to start with this ridiculous match. It should have been put away far before Bergonzi handed Catania a point on a silver platter, so as much as he’s a colossal asshole who should be banned from refereeing for life (you should remember him) it’s not even his fault. It’s the entire team, that went up 2-0 and mentally shut off as we’ve seen countless times. It’s Krasic, for failing to bury the goddamn ball in the net and for giving up the ball so easily that led to the “first-FK-given-after-stoppage-time-was-over.” It’s Grosso and Marchisio, who failed to mark Gomez lurking at the far post on the simplest of counter attacks. It’s Delneri for watching his team contently sit back and failing to do anything about. It’s all of them. The rest of the post can be summed up as this:

TL,DR; An angry amateur blogger named Aaron has harsh words for just about everyone

It infuriates me, because the entire team showed no real urgency about killing off the game when it was 2-0. No one player was at fault, and that makes it worse. If it was one player who screwed up the game, bench him, or loan him out to Atletico Madrid. The entire second half, for whatever reason, Catania gave up and we could have scored 5, until one of them looked at their watch and said “Hey, we have 15 minutes left! 0 points isn’t good for avoiding Serie B, let’s do something!” I don’t buy the excuse of 2-0 is a secure scoreline. It is for a great team that can grind out wins, fuck, it’s a good enough scoreline for Ranieri who drew far too many games, but at least was able to defensively organize his team to avoid conceding late goals.

Sure enough- Catania pulled one back, and suddenly we looked nervous as shit. Catania took the initiative, and while our players individually held up well enough to prevent any clear opportunities, it was a one way assault on goal. Some might say “if Lodi missed the FK, we’d be praising the team for grinding one out.” Absolutely false. If he missed it, I’d still be ranting about letting the opponent back into a game when they have no business to do so, albeit probably with less profanity. It’s unacceptable to let a shit team creep back into contention at your home. We’re talking about a terrible team here, one we beat 3-1 in Sicily, and one that conceded 4 to Lazio at home last week. Their defense was just as shambolic, but we didn’t capitalize, assuming 2-0 was good enough. All they needed was that 1 goal, and we panicked. Was anyone surprised? No.

LE PAGELLE:

Buffon: 6- Had very little to do, as the defense for the most part did stellar. Commanded his area well enough, there was a nervy moment or two, but nothing he could do on the two goals. When I saw Buffon angrily walk off the field, I was somewhat pleased. He was furious, and rightfully so. THAT’S THE TYPE OF ATTITUDE I WANT TO SEE WHEN YOU LOSE THE GAME FOR US AGAINST MILAN, AT HOME. Not smiling and joking with the player who scored on you, however good a friend he may be, it can wait.

Motta: 6- I’ll give the kid some credit. Stupid yellow card aside, he did well today, defensively he held his own, and certainly helped out Krasic more than Sorensen did. Certainly had to come off at half-time as I trust Motta on a yellow less than Bergonzi at the San Paolo, but a good display. I still don’t want him wearing Bianconero next year, unless it’s back at Udinese.
Bonucci: 6- A positive display for Leo, who has been improving after a dip in form. Understanding is getting better with Barzagli.
Barzagli: 6.5- I’ll be honest, I was very hesitant about the ex-Palermo man coming in January, at Palermo he was poor and too inconsistent, prone to some real shockers. I think by-in-large, he’s been better than Bonucci since his arrival, and looks like a solid 3rd-choice CB for the next few years.
Grosso: 6.5- Did a fairly good job keeping Gomez quiet and never hesitated to move up the flanks, with some real positive offensive forays. Catania’s 1st goal is partially his fault, as he left Gomez to Marchisio (seemingly not telling him) to cover…absolutely no one. But keep tanning, Fabio. It’s done such a wonderful job hiding Berlusconi’s age, maybe that’s the ticket for you too.

Kissing 2 points goodbye?

Krasic: 5- If I had to pick one person as my goat-of-the-match, it’d be Milos. A few good plays here and there, one that led to a counter-attack and an assist for Del Piero’s second goal, but otherwise was poor. Had a few golden chances to put the match away in the 2nd half, and didn’t do it. 3v1, and he puts in a terribly heavy ball to Pepe. Worst of all, an extremely casual turnover in the 94th minute forced Felipe Melo to foul Gomez, and that led to Catania’s equalizer.
Aquilani: 6- As Catania started to turn on the heat in the end, it required Alberto to do be fast, and defensive, two aspects of his game that are not exactly his strong point. In the first half though, a few bad passes aside, Alberto was solid. We need to sign him this summer.
Felipe Melo: 6.5- Another good game from our resident man-child, who broke up attacks and did well anchoring the midfield. I had a brief discussion with Gabriele Marcotti on Twitter about Felipe in the last few minutes. You all know that I am not exactly the first member of Felipe’s fan club, but blaming him for tonight is a knee-jerk reaction unfounded in fact, and trust me, I’d love to slag him off for this one. That late in the game, fouling Gomez that far from the goal is a perfectly reasonable thing to do, especially when one of your teammates just casually handed him the ball. It’s far enough from the goal that it should be no problem, and Gomez was a tricky sonofabitch. And blaming him for the “handball” that led to the 2nd free kick is ridiculous, that should never have been called by Bergonzi. Felipe’s arm was pinned to his chest, it wasn’t held out, it wasn’t deliberate, it was impossible to avoid it anymore. As Delneri said, “What is Felipe supposed to do, take his arm off?”
Marchisio: 5.5- An okay performance. He failed to track Gomez for Catania’s first goal, although he was a bit left in the lurch by Grosso’s decision to pull centrally. Otherwise, I’ve said time and time again, I don’t like Marchisio being played in the mezz’ala role as it is forcing a square peg in a round hole, all for the sake of “playing it safe.” Marchisio deserves better. Juventus deserves better.

Matri: 5.5- Drifted out wide, supplied crosses, but didn’t attack the net enough. Had a good opportunity here and there, but wasn’t playing as a prima punta as he should. Maybe he was confused going from a 4-4-2 with him wide (February with Toni) to a 4-5-1 as the sole prima punta, to a traditional 2-man partnership up top.
Del Piero: 7.5- A magical performance from the captain, the two goals being his personal “lowlights” of the match. People who didn’t watch the game might see his penalty and chested-goal-he-knew-nothing-about, but Ale was inspirational tonight. Constantly dribbling through Catania defenders, setting up beautiful chances (his backheel to Matri was genius) it was clear the Etnei defense couldn’t handle him, so they resorted to fouling him from behind in the 2nd half.

Delneri: 4.5- Quite disappointed with his management of the 2nd half. The subs were ones meant to preserve a 2-0 win, as Sorensen, Pepe, and Toni are like-for-like defensive replacements for Motta, Del Piero, and Matri. But as I said against Lech Poznan 6 months ago, it’s far more than defensive subs, it’s that there was a clear mentality of “okay, 2-0 is a good score, let’s finish out that way.” I said above that makes sense if your team can close out the match like that, Delneri should know after 10 months at Juventus that we are not psychologically at that level.
Sorensen: 4.5- Came on and made Motta look calm and competent. Enough said.
Toni: 5- Didn’t really manage to do anything in his time on the pitch, one decent header aside. Didn’t hold up the ball at all.
Pepe: 5- His non-goal aside, I cannot remember anything about Pepe in this match. I don’t even have a clue where he was playing, was he supposedly a seconda punta? Anonymous.

