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”

Hey Gigi, I need to be moved over to the center!

Another week another defeat. Much like last week the team slumped against lesser opposition but, as Aaron discusses with Marco and Adam it was different to last weeks loss to Lecce. Where that no-show was entirely the players responsibility this 0-2 loss to Bologna was at least partially Gigi Delneri’s fault for – irony of ironies – not sticking with a 4-4-2 that worked.

From there the guys discuss the seemingly lost cause that is fourth spot, not just for Juve but also for Serie A after this season, going into a few details of UEFA’s useless ranking system. Other topics of debate include the merits of using of some youth players next season, Michel Bastos and whether Chiellini should move back to the centre.

It’s early for you this week, hope you enjoy the show. Thank you for listening,
Aaron, Marco and Adam.

and don’t worry bird watchers, Lars could not join us today but he should be back next week!

On behalf of the Juventus Offside, a very warm “thank you” to Cesena for gifting the game to us. Given our injury situation, our still rather delicate morale, we needed a win, and 3-1 suffices nicely in a game where we have an 18-year old kid playing center-back alongside a still rather inexperienced center-back. Of course, Cesena didn’t start out that nicely, they took the lead after 11 minutes after our defense was generally caught napping. But a penalty (and yellow card) from Pellegrino put us back on track, and when Pellegrino was sent off for a crappy hack on Pepe, the game was over. Cesena folded up shop, attempted to play 10 9 men behind the ball, and let us dictate.

So in that sense, maybe this isn’t a victory we should celebrate. But I’m going to, you know what? The injury situation is bad enough, and that’s two wins in a row in Serie A, something we haven’t done yet this season. And a decent motivation boost like Milan, that despite all the injuries and reasons we should be drawing to inferior teams, we’re still coming up with the points. We need to carry that to Brescia, and do the same, unlike Inter who dropped 2 points at home in a similar injury crisis. Bring it on, Zebina and co.

LE PAGELLE:

Storari: 6- Marco had to do nothing for most of the game, other than pick the ball out of the net. And then made a good save about an hour later. Remains plenty attentive even when there’s not much going on, signs of being very mature.

Motta: 6- Wasn’t totally impressed with the performance, he struggled real bad in the beginning with Giaccherini, but grew a bit more into the match. An average performance, let’s hope he grows with the plenty of time he’ll be getting.
Sorensen: 6- Nerves clearly got to him in the first 15 minutes of the match, which is totally understandable for an 18-year old making his top flight debut. After that, Bonucci and his formed a capable partnership.
Bonucci: 6- Still plays around with the ball too much on occasion. We all wondered if Bonucci would get enough playing time this season, but only 2 months into the season, he’s the most experienced central defender! Nutty.
Grosso: 6- Kept Jimenez onside for the goal, but a very impressive performance considering he hasn’t played in 6 months. Capped with a great tackle to win possession for the 3rd goal. I still want him gone in January.

Marchisio: 7- A real dynamic performance from the future captain, switching wings, playing central, winning the ball back, defending the flank as a quasi-terzino, just a real tactically brilliant game from him. Covered the flanks when players moved up, switched with Pepe, and crossed a delicious ball in for Quagliarella to head into the net.
Sissoko: 5.5- Could have been sent off during the match, it was another “Groan Momo” kind of games. Still yet to get into top form, but frankly this game is never going to be one he’s going to make his mark in. When we’re playing a team that parks the bus, Momo isn’t going to unlock them. And defensively, there’s much less required.
Aquilani: 6.5- Another class performance from Albertino, excellent vision and consistent passing, he also displayed his new-found skill at defending when Cesena were attempting to get back to a 2-2.
Pepe: 6- Offered a typical Pepe performance- ran a lot, covered his wings for the forward runs of Motta/Grosso depending on what flank he is. I think the confusion of moving around is messing with him a bit, he’s gone from playing up top in a 4-3-3 for Italy, then midfield, then a fullback against Milan, back to midfield today. On SKY they mentioned “it all came apart for Pepe in the last 20 yards.” Got Pellegrino sent off, though, which killed the game more than any goal would have.

Del Piero: 7- Two days before his 36th birthday, Alex started the match having played 90minutes just a few days ago. The conventional wisdom (which I also have espoused) is that Del Piero cannot play two games in the same week. Yet again, he proves us wrong, with an excellent game just after playing the full Salzburg game. Always creative, always looking to supply his teammates with passes, and always looking at the goal. Class is permanent.
Quagliarella: 6.5- Another great header to make it 2-1. I have to say, I questioned Quagliarella’s consistency and whether he’d be good enough for Juve, but 5 goals in 8 games in Serie A is evidence enough. He’s scoring, and that what counts. Got a little greedy later in the game, but on his form, why not have a few pops at goal?

