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”

[From Yahoo Sports]- The biggest deal of soccer’s January transfer window hinges on a battle of wills between a billionaire Arabian royal and a remarkable Bosnian family that survived the siege of Sarajevo during the Balkan War. With Manchester City in firm contention for the English Premier League title, owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nayhan is desperate to sign his No. 1 target, Bosnia-Herzegovina forward Edin Dzeko, who plays for the German Bundesliga team Wolfsburg.

Dzeko is the hottest available commodity in European soccer right now, and his size, skill and physicality have led many to suggest he could be the crucial factor that gets City over the line this season. A transfer fee of $40 million is close to being rubber-stamped by Wolfsburg, but there is still the issue of Dzeko’s wages to be resolved. And that, surprisingly, is where there is something of an impasse.

In theory, the wages should be the easiest thing to hash out. Sheikh Mansour’s endless wealth means City is the best-backed club in the world; it has already handed out huge salaries to most of its first-team squad. Midfielder Yaya Toure is paid more than $300,000 per week, while Dzeko makes around $70,000 per week in Germany. Even that amount would once have been beyond the wildest dreams of the 24-year-old and his family, which crammed 15 relatives into a two-room apartment during Dzeko’s childhood.

However, sources close to the deal have confirmed to Yahoo! Sports that Dzeko and his family (who still act as his advisers) are holding out for $270,000 per week, knowing full well that his stock is at an all-time high and that City has the funds to satisfy whatever he demands. City came in with an initial offer of around $185,000 per week, which Sheikh Mansour upped to more than $210,000 over the weekend. City has to be a little careful, though, as it does not wish to alienate its existing players by paying Dzeko an inflated figure.

This is a move that is virtually certain to be completed. Dzeko is ready to move, ready for the huge payday and also the chance to test himself in the English league, where he is confident he can thrive. City wants him badly, and know that snapping him up early in January could add great momentum to its hopes of unseating league leader Manchester United and claiming its first league title in 43 years. But the Dzekos know they can play hardball, and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if the saga is dragged out for a couple of weeks in order to push up his wages.

Although by the day it’s looking more and more likely that Dzeko will sign with Manchester City, I still have hope. For one, despite newspapers reporting he is in Manchester and prepared to sign, photographic evidence from today says otherwise. I feel we still have a chance, after all, Milos Krasic turned Manchester City down to join Juventus, and like Milos, it may relay on Dzeko’s desire rather than euros and pounds.

The feeling I get (and this is substantiated in some facts, but more a Colbert-ish gut feeling) is that Dzeko wants to play for a big club, and in a big league. Not a rich team, not necessarily one challenging for the title, but one with history. After all, Wolfsburg have relatively wealthy patrons and recently won a league title, yet that didn’t seem to satisfy him. Two summers ago, just having won the league title, he did everything he could to facilitate a move to Milan. Ultimately, no one is shocked it didn’t happen as they are irrationally stingy.

Dzeko has made plenty of comments that indicate he wants to move to Italy- we know he’s spoken with Diego and Brazzo about life at Juventus and Torino, even to the point that Brazzo said he received daily texts from Dzeko this summer. He voiced his disappointment over the non-move this summer, when surely Manchester City could have afforded him. All fall, Dzeko and his agent repeated that a January move was unlikely but a summer one likely, a clear hint at Juve’s non-EU conundrum. (Fuck you, FIGC) And weeks ago, he stated he’d like to play in “the league that featured Shevchenko and Ronaldo.”

Will he move to Juventus this summer? I still think it’s a possibility, and if he remains with Wolfsburg in February, very likely. The way I see it, Dzeko’s massive wage demands are one way of trying to test City’s resolve, or even scuppering the move. City may have money, but they don’t have the same allure we do, and I think the league we play in has a part, too. After all, Dzeko was a Milanista as a child (not a problem for me, as long as he doesn’t say “I have always loved Juve”) and I believe one reason he hasn’t been sent to Bayern Munich is that he’d like to leave Germany altogether.

Here’s the key- I believe Dzeko wants a firm guarantee that if he stays until summer, Juventus will make a real bid. We have the money to do so, particularly if we offload Sissoko, it’s just a question of whether Marotta will go for it or not. He’s waited the last two summers for an Italian club to swoop in, and I doubt he will want to be strung on all summer like Milos Krasic, although less likely as he’d be the #1 target. Italian newspapers have stated that Dzeko sent an SMS to someone at Juve’s management (take it with a grain of salt) saying something along the lines of “If you want me, prove it.”

At the same time, Beppe Marotta has to have a Plan B. Should Dzeko leave for Manchester City, you can bet that Pazzini will be the all-out target this January, and especially this summer. The next few weeks will surely be filled with stories going back-and-forth. I sincerely believe that Dzeko would like to come to Juve, Wolfsburg willing, but his decision this January will be based on whether he thinks we will move for him or not. Wolfsburg is tanking and he seems anxious to leave, and if Manchester City can offer him boatloads of cash, a high-profile league, and the possibility of winning a league title, I couldn’t begrudge him a move, particularly if he feels Juve aren’t serious.

