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”

Simply getting better and better and better as time passes by. No not this podcast, Alessandro Del Piero who led his team to victory yet again this past weekend as Brescia visited Turin. Finally securing three points Delneri’s men looked good going forward but the defensive fragility remained and this is discussed at great length by the boys in this episode. Also up for debate is the mental state of Gigi Buffon who gave up another soft goal, the complete lack of cohesion and leadership in defence as well as the improvement seen in attack since the arrival of Ale Matri.

One small step as they say! Thanks again for listening and don’t forget you can download the podcast from itunes too here

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…

First off let’s get something straight, we will never find a replacement for Fabio Quagliarella; all this talk in the media about finding one is certainly more figurative than literal. ‘Eta beta’ is an incredibly dynamic goalscorer who needs no introduction and will hopefully wear our colours again next season. Whether it was the return to his preferred role as a second striker or the supportive and encouraging culture of our club or both, one thing is for sure, he was at his best.

Others such as Alberto Aquilani, and Felipe Melo to a certain extent, prove that when a player finds himself the right fit in terms of those aforementioned elements, critics tend to be disappointed. Here’s where Floro Flores comes in. At first glance, the majority of Bianconeri tifosi were probably disappointed when faced with the prospect of Antonio becoming our newest signing having no previous knowledge about the player, and perhaps rightfully so.

His goal statistics aren’t up to par for most, hence his rather economical valuation, but what Antonio does bring to the table is a generous amount of potential even at 27 years old. Of the dozen or so times that I’ve watched him play, you really get the sense that he’s been underestimated given the well-roundedness of his game. Left foot, right foot, headers, long-range shots, he does it all with ease just not as frequently as most would like. But with a better club, that might change.

“Up until now he has shown 40 per cent of his potential. Juventus is a big chance and he arrives at the right moment. Antonio is powerful, quick and sturdy. He is the prototypical modern striker. I would actually like to coach him again in the future because he is the ideal centre-forward for my 4-4-2,” Juventus legend Antonio Conte said.

Now while the timing of this type of transfer could have been better, given our dire need for a reputable goalscorer, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that our January transfer budget isn’t of the size necessary to purchase a certifiable bomber. “Luis Fabiano? I prefer not to speak. We know what to do, but we cannot make big investments,” Marotta said.

What Beppe’s trying to say is that he’s looking for talent at a discount. In that respect it makes sense to go after marginalized players in hopes they can blossom here in Turin, and certainly the €1 million fee for the rest of the season is not a big investment. If Floro Flores comes to Juventus, chances are he’ll find his best form and perhaps even more. “They said I was not a Juve coach when I first came here. If Floro Flores comes then I hope he shows the opposite,” said Coach Del Neri.

Given his ability to play as a winger, second striker, or prima punta, it’s no surprise that we aren’t the only team paying attention to this versatile player. Apparently Fiorentina and West Ham have shown some interest, including Genoa who has recently appeared as Juventus’ main rivals in signing the Neapolitan striker. If Genoa can get rid of Luca Toni and then sign a player like Antonio Floro Flores in his place, Marotta will have been taught a very shrude business lesson. To more and more, Beppe will be seen as less of a visionary and more of a Serie A historian.

“At this moment the player is talking to Juve and Genoa, but I don’t know what the developments will be,” his agent Paolo Palermo told Pianetagenoa1893 earlier this evening. “The decision between the two clubs is entirely down to him. At the moment I couldn’t really say what he’ll choose. He would have the chance to play straight away at Juventus as well, but he has always liked Genoa. Yesterday he was in the stands against Sampdoria and said the atmosphere of the stadium reminded him of the San Paolo in Naples. There are things to evaluate, but I think we will certainly know something between today and tomorrow.”

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

Prematch thoughts:

Motta is starting. Why? He’s been poor recently, and given that Krasic is returned, why not play Sorensen, who is far more defensive?

Luca Toni v. Giorgio Chiellini: Not worried at all. The only thing more washed up than Luca Toni is Hernan Crespo. [Post-game note: Who actually scored today, ha.]

Game on.

1′- I like the Marassi stadium, and I really like the camera angles here.

Krasic goes down in the 1st minute from Criscito, light contact but assistant referee didn’t like it. As Adam said, Milos will have to get shot to get a penalty in the future. Oh wait, he actually got the foul there.