Delneri: 6.5- Not an exemplary game from Juve, and ordinarily it would earn a 5.5 or 6. But given the injury problems we’re dealing with, GDN is managing this team very well.
Salihamidzic: 6- Like Grosso, he came on after a 6 month absence from professional football and performed admirably. Grosso needs to go, but Brazzo deserves to finish out the season as part of the team. Partly to woo Dzeko, perhaps, but he seriously deserves it. Nice little chipped cross to Iaquinta for the 3rd goal.
Iaquinta: 6.5- Another return from injury for Vincenzone, but while looking rusty again, he capped the night with a lovely goal to surely put the game away.
Melo: s.v.- Wasn’t match fit when he came on, and limped off. Good news is that scans have revealed that there’s no real damage.

Quagliarella and Del Piero are developing quite the relationship

Things I Think I Think:

#1- For Roberto’s minute-by-minute match summary, check it out here. He goes more into the actual gameplay of the match.

#2- What’s the Real Momo? As I discuss on “It Ain’t Over Till the Old Lady Sings” this week, Momo had a rough last year. He was pretty much injured the entire fall, and then dealt with a major family tragedy in the Spring as both his in-laws were killed in a car accident in France, and thus, he had 5 siblings-in-law all under 18 that moved in with him and his wife. To that end, Zaccheroni urged Juventus fans to write off his performances from last season, and give him a fresh start. The thing is, he was pretty average back in 08-09 or so, too. Coming up on his 26th birthday, he likely won’t develop too many new skills, like distribution. Is he a good reserve CM? Sure. Can he grow from where he’s at? Yes, but as a reserve that’s less certain.

#3- Tactics, Tactics, Tactics: As the title implies, Cesena shot themselves in the foot with the penalty and sending off. Or we can say Pellegrino shot Cesena in the foot for both. Up until that point, it was a fairly even game, but down to 10-men, Cesena withdrew into their own half. Which favors players like Aquilani, Grosso, and Motta, who like to move forward and open up the other team, not so much for Pepe or Sissoko who don’t really have the magic to unlock the other teams bus. To this end, looking at the map of the average position, it’s quite clear. This was a game where Cesena defending, and Juve attacked. That’s why the players are fairly spread out, and much more advanced than say a much more compact game against Milan.

Blue is position against Milan, Red is against Cesena, just the Starting XI members

#4- Good to see you, Stephen: I always liked Appiah, he was a real talented player but unfortunately, some pretty devastating injuries has derailed what was a promising career. And I’ll always remember him fondly for this golazo against Cagliari, during the game that marked our 28th Scudetto. Did Moggi make that goal too?

#5- The passion and the grinta: Lars Pedersen has a wonderful write-up about the magic of supporting a team battling against the odds. Read it.

#6- The Stars Were Out in Torino:

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

Obviously the main topic of discussion today was Saturday’s win at San Siro. Terrible pitch, injuries, suspensions, playing out of position, more injuries, Milan’s array of attacking talent – nothing seemed to phase Delneri’s men. We dissect it in full, looking at Pepe’s debut at fullback, the continued excellence of the man-child that is Felipe Melo & of course Del Piero’s record breaking goal.

Then a look to the week ahead with Salzburg & Cesena on the horizon we ask should Salihamidzic & Grosso get a recall. Then of course there’s the obligatory laugh at Jonathan Zebina!

By the way last weeks podcast title doesn’t look so wrong now does it?

Hope you enjoy the show, thanks for listening

Aaron, Marco & Adam

Juventus traveled to the San Siro just a few days before our 113th birthday, and boy, did the Old Lady look banged up. No Krasic, no Chiellini, no Prima Punta….no problem. We played a tactically brilliant game, everyone sacrificing for the side and came away with a 2-1 victory, the first time we defeated Milan at their home since 2005, the last time Mediaset/Milan the FIGC suspended our best player. And in the shadows of the night, Allegri and Milan had a big wake-up call: Surely, they will not be able to ride their superstars to Scudetto glory, it will require much more. For us, the growth of our side defensively and tactically continues to improve and perhaps, put a little hope into Bianconeri hearts.

