That’s why when the-website-that-shall-not-be-named came out with a scathing editorial about Claudio Marchisio, I wanted to immediately remove it from internet existence. I mean, I’m not the kind of person to tell somebody else what to think, but in that case, it seemed like the only thing to do — especially seeing that it come out after a game that meant absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things.

But here’s something that Claudio has done in games that actually do count in the Serie A table this season: Be absolutely awesome.

For the past two years we’ve seen Marchisio play out of position as a quasi-left winger. Some times it was out of necessity, some times it was because the manager at the time wanted to piss us off (maybe). Either way, while he was still somewhat productive, his potential was limited because of where he was playing, not because he’s a terrible player or anything like that.

Put him back in the middle of the park? Yeah, Antonio Conte has gotten it right. And now he’s being rewarded for doing what Gigi Delneri said he’d do, but never actually did.

You want production? Here’s production:

10 appearances. Five goals, one assist.

That’s beautiful for anybody, especially for a midfielder. And when you consider who he has scored against this season — Parma, Milan (2), Inter and Palermo — it’s even more impressive.

Want more? You got it:

In his 10 games this season, Marchisio has completed 85.1 percent of his attempted passes. (For comparisons sake, Pirlo has completed 85.8 percent of his attempted passes.)

Then there’s the intangibles that don’t show up on the stat sheet. As Ivo pointed out in the Palermo match review, Marchisio is definitely showing signs of becoming more and more of a leader as the games go by. And that can be a credit to a number of things — maturing as a player at age 25, becoming a regular at a vital position, who his current manager is.

It’s, most of all, a credit to what kind of player he is. If you know anything about Marchisio’s past, you know he used to play as a trequartista in the Juve youth academy (read more about that here on ESPN). The kid has always had some serious skill. Pair that kind of skill with Conte’s tactical know-how to get the best out of Marchisio and you get a player having the best season of their career to date.

Marchisio has been Juventus’ best player not named Andrea (Pirlo and Barzagli). If you look at WhoScored.com’s match ratings, there’s only one player on the Juve roster who has been better than Marchisio this season — and that’s Pirlo. And while those ratings certainly aren’t the be all end all — they’re definitely a bit higher than what the Italian papers dish out on a regular basis — it’s a non-biased evaluation system showing how effective Marchisio has been this season.

And a good portion of the readers here know that. I know that, you know that. You would probably be considered a bad Juventino if you thought Il Principino wasn’t a valuable part of the squad.

Hell, you could even argue he’s been better than the Andreas and I’d probably even agree with you (if you’re lucky, of course). It’s not an outrageous claim. He has been in sensational form since the opening kickoff against Parma and has shown no signs of slowing down. Music to my ears.

So let’s just say it right now: Claudio Marchisio is better than you. And, if you try to change my mind, your argument is invalid.

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”

What a game, right? It had everything in it for a neutral- plenty of goals, two own goals, shifting leads, attacking football, atrocious defending, it must have been an entertaining match for someone with no stake in it. For a fan, it was a heart attack. When Luca Toni subbed on and changed the match, my head exploded. Grosso and Toni winning MOTM in consecutive weeks, is it the march of the World Cup winners? Or just washed up talent putting in a good shift or two. I fully expect Barzagli to put in a great performance next week, although he could qualify for both, maybe Salihamidzic can score a brace to confirm the latter. Or Maybe Buffon can score a winning header against Fiorentina, that would be lovely.

The game was strange, and there’s a lot of situations where I just don’t really know what to say. The defense, for one. They were shambolic. They were awful. Yet Marco Storari barely had anything to do. Or Aquilani. I didn’t particularly like his performance, but he had two assists and a 92% pass completion record. I don’t think I’m going to try and understand it- Luca Toni scores and has an assist. Juve claw back for the first time since beating Genoa…3-2 at home a year ago, and Juve ends up winning 3 games in a row. It’s the twilight zone, and we all know- you cannot rationally analyze the twilight zone.