Things I Think I Think:

#1- I owe my roommate a new plate and glass: Sorry man.

#2- Mauro Bergonzi, You Are a Worthless: First the Napoli debacle, then he harshly sends off Manuel Giandonato against Chievo, he’s had a bad record against us, not to mention the Melo non-handball. While his record is definitely more negative than anything for Juve, there’s ample evidence he’s just a terrible referee in general. Against Cesena, he should have sent Buffon off. How do you not send him off, but you do Giandonato? Buffon had no one behind him, Giandonato had maybe two or three that could have covered. Today was further proof- the handball at the end was a non-call, and the penalty probably too. At first I thought it was for a push on Melo, was confused, saw the Catania players remonstrating and Bergonzi explaining it was a handball. I reviewed it several times. It does appear Capuano touches it with his hand, but I have watched it 2-3 and don’t understand why you would call that a penalty- maybe by the book, but harsh as hell. At first, Juventus players had no idea why it was called, either.

#3- What was Catania’s deal? Seriously. This is a team battling relegation, and after two rather fortunate goals for Juve, they just kind of gave up and their awful defense let our awful offense have all the awful attempts on goal we wanted. And then suddenly, they realized, “hey, we might be in Serie B soon” and snapped into motion. What the hell? Did Simeone tell them “hey preserve your energy for the last 15 minutes?” I don’t think so, and I’m totally confused. I was also rather entertained by their celebration of the win draw that gives them 1 point. I guess you need to celebrate everything at that level, but seriously, you guys just got 1 point from 0. That doesn’t help enormously, it’s not like you won the Coppa Italia or something.

#4- Catania Classy in “Victory”: All of the comments coming from the Catania players and coach were rather surprising in how they paid tribute to Del Piero. Gomez said “Certainly the match changed with Del Piero’s exit, he is one of the best in the world and to not have to play against him is an advantage.” Coach Simeone agreed, “Along with Baggio and Totti, he marks an epic era of Italian football, to play against him is an honor and he makes you realize that more than some others.” The other goal scorer Francesco Lodi one-upped both of them, saying “I’m sorry for Juve, but this was an important point for us. Del Piero is a great man in all aspects, he scored two goals today, but even them aside, being on the pitch you see how great and humble he is at the same time. To score a free kick in Del Piero’s stadium is truly something exceptional.”

#5- I officially don’t like the hybrid 4-3-3/4-4-2: Shifting Marchisio to the LM was originally something we did against Inter to counter Maicon’s threat against the inexperienced Paolo De Ceglie. It worked well, but partially I’m sure because Maicon is garbage this year. Since then Marchisio has been deployed there as well ostensibly to help out Aquilani, who is too “defensively weak.” Nonsense. Alberto’s positioning and defensive ability has massively improved since coming in August, and no longer needs to be babied in a 2-man midfield. It makes our left flank a non-factor, assuming Fabio hasn’t hit the tanning machines, and thrusts responsibility on Krasic. No more playing the safe angle, if we’re playing a “4-4-2″, it’s time to do it with genuine wingers.

Angry Gigi is angry

#6- At least we’re not “pleased” with this point: As you can see in the “highlights” Buffon was furious as he stomped off the pitch, repeatedly shaking his head. Marchisio destroyed one of the advertising boards that they bring out for post-game interviews as he marched off to the locker room, and Felipe Melo hounded Bergonzi, shouting “You always do these things against Juventus, ONLY against us!” After the match Andrea Agnelli had a “face-to-face” meeting with the players for nearly 40 minutes in the locker room before they were let go. This does make me say something about Felipe Melo- I don’t like him, though that doesn’t get in the way of stating he has been superb this season, and it seems like he feels like a real integral part of Juventus. One thing pissing me off- WHY HAVE WE NOT CALLED A SILENZIO STAMPA YET? I am sick of hearing everyone saying “Sorry about the result, we’ll try better.” Enough platitudes.

#7- Where the hell do we go from here? I strongly believe the coaching continuity is an underrated part of a club’s success, and we have not had it since Calciopoli. I remember being one of the few who thought sacking Ranieri with 2 days to go (the first Juve coach to be sacked mid-season in 30 years or so) was absolutely ludicrous. Then we sacked Ferrara mid-season, of course I think we all know now that sacking Delneri with 4 games to go is pointless. He can do a better job next season with an improved team, but can he make 3rd? Sadly, that’s our aim, and I’m not so sure. It depends on who’d replace him. Mancini, Spalletti, Gasperini, Mazzarri I don’t think any of them can do much better, and so it’d be pointless to can him to go for another year of “this coach needs time to mould us.” There’s one man that we need to give an iron-clad 4 year contact- Andrea Agnelli and Beppe Marotta need to fly to Marseille and beg Didier to come to us. He just won his 3rd piece of silverware in his 2nd year at Marseille, and possibly could hit a domestic double two years running.

#8- As if selling us Jorge Martinez wasn’t bad enough: The player that Catania replaced him with? Gomez. Yes, the tricky short little player who scored against us, the one who never stopped running and was constantly causing us problems. Where was Jorge Martinez? Injured. And Lo Monaco? Lighting fine Cuban cigars with €100 notes, by my count he has 120,000 left to burn. This isn’t the first time we’ve signed a player, and their replacement at the club does better than them. Mauricio Isla is playing pretty damn good as a winger for Udinese.

This Week in Cassani Watch:
Negatives: Mattia caused a stupid penalty in the 2nd minute.
Positives: Mattia caused a stupid penalty in the 2nd minute. Driving down your market price? I approve.

THE JUVENTUS OFFSIDE SHITLIST
- Andrea Agnelli: Two words, Andrea. SILENZIO STAMPA.
- Mauro Bergonzi: There was a reason you were sent to Serie B for two years- you’re a godawful referee.
- Catania: (2 weeks) Not happy with you at all, Catania. You may end up on the list for the rest of the season.
- Vincenzo Iaquinta: (Seasonal)
- Milos Krasic: (2 weeks) A key reason we didn’t win today.
- Marco Motta: (4 weeks) On-off, on-off. At least it’s better than earlier this season when his form was off-off-off-off-off
- Jonathan Zebina: (Lifetime Award) Z3BINA handed Milan the Scudetto by shitting the bed on a simple offside trap. Alternatively, he denied Inter another Scudetto. Take it for what you’d like.

“Alla Juventus vincere non è importante, è la sola cosa che conta”

Genius

It was a relatively sterile match, surprising for Fiorentina-Juventus, which usually brings out the hostility and ill-temper in everyone. (Some Fiorentina fans maintained it with racist chants against Melo, and pro-Heysel songs) Neither team looked particularly fired up for the match, and neither looked like they wanted desperately to win. Utterly strange.