LE PAGELLE:

Storari: 6.5- Never had any miracles to save, but had to stay attentive and be smart. Did his job very well against his old squad.

Motta: 5- Didn’t read the play well or make tackles with assurance. Another relatively poor performance.
Bonucci: 6- Was troubled occasionally by Ibrahimovic, but otherwise played another very solid game, confirming that he is Juve material.
Legrottaglie: 6.5- Came into the coaches plans in the last few minutes of warm-up, as Chiellini suffered a minor calf injury and failed to recover. Played immaculately at the back, marshaled the backline well.
De Ceglie: 6.5- Has really grown into his role as a left-back in the last 2 months, such a shame he is out for so long. Looked confident in marking and tackling, and of course, his crossing was money as usual.

Felipe Melo dominating the midfield

Marchisio: 6.5- A very intelligent and tactical performance from Claudio, who plugged holes, started counter-attacks, and held his flank well, be it on the left or right.
Felipe Melo: 7- A tremendous performance from the ball-winning Brazilian. Was in the midst of every midfield event, tackling and winning the ball back frequently.
Aquilani: 5.5- Bit of a let-down after his performances recently. Was slipping all over the pitch, managed to get a bit more into the game when he changed boots, but still a relatively subdued game from Albertino.
Martinez: 6.5- Battled real hard on his flank, playing with personality. Also managed to show flashes of his technical ability.

Quagliarella has learned well from Grygera- If I stick to Alex, I can stay at Juve.

Quagliarella: 7- Ran a lot, pressuring Pirlo in midfield and keeping Milan’s defense honest. Scored a wonderful header, and also picked out Sissoko with an intelligent cross-field pass for the 2nd goal.
Del Piero: 6.5- Didn’t see a whole lot of the ball and sacrificed with Quagliarella by pressuring Milan’s midfield, but was effective and intelligent when on the ball.

Delneri: 7.5- A tactical masterpiece. Nothing more to say than that.
Pepe: 5.5- Talk about a tough environment to change positions in. Beaten by Ibrahimovic for Milan’s goal, but never should have been marking him in the first place.
Sissoko: 6- ROFL. That is all.
Amauri: s.v.- Brought on to waste-time, so we could launch the ball up to him and the Italo-Brazilian would protect it. Did the job required of him.

A very hardworking performance from Quagliarella

The definition of tactically compact

Things I Think I Think:

#1- A Tactical Masterpiece: The team was united, compact, always in position, fighting for the ball, it was brilliant, every coaches dream. As we discussed on the podcast, our team can outrun and outhustle Milan. We bullied them in midfield and acted clinically on the counter-attack. Everyone put in a committed performance, the only underperformers I’d say were Motta and Aquilani.

#2- Legrottaglie’s contract must be extended: If you’re a long-term reader of this blog, you already knew I’d be saying this. As one who owns not just one, but two Nicola Legrottaglie jerseys (03-04, 09-10), I do love the man. A lot. He may have turned 34, but his experience and leadership are invaluable. Would Rinaudo have walked in and played as well as Nicola? Doubt it. And that was Legrottaglie’s first start of the season! He also acts as a great mentor for the team, Motta, De Ceglie, Chiellini have all spoken of the attention he’s given them as defenders, and Storari named him as one who welcomed him to Juve and helped him settle in Torino. He needs a year extension, and if he’s still working at 35, why not? Even if he’s the 4th choice central defender, you’d be hard pressed to find a better one in Italy. Certainly not one with his demeanor, experience, and maturity.

Who gave him their shirt…?

#3- We won without Buffon, Chiellini, or Krasic: It bears repeating. Serious kudos to the entire team who played their hearts out there. More proof that a tactically organized team can easily beat a group of superstars. Imagine this team when we get Krasic, Chiellini, Buffon, Iaquinta, Amauri, Lanzafame, Martinez, De Ceglie, and Traore back.

#4- Injuries are different this year: We’ve had injury problems, but it seems Agnelli’s work did fix whatever the issues at Vinovo were. Buffon and Rinaudo are out with back problems, but most of our current injuries seem to be impact ones. Time for Agnelli to start stocking vitamin/calcium supplements at Vinovo, I think we might have drugstore there.

#5- Del Piero breaks all the records there are: It was just a matter of time though, right?

Gattuso responds by attempting to break his face:

#6- Krasic watch: Totti slapped Oliveira and got a 1-match ban. Gattuso clubbed Del Piero in the face and escaped any punishment. Antonini took a massive dive against Legrottaglie. Felipe Melo went down having hardly been touched by “Milan’s Greek guy.” FIGC, are you watching? Where are the bans for these?