LE PAGELLE:

Storari: 6.5- A few Italian sites gave him a s.v. for no rating, since he had so little to do. Couldn’t do anything on either of the goals, the first of course a freak deflection from Bonucci, and the second, a well placed volley from Floro Flores. What I did like about Storari was he really commanded his area well, always secure when claiming the ball, two things San Gigi hasn’t done too well recently. And a defense of Motta-Bonucci-Barzagli-Traore? Own goal aside, it’s stunning we only conceded one.

Motta: 4.5- We all knew it was coming. From last week’s review- “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. Picked apart time and time again.
Bonucci: 5- A very disappointing performance from Leonardo, who has been in poor form for much of the Spring. However, that’s to expected- he needs more playing time, not less. Let’s not forget, this is his 2nd season in Serie A, and going from Bari to Juve is a big jump. He will make mistakes, yes, but at the beginning of the season we knew we had a talented, though very inexperienced young player. I’ve heard a few comments of “sell Bonucci” which I assume were in the heat of the moment, but utterly pointless. Was shaky in the first have especially positionally- I think covering for Motta and his own goal badly affected him.
Barzagli: 6- Aside from losing Floro Flores for his goal, Andrea had a relatively composed match at the back. A fairly trustworthy 3rd-choice center back, let’s hope we never have to see his Palermo form.
Traore: 5.5- Story of his Juve career- he runs and runs, and doesn’t make and horrible mistakes, although Genoa didn’t attack much down his flank. But did he do anything useful? Not really.

Marchisio: 6- A reliable performance as always, and when Melo subbed off, he really grew into his role.
Melo: 6.5- Somnath picked it out perfectly in the comments- Has Melo ever had a bad game this season? (Parma aside) For the man who epitomized the emotional inconsistency of last season, Melo has been tremendous thus far. Dealt with an injury for much of the match and did well.
Aquilani: 6- I didn’t think he played too well for much of the match, but he had two assists, whether either of them were intended or not, they count. Better than Roma, but still not back to his usual self.

Pepe: 7- Whoa Simone. You’ve been playing your ass off the last little while. Very attacking performance, and while he fails to finish like a striker, he caused Genoa plenty of problems. Unlucky not to get on the scoresheet.
Matri: 6.5- We needed a striker who scored. Did anyone think Matri would be this prolific? I thought he was a great player but I never thought he’d start his Juve career like this. Don’t think the single-striker formation suits him that well, but his versatility means he still puts in a good shift, scored a very nice goal. Aleaaaaaaandroo.
Krasic: 5.5- Looked rather tired, again. It was hot at the lunchtime kickoff and perhaps the heat fatigued him. Didn’t ever beat his man, wasn’t too dangerous. Luckily, Matri and Pepe compensated.

Delneri: 6.5- In the fall, we often said Delneri gets his team ready from minute one, but subbed/read the game poorly. Not in the last few weeks. The first half has been very shaky defensively, and hasn’t been clicking offensively. He changed it tactically with smart subs. Now to get us starting well.
Sorensen: 6- Why is this kid not starting more?
Toni: 7- Came in and changed the game, with an excellent assist and a well-taken goal to win the game. Should have scored late in the game to kill it.
Martinez: s.v- Recovered a few balls, but little of note. And nothing to change our reputation of him, unfortunately.

Things I Think I Think:

#1- The 4-5-1/4-3-3 is not a panacea: I said last week I wasn’t terribly impressed with the formation switch, and this confirmed it. It doesn’t work that great offensively, particularly for Matri though he keeps scoring. Against Roma, we were shaky in the first half (like Genoa) and relied on Roma’s desperation and Mexes’ injury to start scoring. I’m fine with continuing to play it, because I think Pepe and Krasic can thrive in it, but Matri isn’t too comfortable playing as a lone striker. Luckily his extreme versatility means he can still capably play there.