So are there any positives from this? Sure, some. The defense stepped up quite a bit, Bonucci had Gilardino in his pocket for much of the game- he’s quite skilled at marking target-men, tricky fast players tend to bother him. Even Motta and Grosso put in decent shifts. We had a few good opportunities on net that had we converted, we’d be talking about a solid 1-0 win in hostile territory.

The Juve locker room pre-match. Aside from Storari making Toni laugh, everyone just kind of goes about their business

LE PAGELLE:

Buffon: 6- Another day in the office. Little to do for San Gigi.

Motta: 6- Held his own surprisingly well against Pasqual and Vargas. Delneri said he was the best player on the pitch, which is absurd. Maybe to boost his confidence? Who cares. He’s here for the next 6 weeks, and that’s it. Sorensen should be playing.
Bonucci: 6.5- Had Gilardino marked tightly for most of the game, came close to scoring. Looked like the Leo of the fall.
Barzagli: 6.5- Also did well when required to mark Gilardino, a strong defensive performance.
Grosso: 6- It seems our back-up left-backs can’t cross for shit. And that’s De Ceglie’s strong point. Good defensively, but nothing got to Matri.

“Who has sweet hair? This guy.”

Marchisio: 6- Won a lot of balls and worked very hard. Wasn’t able to contribute much offensively.
Aquilani: 5.5- Often double-marked, bypassed often by Viola’s wingplay, had little impact on the game.
Felipe Melo: 6.5- Jeered by the crowd, subjected to racist chants, Melo was impeccable again in protecting the defense. He’s been superbly consistent this season.

Pepe: 5- Never was able to beat his man or deliver a good ball. Crowded out by the Viola.
Matri: 5- Isolated. It was obvious- the 4-3-3 hasn’t worked offensively, I picked that out last week. Matri was offside too much, but starved of service.
Krasic: 4.5- Another very disappointing display. Didn’t ever trouble Fiorentina. At this point last season, Diego was roundly being called an epic flop, despite continuing to deliver assists. Krasic has been even more poor since January.

Delneri showing more emotion than the entire team combined

Delneri: 6- It wasn’t a defensive formation, but it was a defensive performance. Team was cagey. The 4-3-3 didn’t work, again, as far as offense goes. It seems we can’t ever get both sides of the pitch to work- either we are great offensively and we’re terrible defensively, or vice versa.
Sorensen: 6.5- This surprised me- most pagelle ratings from other sites did not give Freddy a very good rating. I thought he was fantastic, well positioned and always making great challenges. Stupid yellow card, but he was plenty calm afterwords.
Del Piero: 6.5- Livened the attack up. A 4-4-2 with ADP/Matri back is a must, compared to this 4-3-3.
Toni: 6- Did rather well in his cameo, better than Matri, but he had the fortune of playing alongside Alex.

Things I Think I Think:

#1- The 4-5-1/4-3-3 is not a panacea: Said it last week. We saw it again, this week. The team didn’t look hungry for the victory, but it wouldn’t have mattered much if we did considering how disjointed our attack was.
#2- Felipe Melo racially abused by Fiorentina fans, Viola fans start Heysel chant, zero action: It’s only racist if Juve does it, as Balotelli proved. It wasn’t racist nor necessary to take action when Chievo or Udinese fans abused Balotelli, but dear God, shut the city of Torino down because there are some racist imbeciles in the Juventus curva! A few morons in the Viola Curva made racist chants at Melo when he fouled Montolivo, but the FIGC doesn’t care. Nor does it become a national debate. I’m not even going to get into the umpteenth pro-Liverpool/Heysel display…

Class acts, all of you

#3- Fiorentina are the new Torino: Little chance of making into the Champion’s League without Prandelli, they’ve resorted to two campaign goals: avoiding relegation, and raining on Juve’s parade. Sounds like a team we used to know…
#4- Selling Amauri for 5.5mil won’t even result in a financial loss: While recording “It Ain’t Over” last night with the guys, I came to a startling realization- Under a simple accounting method for amortization, we technically won’t sell him for a loss if we manage that amount. Under straight-line depreciation, you adjust his book value down every year, rather than mark him as a 23mil cost in the first year, it’s adjusted. His value after 3 years? About 5.5-6mil. That said- 33.5mil altogether including his salary for 17 league goals results in 1.97mil per goal. Iaquinta, who everyone says is worthless? 11mil transfer, 7.5mil salary (with one year more) so 18.5mil for 30 league goals, or 616,000 per goal.
#5- Alberto Aquilani becomes a father: Early today, his girlfriend Michela Quattrociocche gave birth to their daughter, Aurora. If you have never searched Google Images for his girlfriend, do so now.
#6- Team Eats: Bruschetta. Yummy.

This Week in Cassani Watch:

Negatives: Palermo won. Mattia looked good out there.

Positives: Mattia looked good out there. Zamparini is still insane.

THE JUVENTUS OFFSIDE SHITLIST
- Catania: You sold us Jorge Martinez for 12mil, and couldn’t even hold back Lazio for us? There’s only one way to get off the shitlist for next week, Argentina B, and that’s to take a thrashing at the Stadio Olimpico.
- Vincenzo Iaquinta: (Seasonal)
- Milos Krasic: Didn’t want to do this, but he deserves it, and probably should have been put on here earlier. In very poor form.
- Marco Motta: (4 weeks) On-off, on-off. At least it’s better than earlier this season when his form was off-off-off-off-off
- Parma: Ha! Well played, Parma. One week after I threw your entire team on there due to inability to beat Lazio, you end Inter’s Scudetto hopes by beating them 2-0 through Amauri and Giovinco. Well done.
- Jonathan Zebina: (Lifetime Award)

“Alla Juventus vincere non è importante, è la sola cosa che conta”

Marco flanked by Brazzo/Grygera- “Hey, what’d you two do today?”

Could not have been any more stereotypical, right? Roma starts out brightly, playing 4-2-3-1, assaulting our goal. When it doesn’t go in, thanks to some miracle saves from Marco Storari, the Roman mentality kicks in- they despair. Some teams fight back when they go 1-0 down, they didn’t. Our mentality is a little different; this was an old-school Juventus performance, where we didn’t play the best, but we capitalized on our chances, and they didn’t. That’s essentially the story.

This result was very important from a morale standpoint, important as well looking at the table, as Udinese and Lazio both lost this weekend, but it doesn’t mean we’re back into the Champion’s League hunt, we threw away far too many points in January and February to consider that a possibility. We may finally be getting out of a funk, and a home match against a pretty terrible Genoa could serve as more chicken soup to rehabilitate the squad. This was our 3rd victory in a row against Roma in the capital…could it lead to our first 3 victories in a row this season?

BEAST.

LE PAGELLE:

Storari: 8- My goodness, what a game from Marco Storari. If he wanted to prove that he deserves the starting gloves for now, he could not have done it any better. Pulled up 3 goal-saving tremendous saves in the first half, and all credit for last night’s win and clean sheet go to Marco. We could have easily gone into the half 2-0 down, and who knows what would have happened there?