#7- Full match narrated by Zuliani

#8- Team Eats: Uhhhh, a muffaletta and some cheese fries. Not very Milanese, I was in a bar watching the game. There were actually a few Milan fans there, but American football fans are hit or miss. He wanted a yellow card for De Ceglie’s tackle on Bonera that resulted in them injured. When I pointed out De Ceglie won the ball fairly before the knee-to-knee contact, he interrupted and literally said “Foul, bro.” Cringe.

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

Then comes the Milan preview (how’s THAT for a segway?), a look at how the two teams may line up, what tactics may suit Juve at San Siro, Aaron’s belief that Seedorf is powered by prune juice & the special “Welcome Back To Serie A” that Chiellini may have prepared for you know who.

Of course there are other topics up for debate, namely if Brescia are now an indoor football team thanks to Zebina…

Thanks for listening as always!
-Adam, Aaron, and Marco

The level of nostalgia might be at an all-time high for Manninger, but he’s aware that this will be an encounter against a team that although sit seventh domestically and are four games without a win in Europe, will try to get back into the running of qualification. Met by reporters at the airport on their way to Austria, Manninger answered a few questions. Here’s the gist of what our Austrian goalkeeper said:

‘… For me it will be a special game, but in the end those are three very important points. Salzburg are a very organized team, with a very technical coaching staff, that have lots of support from their fans. Granted they’ve started the domestic season poorly this year, but they certainly have the talent to cause us problems and on that day they’re looking to win as well. This will be an important match also for their team, staff, and fans, so it will be difficult for us in that sense. …’

Although as difficult as it may be, Juventus should theoretically be able to keep a clean sheet against a side that failed to score a goal in their last two European matches, especially considering our much improved backline. If Del Neri gets worried however, he only needs to pick up the phone and call ex-Bianconeri and ex-FC Salzburg coach, Giovanni Trapattoni, who I’m sure will be more than happy to answer any questions Luigi might have. Il Trap led Die Bullen to one and a half championships before he took the Ireland post in February 2008.

Tonight Del Neri will rest Milos Krasic, and tips Jorge Martinez to have a fabulous game on the right in his place. On the other side of the field, Pepe should get the nod in left midfield as Marchisio shifts back into his natural position with Sissoko in center midfield. Behind that midfield four, Marco Motta gets the job at right back, with Chiellini and Legrottaglie in the middle, and Paolo De Ceglie at left back.

Last but certainly not least, Del Neri will field Amauri and Del Piero in attack seeing as Fab-Quags and Iaquinta are both unavailable. Quite the debate went on about Amauri and his usefullness to the team recently, not to mention the various Giovinco conversations, so no doubt those who defended the number eleven’s quality will look to the multi-dimensionally challenged forward to put a few in the back of the net. Here are the official call-ups. Check the comments below for live streams, formations, and other last minute updates.

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

Everyone recognize the guy on the left?

Welcome home, Pavel.

Obviously, I’m extremely pleased with what we’re seeing right now. The scorelines, the enthusiasm, the desire to win reminds me of the beginning of the 2007-2008 season. We had crushing victories like 5-1 over Livorno, or 5-0 over Palermo to announce our return, but also some nailbiting entertaining encounters like our 3-2 victory against Cagliari, which we replicated (1 better!) just a few weeks ago. We started the season with a fairly drab 1-0 loss to Bari, and then the floodgates opened on both ends. We all wondered whether the scoring or conceding would dry up first, and Delneri’s hard work drilling tactics into the squad seem to be paying off.

This isn’t to say we’re out of the woods, not by a long shot. There’s much work to do, but I can say as I said this summer, this team can qualify for the Champion’s League. It may not be a Scudetto-winning team, but that’s not our aim right now. We wanted a younger, hungrier, aggressive team with a fine tactician, and that’s what we have. Regarding the Scudetto, it is a dream. I do not want the team to focus on it, I like the way we are flying under the radar right now. If we come to late March, and are still in contention, that is when we talk about it. But it is too soon, there is much work to be done. (It reminds me of the NFL Baltimore Ravens in 2000. Their coach banned them from talking about the playoffs, and the team subsequently referred to it as “Festivus.” They ended up winning the Super Bowl, or “Festivus Maximus.”)