2′- Marco Storari flattens Luca Toni with a brilliant sliding tackle in the box. LEGEND. Straight out of my FIFA.
4′- Genoa wins a free kick on the edge of the box, dangerously swung in, Storari punches it out, didn’t fully judge it right there.
5′- Gorgeous cross field delivery from Aquilani to Krasic who is being jeered by the crowd. He is a Serb after all.
6′- Some funny finger-waggling from Felipe Melo.
10′- Krasic delivers a lovely cross in, Eduardo has to punch. Felipe Melo breaks up the play, hands to Aquilani who passes to Krasic precisely. Lovely midfield today, the 4 of them are a tremendous group with a diverse skill set. Aquilani, the silky passer, Melo, the destructive enforcer, Marchisio, the hard-working all-rounder, and Milos, “the Serbian bolt” as Zuliani calls him. A bit better than Momo, the headless chicken, Pepe, the hard-working not-good-at-anything, and Tiago, well, because he’s just a piece of shit.
12′- Iaquinta has a long-range pop, but it’s fairly wide. Worth an effort, at least. Krasic had a thigh strain, and given his pace and acceleration, I really hope he doesn’t push it too hard. That’s not an injury where you go from unhealthy to 100% instantly.
14′- Criscito comes in late with a two-footed slide tackle on Krasic, and deservedly gets a yellow card. That is real bad news for him, against a pacy player like Krasic, he is going to have to hold off on strong challenges. Kaladze has not been given much help to Criscito on the left.
17′- What a bizarre goal! Aquilani (I think) does well to win the ball in midfield, Marco floats in a lovely cross. Quagliarella does well to head back, Marchisio volleys, deflects off Dainelli and Eduardo comically heads it into his own net. Quagliarella back-header/Marchisio volley reminiscent of Trezeguet’s goal in “the” Real Madrid semi-final.

Genoa probably don’t deserve to go down, it’s been a pretty even sided first 15 mintues, but that’s calcio.

19′- Luca Toni has a poor volley. It used to be Amauri was the crap version of Luca Toni, but now Luca Toni is about as bad.
22′- GOALLLLLLLLLLLLL. Super goal from Krasic, who does a few stopovers, schools Criscito, and fires in. Again, Eduardo probably should have done better. Criscito completely unable to stop Milos, yellow card definitely conditioned him there.

Milos goes over to celebrate with Brazzo, it looks like. I think Salihamidzic translates for Milos, another reason to treat him well.

Two goals in 22 minutes. Not bad. Will this finish 9-0? [Subtle La Liga dig, I know.]

25′- Aquilani puts a lovely ball over the top to Marchisio, who controls well and shoots/crosses but Iaquinta isn’t there. Genoa started out well, but have suddenly looked very shaky. I guess two goals will do that.
27th- Oooooooooooooohhhhhhhhh, Criscito volleys off of a corner, hits the crossbar, very impressive, and Luca Toni horribly shanked the follow-up. Pre-Euro2008 Toni buries that. (As long as not in Azzurro)

Woulda been candidate for goal of the week if that had gone in, no matter what happens in the other games, that was a real great volley. Genoa have woken up a little bit offensively.

So defense in shambles, offense looking alright. Normal service for Genoa has resumed.

31′- Genoa also has reverted to a 3-5-2 it looks like, although their midfield look real confused tactically on where they should be. Ballardini switched to a 4-3-3, but back.
32′- Luca Toni scores, with his hand. Motta heads it in for him, but it’s rightfully chalked off and Toni gets a yellow. Cue Luca praying to the referee, and Paul Scholes silently grinning.
33′- Kaladze now gets booked, furious with the referee for reasons I don’t understand. Looks like he’s saying Iaquinta was holding his shirt, but he was doing the same and knocked him over from behind.
35′- Aquilani, Marchisio, Melo, and Krasic are just passing lovely between each other. Genoa haven’t looked totally awful in attack, but we are controlling the midfield at this point, and away, too. Impressive.
36′- Lovely recovery from Marchisio there, just robbed Toni of it and passed to Aquilani.
37′- With Krasic on, we have such a strange formation, Marchisio tucks in centrally and Milos plays way up top, a real lopsided 4-3-3 in attack. But it works. As I say that, Krasic just rips through two defenders, lovely cross to Iaquinta who gets a good touch of it goalside of Ranocchia, but just wide, a “palla-gol” there as they say in Italian.
38′- First real sighting of Marco Rossi, one of the dirtiest players in calcio.

A 4-4-2 with Marchisio and Pepe is solid, but Milos really adds that extra spark to unlock the other teams defenses.