#2- The defense is shambolic, still: Positionally, we were all over the place. The only person to put in a good performance was Barzagli, and I’d call that more “satisfactory” than good. How did Storari have so little to do? Motta is still dreadful (not just his haircut) and he’s killing Bonucci positionally. Needs to be sorted out.

#3- The 4-5-1/4-3-3 creates a lovely midfield, though: So the offense is mediocre, the defense crap (not due to the formation) but the midfield is beautiful. Melo-Aquilani-Marchisio is an ideal 3-man midfield, with a mediano, a regista, and a pure centrale. If we had this midfield behind Diego last year…

#4- Luca Toni comes in, doesn’t ruin Matri: Back in February we had some dreadful games where fielding Toni as a “target-man” forced Matri into a wide or very deep position, with disastrous results. Toni was isolated, fell over too quickly, and Matri was way too far away from the goal to ever be a threat. Toni came in yesterday and probably per Delneri’s instruction, changed his game, and Matri stayed closer. (I assume so because after a few games of that failing, that’s when Delneri dropped Toni indefinitely, he knew itw asn’t working) It was a decent partnership, it helped that Toni was in great form. It’s too bad Van Gaal isn’t sacked every weekend, and/or Toni playing one of his ex’s. (The latter is possible)

#5- Team Eats: It’s back! With Genoa, it’s easy. PESTOOOO. Pesto on chicken linguine, to be specific. Somehow my father hates it, but I love pesto. I love pesto on pancakes. I love it on pizza. And I take some pesto and put a little bit in my hair when I’ve had a rough week. What do you think holds it up, slick?

#6- Buffon’s back is worrying me: Juventus and his agent insist that the recent flaring up of his back is unrelated to the surgery last year, although it took quite a while for them to admit he had a back problem to begin with. Should it be serious, or should they actually be considering selling Gigi, there’s plenty of reasons they’d want to keep quiet on how bad it could be. If this is going to be a reoccurring issue as it has been for the last few years, what should we do?

#7- Martinez to Fiorentina in exchange for Vargas: Swap one long-haired South American winger for one formerly long-haired South American winger. Do it, Beppe.

#8- THE CHAMPYIONNNS: SHHHH. Don’t even talk about it.

#8- This Week in Cassani Watch:
Negatives: Palermo’s Delio Rossi returns, much loved by his players including Mattia.
Positives: Rossi is only temporarily back, Palermo gave up 2 in stoppages.

THE JUVENTUS OFFSIDE SHITLIST
- Jonathan Zebina: (Lifetime Award)
- Marco Motta: (3 weeks) That was expected.
- Vincenzo Iaquinta: (Seasonal)
- Parma: Amauri and Giovinco, you suck. We needed you to peel some points off Lazio to move us towards 4th more, and oh yeah, you might want to be careful about that relegation matter.

Oh and one more time for good measure…

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

The one year out of the last 19 he hasn’t worn Bianconero…

Marchisio started out as a trequartista in the Juve youth ranks, before shifting to the central midfield in the Primavera. Following the farce in 2006, Juventus were relegated to Serie B, and it is here that Marchisio got his chance to finally start for Juventus. After promotion, both he and Sebastian Giovinco were loaned out to Empoli, where both of them impressed in their harsh Serie A baptism. Finally in 2008, the duo returned to the mother club, and Juventus fans dreamt of having two such sensationally talented young Italians to take them back to the top of Serie A. It was indeed like a fairytale, a perfect example of the classic local lads rising through the ranks to shoulder the burden of the heavy Bianconero jersey.

And then, it all started to go wrong at the club, again. Alessio Secco’s ineptitude meant that the first team started developing more and more holes in critical positions. Marchisio kept putting in impressive performances earning him comparisons with another great, Marco Tardelli, along with a call up to the national team – but both Juventus and the Nazionale were entering the stormy seas.