Motta: 6- A vast improvement on what we’ve seen thus far, managed to contain Mirko well enough for the most part. Occasionally gave Vucinic too much space to cross, didn’t even try and block his cross for Totti at the far post.
Bonucci: 6- Typical Bonucci performance- a bit too casual with the ball at times, but once he cut out the nonsense, was a solid showing at the back.
Barzagli: 6.5- A good performance from the ex-Palermo man. Covered the backline well. Playing-wise, he compliments Bonucci well, they just need to work on their partnership and moreso, one needs to assert themselves as leader of the backline.
Grosso: 7- By far Fabio’s best ever performance in Bianconero, as a result, the whole team is spending time at the tanning machines in Vinovo today. For the most part, he kept Menez quiet in defense, and was tremendous up top, pulling in two fantastic assists and nearly scoring himself. Good work Fabio- now take the rest of the season off.

Marchisio: 6.5- An all-action performance from the Juventus captain. Worked hard in defense, carried the ball well, and all-in-all, helped to control the midfield. I felt in a pure 3-man midfield, he got a lot more space than normal, and did well with it. When Pepe or Krasic carried the ball up the pitch, they passed it right to the opposition. Claudio’s got a very cool head, even when he goes on a 40 yard run, he makes an intelligent pass at the end.
Felipe Melo: 7- Rock solid performance from the returned midfielder- as Adam mentioned on last week’s podcast, Melo always seems to play his best against Roma. Played relatively deep, almost a defender at times, and never put a foot wrong. There was a point where he was dribbling with the ball under pressure from two Roma players, and I feared a Melo-of-old foolish turnover. Instead, he calmly passed it straight back to Storari. A very tactically disciplined performance.
Aquilani: 5.5 I was rather disappointed with Aquilani’s performance, perhaps the jeers of the Roma crowd got to him. In the first half, his passing was rather poor, failing to meet its target or forcing the player to take it wide. As Roma ceded the midfield in the 2nd half, Albertino grew into the match, but still all in all, a rather down performance.

Krasic: 6- I’m surprised by some of the glowing reviews that Milos is getting for the match, Datasport gives him a 7.5 and calls him “looking like the Milos of old.” There were three real positives about his performance- he saw a lot of the ball, was getting into excellent positions to receive the ball, and opened the scoring with a well struck right-footed volley. There were plenty of negatives too- he was frequently wasteful with the ball, either preferring to shoot (when others, say Pepe, were standing ready to run onto it) or making a 40-50 yard run only to pass it straight to Roma. He can be one-dimensional at times, switching flanks with Pepe helped, but he’s gotta continue developing.
Matri: 6.5- Worked hard as a lone striker. For most of the first half, he was relatively isolated and I was calling for someone to play as a seconda punta to try and support him. Excellent run to go 1v1 beating the offside trap, and cool as ice as he placed it right between Doni’s legs to kill off the game. Including his Italy debut, Matri has 7 goals in 10 games since joining Juve in January. He also scored 11 goals for Cagliari in the first half of the season. In tremendous form.
Pepe: 6- Again asked to play a different role, Simone worked his ass off running up and down the pitch. Had a great turn and shot that Doni saved, but otherwise doesn’t look too clinical up top. Still think he should be experimented with as a fullback, he could be great there.

This is starting to get a bit creepy.

Delneri: 6- Hard to give him a rating here- if it weren’t for Storari’s miracles, we might be back in crisis, with finger-pointing all around. The formation was a decent, but not great one. Not because of the individual errors that led to Storari making those magnificent saves, but because we didn’t look too deadly up top until Rome pushed forward and conceded more and more space. Their desperation led to our win.
Salihamidzic: 10- He lives!
Sorensen: s.v.- Thrown on as a cameo.

Things I Think I Think:
#1- One good game does not a fullback make: Funny as hell that Grosso and Motta have decent games, and neither of them have the opportunity to repeat it next week- Grosso is suspended for yellow card accumulation, and Motta of course was injured. I don’t think either of them would have had a good game against Genoa anyways, so it’s a blessing both happened. I nearly threw my laptop out the window when I saw them lining up against Roma. One good performance doesn’t change the fact that they’re both shit and need to leave this summer.

#2- Marco Storari proves his worth, puts Delneri in a pickle: You may recall I argued a few weeks ago that Marco Storari should be starting ahead of Gianluigi Buffon right now. I was met with ridicule, but Buffon has gone on to make more errors, and Storari pulled off a blinder of a match against Roma. Note I never said that Gigi should be sold, it was only until the team started racking up enough points that we could reintroduce Gigi. Storari’s performance was enough to make Delneri a bit uncomfortable, and then he followed up with this throw down after the match.

“Only a blind person can’t see what I am doing and I hope the Coach is not blind,” he stated at the Olimpico. “Will I move to Roma instead of Buffon? I have never hidden the fact that I am a Roma fan, but the truth is that I am happy at Juventus and I want to earn some space here.”

I think there’s no doubt he’s irritated that Delneri made a lot of fuss about meritocracy before Buffon returned, and then ended up immediately benching him anyways. That’s a serious challenge from Marco though, implying that he wants the #1 gloves. Delneri responded afterwords- “I know what Marco said, we spoke, and he knows I respect him. I understand it’s difficult to sit on the bench, and that he deserves to play, but he has a great champion like Buffon ahead of him, today he demonstrated that he’s a great professional and a great man. I hope he stays for a long time at Juventus even if he’s not playing.”

To me, that’s Delneri saying “Thanks Marco, but Gigi is still our #1.” I don’t think Storari will be too happy to hear that, and considering the great form he’s in, I really don’t know if he’ll stay this summer. At his age, he’s still got 2-3 years at the top level left, and he’s been kind of a late bloomer, he might want his time in the limelight. With Manninger’s contract expiring and leaving in almost all certainty, we might go from having 3 tremendous keepers to one. But there’s no doubt in my mind, if Storari wants to be #1, he will have to leave Juventus. I will wish him well, I have become a big fan of his.

#3- Is the formation change behind the result? No: A lot of people said hallelujah when they saw us line up with a 4-5-1, or a 4-3-3 depending on your view. Like I said on Delneri’s rating, we could be having a very different discussion right now. Offensively, it didn’t work very well, and it took Mexes’ injury and an increasingly desperate Roma before we got in a goal. Is Delneri’s “typical” 4-4-2 a real 4-4-2? No. Did this formation change revolutionize us? Again, no.

#4- I love Mauro Camoranesi. I also love David Trezeguet. Shame they didn’t get what they deserve. Juve has a bad history of booting out our legends.

#5- La Stampa was on one hell of an NBA kick: “Fabio Grosso made dazzling assists, he seemed like a calcio-version of Magic Johnson. Felipe Melo planted himself square in the area like Shaquille O’Neill, marking “return to sender” for all of Totti’s shots.” Wow. Is it the playoffs or something?

THE JUVENTUS OFFSIDE SHITLIST
- Gigi Delneri- Two wins help. Get a third.
- Jonathan Zebina: (Lifetime Award)
- Marco Motta: (2 weeks) Hasn’t done enough to get him off the list.
- Vincenzo Iaquinta: (Seasonal)
- Giuseppe Marotta: Mauro and David, really? You douchebag.