39′- Ooohh, real worrying moment there. Cross in, neither of our defenders get to it, and Marco Rossi lurking just misses a touch, Storari touches it around for a corner that Genoa take horribly.

Grosso the culpable one there, failed to clear, I suppose he didn’t realize Marco Rossi was hanging out right behind him. Or “lurking” instead of hanging out, first of all because it’s appropriate for a scummy player like Marco Rossi, and it’s just a great word in general.

41′- Apparently Chievo and Inter are the only other two teams to win this season at Genoa. Who are playing today, odd coincidence.
42′- Ranocchia’s been looking decent out there, but still not as commanding as he was at Bari. 3-man defense doesn’t suit him.

It doesn’t suit Rinaudo either, not that that’s really an issue at this point.

43′- As I say that, Ranocchia swoops through and robs Melo of a ball, continues moving forward as Luca Toni plays a decent backheel to him. Milanetto plays in a clever ball to Criscito, but Krasic is in the penalty box defending well. Strange.

44′- Genoa’s had some real poor touches up front that allow our defenders to recover.

As I say that, Quagliarella plays in a good ball to Iaquinta who’s touch lets Dainelli recover and start a counter. I’m predicting the future.

45′- Rafinha has been real poor offensively, which is supposed to be his M.O. Krasic runs down the right and wins a corner, after being double marked by Mesto and Criscito. Beast mode.

Dainelli heads the corner out of the box, Melo does very well in his defensive midfield role to collect outside of the box, pass back in.

Half over.

As I said in last week’s podcast, Genoa, despite the points, don’t seem any better under Ballardini than Gasperini, shame they haven’t even gotten a new manager bounce. They got two 1-0 wins under somewhat fortuitous circumstances, a Milanetto screamer and a late Ranocchia header. Offense hasn’t changed, and that’s what got Gasperini sacked. Their offense has looked positively unimpressive in the first half.

Our midfield has totally controlled the game, and it looks like 3 points are in the bag here.

Second half:

45′- Kharjah on for Ranocchia? What the hell? Genoa switches to a back 4, but you’d expect Ranocchia to be given that chance there, not old men Kaladze/Dainelli. Inter-owned Destro comes on for Mesto, as Ballardini likes rhyming. I like Mesto and think he’s a bit underrated, but he hasn’t done anything today.
48′- Bonucci goes off the pitch, stopped the game for treatment under no challenge or pressure. Not good, looks like his knee, though he doesn’t look in too much pain. Kaladze concedes a real awful corner.
49′- I said in the first half that Genoa looked tactically confused having switched to a 3-5-2 or something similar, and have reverted to a 4-3-3 in the second half. They still look really tactically confused, or maybe it’s just our midfield dominating theirs.
51′- Brilliant little backheel touch from Aquilani there. He then drives in a nice shot/cross, if Iaquinta got any touch on that, it’d have been a goal, but it was a fast shot and hard to reach.
52′- I have not noticed Quagliarella much in this game. Iaquinta however has been noticed, but hasn’t had a good enough touch to look dangerous, gets beaten by Dainelli.
54′- Melo makes a dangerous challenge in the box on Marco Rossi, just knocking him over without getting the ball. Woulda been real harsh to call that a penalty. Sorensen comes on for Motta, smart move. Motta was having another mediocre game out there, will solidify the back 4 a bit.

As I say that, Sorensen blocks a cross coming in. Atta boy.

55′- Sorensen blocks another cross, this one inside the box. Not a bad way to sub on. Correction- Bonucci blocked that one.
56′- Genoa having a bit of a spell of possession here, which is to be expected. Can’t have 100% possession.

Luca Toni gets the ball on the edge of the box, attempts a volley as either a shot or an assist, it’s neither.

57′- Genoa have had some possession recently, but like Roma, it doesn’t ever really look like Genoa are going to score, Bonucci-Chiellini have been a rock. They get another corner after Sorensen makes a smart header in the box.
59′- Case in point. Couple passes between Toni, Rossi, and Destro, but nothing comes up of it. No final ball.
60′- Kharjah makes a smart pass to Toni who’s onside, but does nothing. Krasic is subbing off for Momo.

Oh dear.

NASA just texted me an alert, a black hole has been detected in Genoa. Pesto fans in the world cry out. Seems Gigi Delneri is setting up shop and calling this a 2-0 win.