So no more talk of the Scudetto. It remains a pipe dream, as far as I’m concerned, but we can see that this team is certainly a contender for automatic qualification to the Champion’s League.

LE PAGELLE:

Storari: 7- The sign of a great keeper is not necessarily if he can make a string of super-saves, but if he can be decisive when it’s most important. Storari made a brilliant save at 1-0, preventing Lecce from getting into the game. While I think we would have won even if they scored, Storari came up big in the one real chance they had.

Grygera: 6- With Krasic ahead of him, it removes a lot of offensive responsibility from Grygera, and it allows him to play simple, to play defense. It’s no coincidence that Krasic’s emergence has come at the same time as Grygera’s started putting in solid shifts at fullback.
Chiellini: 6.5- Keyser Giorgio gave no quarter to any of Lecce’s strikers.
Bonucci: 6- Looked a little too casual at moments, but another clean sheet and another good relationship-building performance with Chiellini. Looks like they are improving day-by-day.
De Ceglie: 6- Like Grygera, De Ceglie wasn’t too troubled as Lecce didn’t really attack down the wings. Got forward, had a few good crosses in the 1st half, but otherwise a pretty quiet game.

Anyone with photoshop skills, please take the above picture and make it into this with “Welcome to Torino”

Krasic: 8- Blimey, this guy is sensational, and he’s only 25 years old. Looking more and more like the goddamn buy of the summer, whether Serie A or all of Europe. I thought Krasic would be a great signing, but he’s looking beyond great. What is that, 2-3 assists yesterday?
Aquilani: 7- Stepped in and displayed all his quality, very much displaying the player he was at Roma. Technical quality, simple and difficult passing with ease, and a lovely long-range effort to open the scoring.
Felipe Melo: 7- Freed from any kind of playmaking responsibility, Melo is able to do what he does best. Win back the ball, and pass it to someone else. I’ve mentioned several times that Felipe also has an eye for an occasional great pass, and he shows that too. Maybe when he’s not pressured to be a playmaker is when he can actually be one.
Marchisio: 7- Played again as a central-midfielder-slash-winger, in which he occasionally advanced down the wing, other times drifted centrally to help Aquilani and Melo. Excellent performance, and on the wing he’s allowed to display a few tricks here and there. I still don’t like him outside, though.

Quagliarella: 6- Drifts out wide and deep, given a lot of tactical license. His cross, albeit not a particularly good one, led to Aquilani’s opening goal, and then with a diving header, scored Juve’s 3rd in the 1st half to kill the game. Why did he score it with a diving header when a simple tap-in could have sufficed? Because he’s Quags, damnit. If he makes it harder, it becomes easier.
Amauri: 5.5- Good build-up play, but again doesn’t seem to have the ruthless streak to score freely. With Dzeko’s shadow looming, he needs to get into form or his position as “foreign bomber who (supposedly) scores lots of goals with some skill involved” will be replaced. Fouled a lot, and caught offside in a relatively mediocre performance.

Delneri: 7.5- Everything worked well, the defense, the midfield, the offense. Cannot complain about how the coach had the team organized.
Del Piero: 10- Grazie per tutti i gol, Alex.

Things I Think I Think:
#1- Foreshadowing: Roberto titled his preview “All About The Quality.” Lecce didn’t have any.

#2- Tactics, tactics, tactics: In theory, Delneri played a 4-4-2 and will always play a 4-4-2, but for large portions of the match this was simply not the case. In reality, between Krasic shifting flanks and attacking the middle, it could easily be interpreted as a 4-3-1-2, with Marchisio drifting central and Krasic as the trequartista. Hard to argue it didn’t work.

#3- Delneri this summer: “Del Piero is the charismatic captain of Juventus but for the future I’m thinking of Marchisio. Marchiso’s an important element, a central midfielder, not a wide man. He’s young, he has the right temperament, I like him.” Gah. Where did that go to?

Aquilani is not impressed with Melo’s dancing

#4- Melo’s cucchaio: He bet his father he’d do it. Aquilani teased him he wouldn’t be able to. A cucchaio shows incredible confidence, perhaps bordering on cockiness or hubris, but it shows Melo is full of it at the moment. In so many ways.

#5- Perfect way to leave the international break: I was a bit worried that some of our positive momentum going into the international break might be robbed, but we were raring to go from minute one. We didn’t look rusty at all, looked tactically

#6- Another clean sheet: Forget the 4-0 drubbings, every clean sheet we get is going to boost the confidence of players like Grygera, De Ceglie, and Bonucci, all who need it. That’s two in a row, Red Bull Salzburg are a poor team and we should really aim for another clean sheet there, regardless of how many goals might come.