It’s all about the tan, man.

“Alla Juventus vincere non è importante, è la sola cosa che conta”

It wasn’t all horrible. I’m not sure why, but in the last month or so, this team has improved in certain ways…and at the same time, others compensate by shitting it up. Cesena was no different- after 4 goalless games, our midfield and strikeforce finally looked competent, although it wasn’t by fluke, with Matri finally fielded as a proper central striker with a seconda punta. While the offense and midfield looked far brighter than their dismal display against Milan, the defense suddenly collapsed. The technical quality of Cesena (what?) unlocked the defense, and I’m not sure if it was nerves or a more basic difficulty against their skill, but the defense looked nervous from minute one. And it wasn’t just Traore and Motta, who we all expected little of, it was Chiellini who is supposed to be our rock. When it isn’t your season, I guess it just isn’t your season…

LE PAGELLE:

Buffon: 6.5- I’m tempted to give him a 5, or a 7.5. More on that later.

Motta: 4- Did it surprise anyone that Motta doomed us? Not me. I haven’t been a fan since minute one, and he’s just getting worse and worse. Today was his first start since January, and if it was Delneri’s idea of “okay, you have one last chance to prove anything” then there’s no doubt Motta is heading back to Udinese. (not that there ever was) He’s not even worth the 1.25mil paid for the next 3 seasons, a damning indictment. Sorry Marco, but you’re just dreadful. No other way to say it.
Bonucci: 5.5- Seems to have problems with tricky fast players. Parolo and Giaccherini gave him endless problems, he was saved several times by San Gigi.
Chiellini: 5- Did I see a different game from everyone else? Browsing through some other sites pagelle, they are generally positive reviews of his performance. I thought it was awful. Completely schooled by Parolo for the penalty, had he hauled him down it would have been a yellow. Everytime he was in possession, he was making nervous clearances, poor passes, backpasses that threatened the goal…I was very disappointed in Giorgio last night.
Traore: 6- A satisfactory game, all things considered, but like Motta, there’s pretty much no chance of seeing him in Bianconero next season. Offered a bit of forward movement and looked composed enough in defense.

Pepe: 6- A typical hardworking performance that saw him deliver a few good crosses, get into good position, and horrible scuff his chances. Kidding. Pepe won’t offer flash, but it was nice to have a genuine wideman on the left for once.
Aquilani: 6- Quality play in the first half, but simply outnumbered after Motta was sent off.
Marchisio: 6- Ditto for Aquilani. Covered a lot of ground.
Krasic: 5.5- Another subdued performance from Milos. A few flashy moments here and there where he accelerated away from his marker, but pretty much the same performance we’ve seen from him of late.

Del Piero: 7- Magical. Seems to have lost his shooting boots, but there is no doubting his quality. It makes the decision to bench him for Toni in the last few weeks look all the more baffling.
Matri: 7.5- Pacey, direct, strong, and clinical in front of net, what’s not to like? 5 goals in 6 games for Juventus, and as Adam notes on “It Ain’t Over Till the Old Lady Sings” he has scored as many goals this season as Bari’s entire team, yet no one seems to talk about him.

Delneri: 5- The starting XI was the right one, Motta aside. After the game, he said “Today we chose quality, and I liked the midfield performance.” Very true. The midfield was a quality group, as well as up top, as opposed to Marchisio playing on the left-wing, and Matri-Toni up top. Italian coaches are notorious for preferring hardworking tall players (Iaquinta) over quality ones, and Delneri has been guilty of this very often as well. It’s about damn time he chose quality, even if Toni was injured and Melo/Sissoko out, and up until Motta screwed the pooch, we looked good. Let’s hope Delneri chooses quality more often.
Grygera: 5.5- A correct substitution, and probably the only one.
Martinez: 5- Useless. But at that point, as much as Martinez has been useless this season, we had surrendered the midfield. He was never going to get into the game.
Iaquinta: 4- It is really depressing watching Vincenzo play.

Check out the shoulder charge Aquilani delivers for Matri’s 1st goal to free up Alex…

Things I Think I Think:

#1- Marco Motta needs to walk back to Udinese: Trezeguet was flown in First Class to Alicante. Diego flew coach to Germany. Knezevic was afforded a 1-way Greyhound bus ticket back to Tuscany. Marco? Time to start hiking. Maybe you can hitch-hike with Iaquinta.

#2- Gianluigi Buffon’s performance was again frustrating: I called for Marco Storari to be drafted in goal, and took a fair amount of criticism then. I took even more when San Gigi popped up with three tremendous saves, and people asked if I would recant my heresy against Gigi. No. If you misread my earlier post as suggesting Gigi is the root of Juve’s issues, or even a significant problem, then I apologize for not clearing it up. He’s not the problem. But he hasn’t been up to par of late, and if you can say that about any player, if they have a valid alternative, you should consider a switch. Here’s the point about yesterday- yes, Gigi kept us in the game late. But he should have sent off for the 2nd time in a month, and that would have screwed us over. Would we have been hammered in the 2nd half if we were 2-0 up still? Doubt it.

It was still a Juve-dominated game until the penalty, then Motta was shortly sent off afterwords. And speaking of that sending off, there’s no doubt in my mind that Bergonzi sent him off poor ‘ole Marco to compensate for not sending off Gigi, either consciously or subconsciously. Is a high foot a yellow? Yes. Is it a second yellow before the half in a relatively level-headed game? No. The defense deserves a hefty amount of blame (particularly Chiellini for letting Parolo through) but so does San Gigi. He made great saves and it’s lovely to see him do that, but he’s still making critical judgement errors that are jeopardizing the team. If we go into that half 2-0 up with 11 men, it’s a different game.

The Focal Point

#3- It’s about time Matri returns to a prima punta role: I had been whining about this for the last few weeks. Matri is a good player- he can play wide, he can play deeper, but it’s wasted there. I still think signing Luca Toni is a relatively smart decision, if he plays as a reserve. If he’s starting over Alex, it’s a mistake. If he’s starting over Alex and forcing Matri to play wider or deeper, then it’s a crime. Sure enough, we saw Ale-Ale up top, and it was a classic prima punta-seconda punta partnership. Del Piero provided fantasy, and Matri bulldozed through the Cesena defense with acceleration and strength. Imagine seeing Matri-Quagliarella up top next season…

#4- Should Delneri stay until the summer? No doubt in my mind- when you sign a coach and are battling for the Scudetto up until December, you should give him the full year. Sacking GDN makes no sense at this point- it’s like canning Ciro Ferrara or Giampaolo Ventura for Bari. If we admit that Champion’s League qualification is beyond our grasp (as it appears to be) what is the point in canning him? Last year, we were in free fall when we sacked Ciro, and I said there was little point because this squad wasn’t salvageable, so give Ciro some time to work. Sure enough, Zaccheroni, try as he might, could not turn around our fortunes. Same with Delneri- if we missed out on our goal, CL qualification, why sack him? Why not give him until the rest of the season so we can make a qualified and fair judgement on him this summer?