That explosive all-action MOTM performance against Milan back in 2008

The 2009-10 Juventus squad was assembled with great fanfare, but in reality it was a glossy paint on a car whose engine was on its last legs. In the worst Juventus season of all time, Marchisio was forced to play a myriad of roles due to a squad lacking in key areas – on the wings, as a DM, sometimes as a playmaker… It was a season full of disasters, the only highlight being Juve’s win over Inter at Turin in which Marchisio scored the goal of the season. Further disappointment followed at the World Cup in South Africa; Lippi started him initially as a trequartista, and then pushed him onto the wings. With his confidence already shot from the disastrous domestic season, it was a World Cup to forget for Claudio.

In 2011, Marchisio started playing in another different role – that of a left sided winger/central midfielder hybrid to accommodate both Aquilani and Melo in the midfield. It was devised as a specific tactical solution against Inter; however it quickly became the stock midfield formation of Delneri since the Juventus DS Marotta, in a slight oversight, actually forgot to buy a capable left winger for his 4-4-2 loving coach.

Criscito is not pleased Marchisio got to stay in Torino. Clà is delighted.

The biggest outcome of the above madness is that Marchisio never got the playing time to develop his full potential as a Central Midfielder. In today’s football, one year is a long time. Marchisio never consistently got to play in his ideal position for TWO years, an astonishing thing when we are talking about one of Italy’s hottest prospects. But he did play; he was not dropped from the team, and therein lie the rub of the story.

Marchisio’s talent has got the gift of versatility, and the steel of his grinta. So when any coach needs to plug gaps in his team, he looks towards the one man who he can be sure of not doing a major cock-up. Maybe Marchisio will not set the wings on fire, or thread Baggio like through balls – but the one guarantee he gives you is his solidity and tactical awareness. And thus, coach after coach, trying to prop up their house of cards, shuffled Marchisio around – a firefighter who will do the unglamorous and thankless job.

That match-winning goal against Inter

Many people argue – What does Marchisio bring to the table? The answer is solidity and reliability, and those are worth more than a thousand Hollywood style passes. Here is a player who is great technically, has immense tactical awareness, possess enormous stamina and classic bianconeri grinta along with a touch of fantasy – all he needs is trust and continuity. It will be nothing short of tragedy if the price of the havoc at Juventus is paid for by the careers of talented, dedicated and true Juventini like Marchisio.

But perhaps there is hope for il Principino. The current Juventus trio of Melo-Aquilani-Marchiso has got a huge potential if deployed in a three man midfield. And that is the way forward- we have to believe in that. We have to believe a good team, worthy of the Juventus name will be constructed next season. A central midfielder approaches his peak at 27, and his best years are usually 28-30. There is still a little time left for Marchisio. All we can hope for is that his undoubted talent ensures that it’s enough.

This excellent post was written by Renaissance man Papai- follow him on Twitter

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”

Hell of a way to wish someone luck, no?

As I sit and watch the Derby della Madoninna, I find it easy to reflect and think about what it must be like to be a fan of one of the Milan teams.  Despite the players and coaches downplaying this all week, this game will certainly be decisive as to which team team wins the Scudetto.  Any tifoso must be on pins and needles. 

If you’re a fan of Juventus or Roma, however…well, you don’t have that problem.  In fact, if you’re like me, you’ve forgotten what that even feels like.  At this point, both teams are languishing in a sort of purgatory: their squads that are just short of complete, and they’re both stuck in this spot where neither are elite, nor are they mid-table.

Although neither are fighting for the Scudetto, that doesn’t diminish the gravity of the match tomorrow.  With Roma and Juventus 6 and 11 points out of a Champions League spot, respectively, tomorrow will determine whether either squad have a reasonable chance to play with Europe’s elite next year.  Make no mistake – Roma is certainly in a better position.  Saying that Juventus have an uphill battle is an understatement.  I’m not delusional, and not for a second stating that I believe a win tomorrow will put us back within a reasonable chance to make the Champions League.  Come see me in a month from now, and show me what the table looks like then.