62′- Grosso with a poor challenge on Rafinha, deservedly booked. Free kick headed out by Chiellini who has been in beast mode all game, Rossi hits the rebound but well wide.
63′- Commentator is pointing out we’ve had a rather unfortunate habit of conceding after we go up. True. And that’s why the Momo sub annoys me, why not sub on Lanzafame, we’re defending with 30 minutes left?
63′- Iaquinta put on goal, probably fouled Kaladze there, but poor touch and smart goalkeeping by Eduardo prevent a goal. Quagliarella was unmarked waiting in the box.
64′- Rafinha booked for a poor tackle on Quagliarella. Criscito ran at Sorensen a minute ago and was completely blocked, this kid is not bad.

So I just realized we have the Milan midfield back, Marchisio-Aquilani-Melo-Momo. Functional, but square peg in round hole.

But yeah, I’m not a big fan of the Momo sub. He could win the ball and comically miss in the box, allowing Quagliarella to score, but ultimately it’s a real defensive sub with a LOT of the game left to play. Delneri has done real well to drill us tactically in that we can defend that lead, and I expect us to be able to withstand Genoa’s pressure (admittedly, they don’t look too sharp up top) but why go defensive if you can throw Lanzafame on, give him a few minutes, and look for goal #3? It’s not the “joga bonito score lots of goals” Nike marketing campaign I’m thinking about, it’s more that we’re just inviting pressure this way and I’m not a big fan.

66′- Cross comes in, Luca Toni was onside but can’t direct it on target, Sorensen did well to pressure him.

I’m wearing a Juventus jersey, not just because I do whenever we play, but also out of necessity. I need to go check my laundry.

68′- Sorensen tackles Criscito, smartly lets the ball go out for a goal kick. He’s looked way better than Motta in his brief time on, certainly one for the future. And by future, I mean now.

70′- Cross in, Marchisio volleys but Dainelli is there to block it. Aquilani collects it on the clearance, and Juve back in the drivers seat.

Not terribly impressed with Momo’s play thus far, but again….square peg, round hole.

As I say that, Momo has a real godawful first touch in a promising position, gives it to Genoa. On the counter Sorensen reads the ball perfectly and clears.

71′- On the counter, Aquilani plays a lovely throughball to Quagliarella, who attempts to cut in and have a shot, but plenty wide. Mediocre game from our two center forwards thus far.
72′- Kharjah plays in a nice ball to Rossi who just can’t reach it, he’s been real positive since he came on for Genoa, he might have that final ball that Genoa otherwise have been totally lacking thus far. The Genoa player was real good for Siena, and looks to be playing well at the Marassi.

As I say that, Kharjah has a volley, which is deflected and tipped over the bar by Storari.

75′- Momo’s had two decent tackles in the last minute or so, and then kind of fouls a player off the ball. Hasn’t been too great since coming on.

I just saw Sorensen venture into Genoa’s half. Mind you, I don’t care if he doesn’t, although Momo doesn’t offer the same kind of offensive capabilities that Krasic does.

76′- The King comes on for Quagliarella. Not a great game from Quags, not necessarily poor, but at 2-0 up, it’s not that important to criticize our front two.

Substitution delayed as Momo may have a muscle twinge.

77′- Genoa has a good opportunity as Luca Toni heads it down for Destro, who’s shot is deflected out for a corner by Chiellini. Giorgio and Bonucci have been mopping up back there.

Miguel Veloso and Rafinha were strongly linked to us a while ago. Anyone see anything in them today that makes you wish we had them? Not me.

78′- Sorensen blasts a lovely cross field ball to Marchisio. Kid can play.
80′- So Aquilani is coming off for Salihamidzic, when Quagliarella was due to come off for Del Piero. Strange, if they scrubbed the switch, I wonder if Alberto asked to come off. Either Momo/Marchisio will slide into the middle, and Salihamidzic will play at right-mid.

Genoa have had a lot more pressure since Momo came on, but still no real good final killer ball. This kind of reminds me of a game 3 years ago against Genoa, I believe it was also at the Marassi. Grygera had a screamer, and then a brilliant slalom-cum-assist for Trezeguet, and I think it all happened in the first 30 minutes. Game was put to bed in the first half, and this one looks similar. Considering they’re 2-0 down, Genoa have lacked any kind of urgency.

82′- Momo gives the ball away, but Toni’s no-look pass is crap. Can’t decide who is worse right now, Amauri or Toni. On the counter, Grosso plays in Marchisio who has a shot but well saved by Eduardo who at half-time must have decided it was time to play.
84′- Yikes, Kharjah has a cracking drive, it hits the crossbar, with Storari beaten. Unlucky for Genoa, there have been 4 times the ball has hit the post today- 2 were our goals, and Criscito/Kharjah had the other two. Like I said, Kharjah has been a tricky little fellow today. Also, is it just me or does he look Asian?