All Cesena’s base are not belong to us

#5- It’s irrelevant, as he has the clubs backing: Earlier this week, Andrea Agnelli and his cousin John Elkann visited Vinovo and chatted with Delneri and the players for a while. We discuss this on the podcast, but Agnelli/Elkann are not going to make that trip if they intend to sack him soon, particularly John Elkann who is removed from the day-to-day running of the club. Today the club attacked Tuttosport publicly (as I’ll discuss further below) which is further proof that they are backing Delneri. It’s the right move, until the summer at least.

#6- Giaccherini: Worst miss ever? Rivals Marchionni’s miss v Sampdoria.

#7- Aquilani and Marchisio midfield: I like it. It has a lot of potential, though it’s clear they aren’t fully accustomed to play with each other. Some say it’s too weak, but I think that’s the attitude that sees Toni starting up top over Alex Del Piero. It worked well in the first half of the game, and some might say they failed to control the midfield in the second, and that’s true. But the midfield was down a man when Motta was sent off, and it’s not realistic to expect Juve to dominate possession at that point.

Official Note from Juventus:

Juventus Football Club has maintained an open dialogue with all of the media during this season. The club intends to continue on this line, despite the sporting results that are unsatisfactory as judged by the fans, the technical staff, the management, and the players. Every component is absolutely committed to the improvement of the team towards that deserving of the clubs tradition, however, we maintain that the newspaper Tuttosport has been completely irresponsible, which pretends to be a newspaper “of reference.” The newspaper has spread unreliable news, with the only objective to call into question the professionalism of the coach, of some players, and the management. To create a list of 7 names of possible new coaches in 8 days is to simply provoke the emotions, without facts based in credible reports or having credible sources.

Juventus does not have newspapers “of reference” nor “preferred”, and the large portion of the Juventus fanbase is the same.

The players, the coaches, the employees, and the management continue to work, knowing that this season will create the base for a work that needs to completed quickly, to bring the Bianconeri colors where the history, tradition, and millions of fans have put it. With passion, with courage, with determination.

An interesting press release from the club, slamming Tuttosport for being full of nonsense. There’s a lot of subtext in this, particularly the 2nd paragraph. (I’ve preserved the original formatting) In some ways, I regard this note as inexperience from Andrea Agnelli, lashing out at the newspapers in frustration. It certainly reinforces the point I made earlier that the management is still backing Gigi Delneri. Others have suggested this is John Elkann who is well versed in the media, turning the tables on Tuttosport. The newspaper does have a lot of access to Juve, and pretty much have been actively working to bring it down over the last two years. It certainly throws some pressure on Tuttosport, and I wonder what the Cazzetta and Corriere will have to say about it.

I’m going to miss this…

THE JUVENTUS OFFSIDE SHITLIST
- Gigi Delneri: (1 week) Can he get us out of this psychological funk? He’s got the experience…but I haven’t been too impressed thus far. Slow improvements, but we need drastic ones.
- Jonathan Zebina: (Lifetime Award) You douchebag. I’ve waited about 7-8 years to see JZ come to Torino as an opponent, and he gets suspended for the match? He’s trolling us, man.
- Marco Motta: (1 week) Too deserving. He’ll finish the season on the list and probably end up in the Juventus Offside Shitlist Hall of Fame. He’s like the Italian Z3BINA, without the douchiness. Occasional ability in attack, poor defending, utterly average. Today’s red card, deserved or not, complicated things immensely. Somewhere someone in Montreal is grinning when I say this- I miss Cristian Molinaro.
- Vincenzo Iaquinta: (1 week) It’s sad to put him on this list, because I’ve been a big fan. In the few spurts he’s remained uninjured, he looked like a great striker, and very capable coming off the bench. He has not been the same player since his 100-day injury last season, and he looks completely spent as a player. It’s sad, but Vincenzo has to go- even if he gets into some kind of form, he’ll likely get injured the next weekend. We spoke about Iaquinta on the podcast a while ago, about how unlike Toni/Del Piero he doesn’t “ride the fouls” (to put it nicely) and takes the full brunt of every foul, and that’s probably why he’s so injured. Against Cesena, he flopped like Toni and angrily rose his arms like Amauri when he didn’t get the foul. Awful.

“Alla Juventus vincere non è importante, è la sola cosa che conta”

Compare that to this team and their overall performance. Melo was playing very well against Bologna until we conceded and has been a great player this season, Aquilani has people that can make the runs and Chiellini had a good central partner until he was placed on the left wing where he is more inconsequential than effective. Marotta’s Juve is better than Secco’s Juve, I think that is clear for everyone. What some fail to realize is that Secco had four years with the team and he benefited from Moggi’s project (one that had 14 years to develop). Secco didn’t build a team that got us into 3rd and 2nd place in Serie A, Moggi did, and it was such a great team that it took 4 years for Secco to crush it to the ground in the way we saw last season.

The first thing I want to ask of my fellow Juventini is to forget about Moggi, he was a great director who knows lots about football, he might have been the best director that Juve ever had but he is not here anymore and I don’t think Juve ever want him back seeing that he is 74 years of age. The other thing we have to remember is he is not with the club anymore so he doesn’t know anything that goes on behind closed doors. He doesn’t know the transfer budget, he doesn’t know the salary budget and he doesn’t know what the club is going through as he did prior to 2006. From that position it is very easy to criticize, anyone can say: Juve should buy Kjaer, Ranocchia, Bonucci, Schelotto, Aquilani, Krasic, Balzaretti, and Dzeko. However after the transfer market has gone by it is clear that Juve couldn’t have afforded three champions, even if we didn’t spend 12m of Martinez. Champions don’t generally come in a free loan with an option to buy or for less than 15 m.

We should be grateful to him, but he is not the future. Juve is bigger than Moggi.

With the Moggi issue out of the way, I want to look at Marotta’s tenure in detail. Last year we had one of the oldest squads, compare that to our average age after the summer transfer market, 25.5; in the winter we got Toni, Matri, Barzagli and got rid of Amauri so I imagine we are still one of the youngest squads in the peninsula. The wage bill came down as well which makes the prospect of Juve not qualifying for CL less worrying than last year. Marotta built a team for our coach, something totally unheard of in Turin since 2006, he did this with the budget of a provincial squad. Also, all the loans with option to buy allow us to make changes depending on how the season goes and how the players respond. This to me is one of the best things Marotta has done. After Secco’s tenure we were stuck with players like Amauri and Grosso who had obscenely high salaries. With Marotta we don’t, we can send Marco Motta, and Pepe packing if we choose to and focus on refilling those places. If that is not a good market strategy I don’t know what is.

Two great players that fit the coach’s style of play. Reason for hope?