#7- Red Bull Salzburg on Thursday: Lecce are a team “without quality.” So are Red Bull Salzburg, who have lost 2-0 to Lech Poznan (at home) and 2-0 to Manchester City. We have Bologna coming up this weekend, so Delneri should use this time to experiment. Maybe using Pepe as a fullback, ahem ahem?

#8- Missed the game? Watch it on YouTube, narrated by Claudio Zuliani.

#9- Beyond the Pitch, the best damn podcast out there managed to snag an interview with Diego. He says some very kind words about Juventus, and also drops a big hint about Dzeko. (Those “Juventus fans hounding us about how much they liked you” that Anthony mentions could have been me. I may have sent them a lot of messages about it.) Absolutely worth a listen, it’s about 10 minutes or so, go czech it out. (Grygera/Nedved groan)

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

Alas, those sorts of high octane efforts can never last an entire match. Now while the addition of Milos Krasic provides a constant offensive threat that does wonders to help improve our team’s balance, Juventus looked sincerely troubled when confronted by City’s quality on the ball for most of the match. At times, a tear trickles down the side of my face knowing that we can’t stack up to teams like City in that respect. But, we are who we are for now, and at least no one’s trying to hide that.

“The great intensity could be an important factor in this match [against Inter]. In the last few weeks, we played many matches, facing teams that make intensity their greatest quality and we held well and therefore the physical condition is optimal but it is clear that these matches depend also on the psychological factor. We must give the maximum with great intensity and will” -GDN

It’s all about controlled aggression with Juventus. Delneri knows we aren’t blessed with the most talented players in the world, but they’ve got heart dammit- trophy case loads of it. This Sunday our defense is obviously going to have their hands full with Eto’o and Milito, plus they’ll have to keep one eye on the elusive Sneijder as well. However, the word on the street is that Pandev, Samuel, and Zanetti aren’t playing so there goes one of Inter’s important wide threats, and one tireless utility man.

Their midfield starlet Coutinho, who had a promising performance in their recent 4-0 Werder drubbing, might also be a cause for concern although according to Johonna and La Gazzetta, Biabiany will start out wide on the left. Speaking of Johonna, she’s gone the extra mile and put together a little history lesson on the Derby d’Italia in all its glory, and not. So check it out if you’re bored. There are only so many Amauri highlight videos online. Speaking of Amauri, this morning’s Gazzetta tips him to start alongside Iaquinta in attack, with Melo and Aquilani in center midfield.

In terms of our unavailable players, Delneri has for the first time in a while everyone at his disposal. Click here for the call-ups. Back in September I made the mistake of thinking we’d have to worry about our fitness levels after playing Lech Poznan three days before we traveled to Udinese. Well we all know what happened there don’t we? So this time around I expect to see a similar starting line-up to the one we did in Manchester, with the aforementioned exceptions. That’s all for now until the final whistle. Check the comments section for more information on streams, line-ups, etc. Enjoy Papai’s best to date.

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

Pure class.

Palermo Cagliari looked like they did last year, attacking, fast, cohesive, and we looked like our first few weeks of Serie A. Decent, but lacking concentration at key moments. If I was at Vinovo, I would be throwing books at every player in defense or central midfield, for standing still when the ball is in the box. Don’t f***ing do it! I don’t care what you do, short of rugby tackling a player or Paul Scholes-style handballing it in the box. Clear it! You can do without any aim whatsoever, I don’t care if the ball goes to Sirigu. Another option is throwing your body at the ball to try and block a shot. Whatever you do, don’t stand still and gaze on as Lech Poznan Palermo waltz into a tap-in goal. It’s absurd.

If I was Delneri, I’d station Momo Sissoko about 25 yards out, and have him pepper the goal with strikes. None of them are going in, so the entire practice session would be about watching deflections and stops, and getting it back out to him. It could also serve as a lesson for Momo- sit outside the opponents box, and try and collect loose balls. Seriously, that whole thing is annoying as hell. I was going to move onto something here, but I’m still annoyed as hell about this non-movement in the box defensively. It’s been among the whole team, and it is just a simple basic elementary error that cannot happen. When the ball is in the box, get it out. Marking your man is nice and all, but if he’s sitting at the 18 and someone’s about to have a free tap-in, you should probably get on it.

“Guys, this whole conceding thing is not my fault!”