If you’re more optimistic than I am, well, first of all, you’re probably not Italian.  However, if you’re Gigi Delneri, you have a reason to at least need to pretend to be, and tomorrow could prove to be a turning point.  While a longshot, a win would at least provide a glimmer of hope for a top four finish.  It would also be a big blow to Roma. 

With that in mind, I’m expecting a pretty wide-open game.  Roma will be coming out with guns blazing, desperate for a win.  I think the same will be true for Juventus.  As the podcasters astutely noted, Roma may have equally bad or worse wingbacks than Juventus.  That says something.  At any rate, Juventus were handed a big blow this week, as Giorgio Chiellini will be sidelined, as will the one bright spot as of late, Alessandro Del Piero.  The injuries to Paolo De Ceglie and Fabio Quagliarella were bad enough, and things couldn’t possibly get worse.  Right? 

Well, it was reported today that Leonardo Bonucci and Claudio Marchisio have had to leave training for different knocks.  Great. 

At least neither injury seems serious, and both players were still included with the squad. 

One question that remains is what lineup and formation Delneri will use.    Tuttomercatoweb is predicting Delneri’s standard-issue 4-4-2 , with a lineup including Grygera and (gulp) Grosso as the wingbacks, with Matri and Toni up top.  However, Tuttosport predicts  a switch to a 4-3-3, ala the game against Cagliari.  Their version includes Sorenson and (Jesus!) Grosso in the back, with a midfield made up of Marchisio, Aquilani, and Melo, and a trident of Pepe, Matri, and Krasic in attack. 

All things considered, I think I’d prefer the 4-3-3.  We shall see. 

In Italian, we say “in bocca al lupo” – literally “in a wolf’s mouth” – in order to say “good luck.”  As it stands, tomorrow our beloved Old Lady will be staring 11 wolves in the face.  She may need a little luck yet.

(Big thanks to Sposato al Nemico for the artwork.  It’s one of my favorite ones yet)

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”

Quote by Clint Eastwood, artwork courtesy of Sposato.al.Nemico

The ability to not look back and get distracted by an event in the past is a mental feature many high level athletes work tirelessly on. To some, it comes easier than others. But for most, the task to forget one’s mistake during a game can be much harder than physically playing it sometimes. Today, it’s no secret that Juventus’ players are going through a difficult moment, no doubt complicated by a number of physical injuries, but certainly compounded by some mental ones as well.

Del Neri and Marotta’s comments after the Milan game left many fans, myself included, scratching their heads, wondering if they had even been watching the same match. But to put an optimistic spin on things, perhaps their hopeful and “improving” sentiments were made to artificially create a certain atmosphere around the team that calms and relaxes- Lord knows they could use some.

“It is not a good time for us, everyone knows this. At the moment, we must not look too far behind or too far ahead, only focusing on the present, which is the match against Cesena on Saturday. If we play like we know how to, we will win. We must walk onto the pitch without any fear of conceding an early goal, knowing we can overcome this setback” -Marchisio

In certain ways our opponent this Saturday will be ourselves, not the other team. Like Il Principe said, if we play like we know how to, we will win. Granted the Seahorses are coming off of two fine results and they’re in good health, but one can’t imagine the Bianconeri losing here if they play close to their potential for ninety minutes. However since 2010, that’s been easier said than done.

In terms of line-ups, La Gazzetta believes Buffon will start (read Aaron’s excellent piece on the subject if you haven’t yet) with Sorensen, Bonucci if Barzagli isn’t fit in time, Chiellini, and Traore in defense. In the middle of the park there’ll be Krasic on the right, Marchisio, Aquilani, and Pepe behind Del Piero and Matri up top. Last week we severely lacked some quality going forward and at times looked as disjointed as ever. It’ll be up to Del Neri to try and fix these on-field issues as best he can. Hopefully the team responds once and for all and we can stop the bleeding. Here are the call-ups for Juventus and Cesena.

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

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…