Del Neri must be also mentioned. The coach for some is tactically inflexible, if that is your opinion, I disagree but I am not going to argue. However, do you think it is a good idea to change the coach at this point? If so, who would you bring in? Juve are not going to win the Scudetto, no matter who our coach is, Champions League qualification is still a target but one that is not in our hands anymore. Will Lippi get us to the CL? I don’t know, but the thought of him starting Grosso at left back for the rest of the season is terrifying. Spalletti is an attack-minded coach, would Juve be better off with him seeing that we are conceding goals left, right, and center? I don’t think so. Capello might be the answer, but I doubt he will come to Juve unless we give him a huge salary (we don’t have the money) and we buy 2 or 3 champions (we don’t have the money). All sacking Del Neri will do is tell the players once again that this is not their fault, that losing to Lecce was the coach’s fault and that the Bologna loss was due only to poor tactics. Juve should have won both games with the players they had on the pitch, Juve should have won both games playing with 10 men. But the squad is too scared to go out and win.

Where does the mental fragility come from? Some of it is down to age, Sorensen can’t shake off a bad start to the game the way that ADP can. Some of it is the fans putting pressure on a team that is not ready for it yet. Besides Buffon and Del Piero no one has won anything of any significance in their lives. Changing the coach at this point is the equivalent of taking a child away from the parents because he fell when riding a bike for the first time, it makes the parent look irresponsible and prevents the kid from growing. The situation that we are in is mostly the players fault and not Del Neri’s tactical schemes or lack thereof. Losing to Lecce, Parma, and Udinese are 95% due to mental weakness and 5% to poor tactics if that. This mental weakness was aggravated after tying Chievo, losing to Parma and our main striker. Quagliarella got us out of trouble many times and the players could always look towards him to make a difference, now the squad needs to adapt to his loss and move forward, and so must we.

I believe Marotta has done a great job given the team and resources he had available to him, likewise, Del Neri has made us better than last season, and Agnelli is making changes that will make us a stronger team going forward. No Champions League will be a hard pill to swallow in May if it comes to that but it is part of our growing pains. In the summer other players that are dear to us may leave, and others will arrive in order to achieve third place and with the funds the stadium will bring in, we will be able to spend even more.

The club is in a very difficult period. In 2006 Juventus was being relegated and we hurriedly decided to agree to a shady deal of going to Serie B in exchange for a “minimum” point deficit on our first season in the second division. In a rush we appointed Alessio Secco as our sporting director. When things weren’t looking very good for Ranieri the club panicked and chose to appoint Ferrara. In the summer of 2009 D’Agostino’s price was too much and the club once again got scared and bought Melo asking him to be a player he is not. Now we are doing it again, Juventus has lost to two weak sides, teams who on paper should not be able to score on us, let alone beat us. Just like a child that is learning to ride a bike, this team needs time and hard work.

Del Neri might not be the man to get us two Champions League trophies and five Scudetti, but he can get the team out of this slump. The players believe in him, which was clear from the Bologna game. Give the players at least two more games and we will see where we go from there. I understand the frustration, but calling Moggi back, and asking Marotta and Del Neri to resign is not the way out of this situation, faith in the people that are now running this club is. I know many of you disagree with what I think is the path to go through. I don’t have the right answers and this blog is what it is because we are open to discussion. I look forward to hearing your comments.

Article written by JoseR

Raise that voice, San Gigi!

LE PAGELLE:

Buffon: 6- Since he’s come back, San Gigi has hardly had any saves to make. He’s played against Catania, Bari, and now Sampdoria, and seriously, we should be charging him admission. Today, Sampdoria only had one real effort on goal, a mis-shot that luckily landed right in Pazzini’s path, who horribly scuffed it. Is it a coincidence our defense has tightened up since San Gigi is back? I don’t think so, he certainly is very vocal and provides that leadership that perhaps Storari, as great a shot-stopper he is, had been hit-or-miss on.

Motta: 5- Sadly, every game is turning out to be the same for Motta. Can’t really defend, caught out of position, offers very limited in attack, it’s becoming painfully clear that his option will not be picked up come June. I wonder if he knows that.
Bonucci: 7- Classy play from defense, he’s certainly more of a passer than Giorgio is. The two of them formed an unbreakable pairing today, the fullbacks general mediocrity notwithstanding, and hardly let Pazzini or Macheda have an eye on goal. Had a very good effort on goal, altogether a very confident performance from Leonardo.
Chiellini: 6.5- Dominated aerial play and kept Sampdoria quiet for much of the game. He’d get Bonucci’s rating although he had a nervy moment here and there, one he was booked for, and one was a possible penalty shout for bulldozing over Macheda in the box. Not saying it was a penalty, but some referees might have called it.
Grosso: 6- Came on as a sub shortly after Traore, and much like his generally “acceptable” performance this season after having been frozen out of the squad, did his job as a professional. Limited Mannini’s movement on the wings, didn’t offer much up top, but an improved defensive display.

Guberti was playing in Serie B two years ago, c’mon Marco…

Krasic: 5.5- Like our team in general, he hasn’t really clicked back into gear after the Christmas break. Milos had a few accelerations that probably freaked out Ziegler and Samp fans, but faded fast from the game and had very little influence. Rightfully hooked after the break.
Aquilani: 6- Was very inconsistent today, and Juve’s performance closely mirrored that inconsistency. Doesn’t seem as fully fit as he was back in December, physically he faded as the game went on. It might be because as Adam notes on the newest episode of “It Ain’t Over”, he had a lot more defense work to do, helped out Motta on the right wing on occasion.
Sissoko: 6.5- It was a very physical match with lots of tackles, exactly what Momo thrives on, and he had a good performance. Won the ball back, for much of the 1st half, he controlled the midfield with Aquilani and Marchisio. A lively battle with Poli and Palombo.
Marchisio: 6- As a winger offered his typical hard work and coverage, but I really don’t like him as a left-winger, I think his talent is wasted. You can probably copy-paste this line for every one of his games at left-mid.

Pepe: 6.5- Surprised me at how naturally he slotted in at seconda punta, of course, it was his original role years ago, but he rolled back the years instantly. I think that’s as good as a performance as Floro Flores would give, sorta ditto for Martinez. Moved to a winger position and cooled down a bit, but a good performance.
Amauri: 3.5- What can you say anymore about Amauri? Forget us, this man needs to get the fuck out of Turin for his own sake. Unless he wants to pull a Winston Bogarde, clearly the playing environment is not working for him, and a move might shake things up to get him to be a half decent striker, because right now, Erjon Bodgani has FIVE more goals than him in Serie A.

Il Mister applauding his former fans…Sampdoria fans.

Delneri: 5.5- While Delneri clearly his been working at the defensive problems we had (and it’s paid off) there are a number of decisions that are baffling to me. I’ll go into them more below.
Del Piero: 6.5- Yes, he missed a golden opportunity to win the game, but three possible reasons. First, that’s not an easy goal to score, he should have, but was trying to place it and leaned back too much. Second, he’s had the flu and was very sick yesterday, and third, the Marassi pitch was dreadful. Disappointing for him to miss, but he made a difference when he came on and proved at age 36 that he’s still a crucial member of this squad.
Martinez: 7- Speaking of difference-makers, whew. El Malaka came on and totally changed the game, opening Sampdoria’s defense up time and time again despite coming on 6 minutes before regulation time ends. Created 3 golden opportunities, two Alex shots, and headed back for Amauri to somehow not bang it in.