This might be my 2nd Genoa game this season I’ve watched, but perhaps Genoa’s poor attack is down to relying on an utterly-washed out Luca Toni? They try and play the attack with him as the focal point- like Italy at Euro2008, It’s not working so well.

85′- Ex-Juve primavera Omar Milanetto gets a yellow for clipping Felipe Melo on the counter. Melo has had a solid game. Milanetto has not.
86′- Sorensen puts in two solid tackles. Can be a Grygera-style RB, but also definitely a CB, he’s got impressive physical stature and strength that Criscito doesn’t.
87′- Salihamidzic plays a good long ball to Iaquinta, headed out, and Momo puts in a great tackle to win it back for Juve.
88′- This game was put to bed in the 25th minute. Hasn’t been a drab game to watch, I like our midfield possession and passing, but well, hasn’t been one to keep me on the edge of my seat. Thank God I’m watching this on replay- where I am, this game was at 530am. Some might question my Juventinita, but if I got up then to watch it, I’d be a bit cranky, this liveblog might be profane than an Alberto Malesani press conference. (or a Gigi Buffon Genoa game)
90′- Luca Toni clips Melo, who rolls about 7-8times. I used to do that as a child down hills and such. Oh, Felipe Melo, the man-child.

5 minutes of added time, really? Seems a bit long.

90+1’- Destro makes a good run forward, and has a shot that Storari does very well to save. Had that gone in, my heart rate might have ticked up a notch, woulda been a tense finish. It won’t be, instead, which is perfectly acceptable for me. Kharjah had a very clever pass for Destro.
90+2′- Rudolf has a shot that Storari kinda fumbles. I still laugh a bit whenever the commentator says Rudolf. Jokes are too easy.
90+3′- Commentator says “Freddy Sorensen has looked very solid since coming on” as he heads out a cross. I concur. Well done Freddy.
90+4’- Rafinha fouls Grosso with a poor tackle, could have been a 2nd yellow but that’d just be cruel. Game is already over, we’re in stoppage time.

Game over.

Summary?

0-15: Milos Krasic.

LOLGOAL.

15-25: Milos Krasic.

25-90: Freddy Sorensen. Luca Toni sucks. Rudolf is awesome, but not for his ability. Iaquinta heavy touches. Quagliarella too far from goal. My laundry is done. Momo is no Tea Partier. Kharjah made this semi-interesting.

But hey, I’ll take a controlled albeit a bit boring performance, if it secures a 2-0 win away at a decent team. Should spark a few questions over Gasperini’s sacking, I don’t see an improvement at all since.

I’m off to go roll down a hill, discover my inner man-child. Cheers all.

LE PAGELLE:

Storari: 6.5- Wonderful save on Menez early on, and then had very, very little to do. Why shouldn’t he be in the Nazionale right now? He’s proving to still be one of the most consistent keepers in Serie A.

Sorensen: 6.5- Made his Juventus debut as a central defender, I was very surprised to see him get a start against Roma, and moreso in a right-back position, but he repaid Delneri’s faith in him significantly. Concentrated and cool under pressure, a wonderful and very promising performance. Strange he isn’t getting more praise in the media.
Bonucci: 6- A relatively good performance marred by some real bad errors when he moved forward. Really needs to do better when leaving position, as far as protecting the ball.
Chiellini: 7- A brilliant game from Keyser Giorgio, who read passes like Scirea and man-marked like Gentile. He is absolutely vital to our defense.
Grosso: 5- Three games in 2 weeks is a bit tough for a player in form, but for recalling a player from 6 months of sitting on the shelf, rather difficult. Fabio was not good against Brescia, and also against Roma. That said, he wasn’t disastrous by any means, and this is more or less the kind of performance I expect from someone on the fringes of the squad.

Class.

Pepe: 6.5- Penalty aside, a very good performance from Pepe who was whipping in some dangerous crosses and also helping out in defense as usual. If he can play like this more consistently, there’s no reason we shouldn’t sign him as a reserve.
Melo: 5.5- Back from a small injury, and it showed. Caught in possession a few times and didn’t make as many imperious tackles as we’ve seen thus far this season.
Aquilani: 7.5- Wonderful, wonderful performance from the ex-Romanista. I wondered before kickoff if he’d be poor, or great in facing his old team, he chose the latter. Mastered the midfield, threading passes around and advancing whenever he liked. He’s far more than a regista, he can tackle (his foul on Totti) and he has a good shot/dribbling skills. Brilliant assist to Iaquinta for the goal, he nutmegged Greco and then put in a precise cross to Vincenzone.
Marchisio: 6- When advancing he created a few problems for Roma, but it wasn’t too consistent of a game. Relatively subdued, and I’m still not a fan of him on the wings.