My rant from Thursday still stands. The two goals we conceded were not like Sampdoria, where we were carved apart tactically or undone by genius passing. They were like Palermo, or Poznan. Matri’s first goal was simply poor defending, where our concentration faltered and he was left completely unmarked to volley it into the back of the net. The second goal was much of the same. Both were preceded by brilliant passes, Lazzarri’s cross to Matri was lovely and his pass to the near post similarly, but that doesn’t excuse just god awful lapses in concentration. On the first, I still haven’t figured it out, but a combination of poor communication from Chiellini and Bonucci led to it. On the second, it was clearly my man Legrottaglie who just stopped following Matri who waltzed in and finished around Storari.

It’s not a problem with the tactics, Delneri’s teams haven’t been known for this in the past. It’s not a problem with the players, who demonstrated in past sides that they can maintain attention for 90+X minutes. I don’t know what the issue is, but it’s definitely up to Delneri to hammer it out before it becomes even worse of a habit. With Manchester City and Inter on the near horizon, I hope he has been working on it all week.

Andrea with his grandmother Marella, the wife of the great Gianni Agnelli, both at the stadium.

LE PAGELLE:

Storari: 6- It’s funny, because Cagliari threatened us on many occasions, but Storari really wasn’t too busy back there. Couldn’t do anything on the two goals, which were both hit, unmarked, at very close range. Made a brilliant wondersave on Astori’s header. Was offside so it wouldn’t have counted, but amazing nonetheless. The one criticism I have of him is he’s not commanding his defense enough. There were two corners cleared by Felipe Melo, the first was Melo’s job, the 2nd, Storari was preparing to catch a simple cross, but he didn’t communicate to Melo that the ball was his.

Rinaudo: 5.5- Surprised at some of the ratings that other websites have given him, that mostly approved of his performance. Given it’s his first game, and it’s a bit out of position at right-back I won’t criticize too much, but he endured a hard evening with Lazzarri.
Bonucci: 6- Didn’t think he had a particularly good game. Reads the play alright occasionally, but guilty of some poor man-marking otherwise. Scored yet another scrappy goal, seems like he watched a fair amount of Panucci highlights. Extra .5 for his goal.
Chiellini: 5.5- Not as imperious as a display as we usually expect.
Grygera: 6.5- He was our best defender. Yes. I said that. That’ll do, moving on.

Black-and-white looks good on you…

Krasic: 9- Milos gets a goddamn 9, a rating I don’t think I have ever given before. There were some downsides to his game, again, coverage not his best attribute, and sure he didn’t create chances like he did in the last few weeks, but there has not been a Juventus midfielder to have scored a hat-trick since at least 1994-1995. That deserves that score alone. Celebrated his 1st with the Curva, gave all credit on his 2nd to Pepe, and the 3rd ran to the stands and kissed the Juve jersey. If there was any doubt about what home jersey I’d be buying this year, it has been completely resolved. Forza MILOS!
Felipe Melo: 6.5- Another impressive performance from Melo in midfield. Referee Cristian Brighi autographed his yellow card saying “To the good brother of Felipe Melo” implying (correctly) he has some kind of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde syndrome. Let’s hope shaven head means Good Melo, we’ll get a few good performances from him for at least a few weeks. Did well to intercept, also had a few nice passes here and there, and an attempt on net or two. A very good all-around performance.
Aquilani: 5.5- I had a hard time deciding whether to give him a 5.5 or a 6. On one hand, he did go missing and didn’t really impose himself. On the other hand, he looked creative, lively, and inventive when he did have the ball. Certainly adds an element of trickiness to midfield. His first start for Juve, surely he will grow from there.
Pepe: 6- A typically industrious performance from the on-loan man. Ran up and down the pitch constantly, his crosses and set pieces were not surprisingly the definition of hit-or-miss. Never going to have a game like Krasic, but if he reproduces this form, he may get another couple of years in Torino.

Amauri: 6- I’ll give him props for last nights match, which was his first start since injury. He battled hard and well up top, and the 2nd goal was his tenacity forcing Perico into an error. Managed to keep possession for us, acting as a point of reference.
Iaquinta: 5.5- Should have done better when he muscled Astori off the ball for a 1v1 with Agazzi, who he just railed in the face with a shot. Not his best game out there, though he ran a lot as expected.

Delneri: 6- The attack is still shining brilliantly, but a lot of work to be done in defense. Managed to rest Marchisio and Del Piero for the upcoming week.