Things I Think I Think:

#1- Moments that Delneri made me facepalm-
a. Why on earth is Amauri still starting? Some said supposedly Delneri gave Amauri today as his “last chance” to prove himself, as much as I’d like to believe it, I doubt it. The man is awful, and he destroys our offensive play simply by existing. Unable to get into goal-scoring position, too slow to beat players like Volta to the ball, cannot shoot, cannot score, he’s awful. I understand maybe Delneri wants to keep his value/self-esteem high, but I think both are still ruined by him playing. It’s time for Delneri or Marotta to come out and say “Amauri’s time at Juventus is finished, we thank him for his efforts but it’s best for us to both move on.” Promote Libertazzi (1:20 in the video) and give him some time, he’s promising. Or Giannetti, he may have been relatively anonymous against Catania (I think it was?) but Amauri literally destroys our play by being up top, Giannetti wouldn’t necessarily help, but he wouldn’t harm it either.
b. Why didn’t El Malaka come on earlier? Jorge Martinez has had many critics dating back to this summer, you may recall I am not one of them. While he probably wouldn’t have been a primary transfer target for me, there’s no doubt he’s a creative and versatile player. It’s a shame he showed up to training overweight and out of shape. Regardless, he started to show some of his talent heading into November before breaking his foot against Milan. And in the last two weeks, he’s looked very lively when playing. He played 30 minutes last week, trained all week, why on earth couldn’t he have done a half? Whether it was up top with Del Piero as he did before, or as a winger, he changed the game. Couple more chances and surely we’d have buried the, right? As someone mentioned- maybe if he gets in good form, we’ll see a long-haired South American tricky dribbler and a blonde Eastern European tearing up the flanks again…
c. Did Delneri confuse the wings? There’s a couple things that Delneri has done tactically on the wings that makes plenty of sense. Pairing an ultra defense right-back (Grygera/Sorensen) with an ultra-offensive winger, of course Krasic, makes sense. There might not be overlapping play between them, but they stick to their task, and do it well. On the other flank, Marchisio started playing left-wing to accomodate Paolo De Ceglie’s less than stellar defensive abilities, although they did improve as the season goes on. Grosso shouldn’t need anyone to hold his hand, so Pepe should be able to play in front of him no problem, with typical Pepe hard work. I don’t understand why Marchisio is playing on the left-wing when he doesn’t really need to (I guess playing time out of position is better than no playing time) or why Delneri chose to go with Motta again. As I said, Motta might realize by now he probably won’t get picked up, and if he does, his performances will surely drop, but playing him behind Krasic limits Milos immensely. Milos has to track back more, play more defense, offer coverage…things that surely limit his attacking play, right? So play Sorensen/Grygera-Milos on the right, and on the left, if Marchisio is playing, we want a more attacking fullback. Like maybe Simone Pepe.

#2- I’d Love Andrea Poli on this Team. Should Sampdoria be interested in selling (they’re probably not) there’s no question we should look at Poli. Very young still, Delneri launched his career last year and he formed a great center midfield partnership with Palombo, he’s been on the outs of the first team most of this year, and put in a pretty good performance today to show what promise he does have. Poli has denied any interest in moving to Juve, and relations with Samp of course are not very good, unfortunately.

Milos and a future teammate?

#3- I’d also take Ziegler. (and Palombo, Lucchini, and I guess half of Samp) Sure, Milos was having an offday, but Ziegler did a pretty good job at left-back for Samp, a very efficient display. He’s worked under Delneri in the past, and while he wouldn’t be a big upgrade on De Ceglie, I think he’d be a fine player to rotate in with him, it’d be nice to have a reserve left-back that isn’t atrocious. Certainly a big upgrade over Traore or Grosso, that’s for sure. It seems Ziegler will finish the next 6 months of his contract at Sampdoria, but he’s eligible to negotiate a move in June starting now. Marotta should start talking to him- Milan is interested as well, though perhaps Beppe doesn’t want to “upset” Sampdoria in case he decides to go Crazy this summer…

#4- The Quality has Disappeared from Sampdoria- Boy, and some people complain about our side being too functional and not creative. Not only does Andrea Poli not get enough playing time, they dumped Cassano for virtually free, their creativity has dried up. Not good for two strikers like Pazzini and Macheda who thrive on service in the box. It’s sad to see Samp this year, they are a shell of a team they were last year, and it’s hard to see a positive future for them. Di Carlo won’t get them relegated, but he’s used to working with teams full of garbage teams, so it’s unlikely we’ll see a creative, forceful Sampdoria anytime in the near future. That talk about the Vialli-Mancini partnership being recreated with Pazzini-Cassano? No more. I wonder how long Giampaolo will want to stay at a team destined for mid-table finishes…

#5- Team Eats- Pesto, I happen to know everything there is to know about pesto. I love pesto. I love pesto on pancakes. I love it on pizza. And I take pesto and put a little bit in my hair when I’ve had a rough week.

Milos v. Sampdoria 4 months ago…

#6- Krasic needs a break. From calcio, and from Motta. Maybe Milos is just a bit tired? I know he’s He-man and all, but even superheroes need to take a break once in a while, right? Kid has been playing nonstop for about a year now, with CSKA and the World Cup occupying pretty much his entire summer, it’s easy to see how he could hit a bit of burnout now. Or maybe it’s just because he has to track back more to cover Motta, which makes him a little more tired, and begins a vicious cycle…

#7- Roma and Udinese coming up this Week- Reasons to care about these upcoming games- sure, it’s just Roma in the Coppa, but we’re both tied on 9 wins, and 10 gives us a big fancy star. I’d like the Coppa, but 2nd best is Roma not getting that silver star before us. Petty? Absolutely. And Udinese might want a bit of revenge. We spanked them 4-0 at their home earlier this fall when their season was starting off absurdly slow. Then again, that was revenge for losing 3-0 at the Stadio Friuli last March. Does revenge transfer stadiums? I don’t know, but Udinese thrashed Inter 3-1 today, and have been scoring absurdly freely in the last month, one of the in-form teams in Serie A. They will not be the same team we rolled over in September, although I feel Udinese played well but Inter also played poorly.

#8- This team today with Luca Toni in place of Amauri gets the 3 points. Just sayin. Also, a small (very small) part of me does feel for Amauri. You can see the goal-scoring drought is weighing on him, his confidence is shot, he’s probably depressed. Like I said, leaving Torino might be the best option for him career-wise as well as psychologically at this point.

#9- Mercato Madness- Zarate? Don’t like him. Overrated and attitude issues. Forlan and Fabiano are great players, but too old to move to make them our “franchise prima punta”, we’d have to replace both in 2 years or so, and that’s not worth the investment Sevilla or Atletico would want. Matri’s available on free in 6 months, and he’s an interesting idea, but my mind is still shouting the same thing it was about 18 months ago- “Pazzini, bitches.” If we move for him, Garrone might not invite Beppe to his birthday party next year, but it’s worth it…

Of course the usual round up of how the ex Bianconeri are doing across Europe, skimming rapidly over Jonathan Zebina’s Brescia getting a win & keeping a clean sheet.

Hope you enjoy the show!

Aaron, Marco & Adam