Quagliarella: 6.5- Very dangerous in attack, he looked creative, determined, and capable. Held up play well, had a brilliant volley/shot that would have been goal of the season if not for Julio Sergio’s save. In very strong form at the moment.
Iaquinta: 6- Didn’t look too in-form, as a real heavy first touch let him down when he was nearly 1v1 with the keeper. Followed up with a goal Quagliarella would be proud of, a real genius scissor-kick.

Delneri: 6.5- More than anything, this game convinced me we’ve seen a new Juventus. Roma had the lions share of possession for most of the game, but we never looked like we’d concede.
Del Piero 5- His substitution was ostensibly because Iaquinta wasn’t fully fit, but also to allow Quagliarella to push up, but Alex didn’t play well. Lost a lot of balls, didn’t ever look too inventive, all in all, a let down. (Roma is his favorite target, too) But hey, it happens to the best.
Traore: s.v- I don’t even know what to say. At times during the game I wanted to ship him back to Arsenal, other times I thought “he could be useful.” First debut in a new league, and not a bad one. Caceres was really poor in his debut against Lazio…and he adapted quickly.

Totti acts like the douche he is

So Aquilani flattens him. Good man.

Things I Think I Think:

#1- Referees aren’t corrupt, but they continue to make shit decisions: Is what Pepe did a penalty? Yes. Why was that not a penalty for Milan? Why did Milan’s 45+2 end at 45+2 but Juve’s continued well beyond? The problem is not the calls, it’s that for some reason the referees only seem to be applying the full letter of the law to us. Krasic got banned with TV evidence. Will Borriello get the same for tripping Chiellini in an off-the-ball incident? Why did Iaquinta get booked for celebrating in front of the Udinese fans and Totti get off scot-free for saying STFU to the Curva Sud and insulting Storari? Either call the rules the same for everyone, or don’t. Ridiculous.

Did I mention Totti repeatedly called Storari a “piece of shit” after scoring the penalty. I hate that man, so much. Classless douchebag.

#2- Subbing Iaquinta for Del Piero Didn’t Work: The idea made sense, Quagliarella looked dangerous but was dropping very, very deep to pick up and defend the ball. Iaquinta wasn’t fully fit and his first touch was letting us down on the counter attack. So put in Alex to hold the ball, and let Quagliarella move up. I would have done the same, except Alex didn’t do so well. Maybe something about playing almost 2 1/2 hours in the last 7 days isn’t so great for a 36-year old. Might not be the age, though, even the best players can have nights off.

#4- Quando Gioca Sempre Segna Trezeguet: He scored again this weekend against Real Sociedad, giving Hercules a 2-1 victory. 6 goals in 9 games for Trez, and as high as his salary was (barely higher than Amauri anyways), we should have cut Amauri a free transfer and kept Trezegol for one more year. Now we’ll have Amauri sitting around next summer when we try and sign a champion striker. Forget transfer fees, who would want him at 4+mil a season?

Nedved- “God, I wish I could be out there to tear Mexes a new one. Giorgio, do me a favor?”

“STOP BEING FRENCH!!”

#5- Afellay signs for Barcelona: There was confirmed interest from both Inter and Juve within Italy, but PSV winger Ibrahim Afellay has chosen to sign with Barcelona. No bitter regrets here, as I didn’t think we ever had a chance of winning his signature, but seriously, enjoy the bench Afellay. You’re an attacking midfielder/winger, joining Barcelona of all teams. Are you out of your goddamn mind?

#6- Watching Materazzi Get Hit By Ibrahimovic: It was like watching Justin Beiber fight Lady Gaga- somehow, you hope that both will die so we don’t have to hear from them again. At first I didn’t think Materazzi was hurt, after all, he has faked injuries and done so to avoid being humiliated. Can’t believe Rafa picked him for the derby, he’s 37, he’s been shit for years (probably his whole career barring a 2-year span) and hasn’t played all season.

That’s all for now. Good news- Marchisio skipped out on Nazionale due to muscle fatigue (be back in 2-3 days) and Krasic started training and could be ready by this weekend.

SEMPRE JUVE!!

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!