Sissoko: 5- I groaned when he subbed on for Aquilani, as the black hole of midfield re-emerged for the ennesimo time this season. And he didn’t do anything to convince otherwise, came on, got a yellow, didn’t really do much, headed for the showers. A relative non-performance.
Legrottaglie: 5.5- Legro was pretty good for portions of the match, but as much as I love Nicola, he just simply lost his man for Matri’s 2nd. At 4-1, I think it was just a case of complacency, which doesn’t make it any better.
Del Piero: s.v.- Didn’t have a long time to make an impression on the match, but looked inventive in the brief time he was on.

Things I Think I Think:

#1- You can still hear Delneri screaming his head off on the touch-line, every game it seems. I love it.

#2- How Do You Solve a Problem like Amauri? My feelings on Amauri are well known, and while I wish like hell he was sold (like Melo), he’s part of the team so I’ll stop moaning about his non-sale. Here’s the issue from last night I saw: Aquilani put Amauri through with a nice through-ball, and Amauri was taken down in the box by Astori. He felt it was a penalty, which is understandable the way he was taken down, but Astori got the ball first. This moment showed as I’ve always thought, Amauri is simply far too slow to make any kind of runs outside of the box. In that case, when inside the box, he needs to make quick runs and get into goal-scoring positions. He drifted too far wide and deep last night, probably to collect the ball, which while much appreciated, is keeping him outside of goal-scoring positions, and he doesn’t have the pace to try a give-and-go.

#3- Who is Our Leader in Defense? It doesn’t seem like we have one. A few weeks ago on Nazionale break, Chiellini insisted he was a leader. I had never considered whether he was or not, but since have been watching, and he doesn’t command his defense as he needs to be. Nor does Storari. I think that’s one of the problem in defense, and maybe the reason we’ve been standing around watching the ball. Chiello needs to be barking out orders (as does Storari) as the two veterans of the squad. There’s a secondary problem of Chiellini-Bonucci still not meshing that well, many have suggested it is due to their similar characteristics. They aren’t ideal, perhaps, but they’ve only been playing together for a month. It’ll come with time.

#4- I love Milos Motherfucking Krasic: How can you not? Forget the dedication he showed to us this summer, be it waiting for the Dzeko affair to conclude, turning down probably double the salary Man City offered him, or the CL down in Turkey, or shelling out 10k to show up on time (about 6% of his monthly salary…) or his 3 goals, or many assists. I loved his celebrations. His first, he ran to celebrate with the Curva, then dedicated the goal to his newly born daughter. Second, showed all his class by crediting Pepe for the assist, and third, ran to the Curva and kissed the Juventus jersey. I am having trouble thinking of ways he can further endear himself to us. FORZA MILOS.

#5- Pasquato is a rising star: Scored two goals tonight to make it 5 in 6 games in Serie B. He left base pretty early, so he is only 21 years old still.

#6- Ryan Shawcross to Juventus? Ha ha ha, what?

#7- Team Eats: Sicilian pizza on Friday. (a day late, but so it goes) Sunday, maggot cheese. No, didn’t really eat the Sardegnan cheese, it’s illegal pretty much everywhere. I’ve heard it tastes like heaven, though.

#8- In case you missed the game: Over on YouTube, some awesome fan has been uploading clips in high quality featuring Claudio Zuliani, our own super-fan who narrates Juve matches for Italian TV. The channel has started to upload full games with Zuliani’s commentary, broken up into 12-13 parts, all in very good quality. Eat your hearts out, EPL fans.

#9- Looking forward to Manchester City: I thought Delneri’s decision to use Grygera on the left and Rinaudo on the right made no sense, given that they are naturally the opposite. Perhaps it was a strategy looking forward at Manchester City- Motta might be dropped simply to add defensive stability in the team, and Manchester City plays with inverted wingers. Against Chelsea this weekend, David Silva played on the right, and James Milner on the left. I know Silva is naturally left-footed, and basic research shows Milner is right-footed (correct me if I;m wrong) so that appears the case. The whole point of inverted wingers (playing on your wrong side) is to be able to cut in and blast more direct on goal from the center, Robben is one of the most famous examples. As Adam mentioned in the podcast, our boy Caceres was used as a left-back against an inverted winger during the World Cup game against the Netherlands, to some success. Rinaudo and Grygera playing on the wrong side could be in preparation for Thursday.

FACCIAMO LA STORIA! SEMPRE JUVEEEE!