And you know what? Beppe Marotta’s #1 priority this January should be giving Hasan Salihamidzic another year on his contract. That’d be a rather large signal.

(I say that facetiously of course, because Brazzo might go to Germany this January and an extension is never going to happen, but there’s reasons to do it. Cheerful guy, does a job, and he’s been translating for Milos Krasic and possibly recruiting Edin Dzeko)

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.

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!

Exhibit A:

Juventus have sold the Brazilian playmaker Diego to Wolfsburg on Friday for €15.5m (£12.7m), almost €10m less than they paid for him last year. Wolfsburg said the player’s contract would run until 2014. “Juventus announce that an agreement has been finalised with Wolfsburg for the sale of Diego for €15.5m,” a Juve statement said. [Heavily rumored this low price was down payment and/or option for Dzeko in the future.]

Exhibit B:

Edin Dzeko- “I cannot hide my disappointment at not moving to Juventus. I believed until the last moment that Wolfsburg and the Bianconeri would reach an agreement above all when the two clubs opened talks for Diego. Unfortunately it didn’t go how I wanted it to.”

Exhibit C:

Diego- “Dzeko is one of the best strikers in the world and I would be happy to play alongside him for a long time, but I know Edin has an option to move to Juventus in the summer. And I think that things will go just in this way. In this case I wish him good luck.”

Exhibit D:

Salihamidzic- [paraphrased] “I hear from Dzeko almost every day. The other day we spoke for about 30 minutes, he asked about Torino and Juventus. But he is totally focused on Wolfsburg right now. [When further pressed] If he doesn’t come to Torino, he’s a liar.”

Exhibit E:

Dzeko’s agent, grinning during an interview- “I don’t have this information. (about the transfer) I heard from Marotta about 4 months ago, but since then I have had no contact. Diego’s remarks? (continuing to smile) I don’t know, I can say in January, Dzeko certainly will not move. [Juve has no non-EU spots open for January...] In June? We’ll see, for now he’s only thinking about doing well at Wolfsburg.”

The prosecution rests.

The fact that Amauri is making that much (as 2nd highest earner in the team) is absolutely ghastly, and Secco should be hung upside down and shot in the center of Turin. Players salary that surprised me the most was Krasic- I guess he really did want to play for Juventus.

CalcioMercato added up the numbers of last years salary list, and it turns out by offloading deadweight, Marotta saved 25mil off the wage bill in one summer. Not bad. Coulda added about 10mil to that number if he had sold Amauri, though…

Tiago has fired a parting shot at Juventus following his move back to Atletico Madrid on loan. The Portugal international seemed to revel in the idea that Juventus couldn’t sell him outright. Tiago has made no secret of his annoyance at the way Juventus have treated him in recent years. Speaking at his second official unveiling as an Atletico player, Tiago said: “Atletico and I are happy, but in the end Juve will be a little less so. I am very happy. It was very difficult for me, but in the end I got what I wanted. I believe that we are much stronger than last year.

The Juventus Offside exclusive on how the prior incident went on.

For someone who has NO personality on the pitch, he has a large amount of it off the pitch. You all may remember when he LOCKED our club President in the bathroom for trying to make him sign with another club. I didn’t understand why he did it the, and I don’t understand why he’s being such a bitch about things now. Tiago has nothing to complain about at Juventus. At one point under Ranieri AND Ferrara, he got his time to prove himself, and failed to do so. He was never verbally assaulted by the fans like Felipe Melo or Z3BINA. And now, we try and offload him to a club he wants to be playing for, and he acts like a complete ass about the whole thing.

Either way, between the Tiago and Andrade experiments, here is a new official policy for Juventus.

Unlikely to see any Roberto Carlos-style fullbacks in the team

As far as the defense goes, Marco Motta outlined Delneri’s philosophy on day one. “Above all, the mister reminded us that we are defenders first.” Fullbacks, particularly, are required to be defensive-minded first, as Delneri likes his defense to be compact, allowing little space to the other team. That also applies to the center-backs of course, and while Chiellini and co will certainly advance on set pieces, we won’t see any Giorgio-as-sweeper experiments in the future. Delneri likes his teams to keep a clean sheet, and that starts with defense. Motta and De Cegie are attacking fullbacks, of course, they are young, but both have spoken of the personal attention Delneri has been giving them. He’s got his work cut out with them, but we can be encouraged with what we’ve seen in preseason thus far.

If the fullbacks are generally more defensive, it is the opposite among his wingers. Delneri has always built his team based heavily on his wingers, be it Manfredini and Luciano back at Chievo, or Ferreira, Langella, and Valdes at Atalanta, or more recently Mannini, Guberti, or Semioli at Sampdoria. When asked about his instructions for wingers he said “between another striker and another defender, I prefer the former.” Indeed, his 4-4-2 in attack switches very much into a 4-2-4, with limited defensive responsibilities for wingers. It is obvious that this choice has influences the mercato, Lanzafame and Martinez are both attacking wingers that can even play in a 4-3-3 up top or as a seconda punta. That isn’t to say he doesn’t want his wingers to track back, during preseason Lanzafame has defended his flank and Pepe has shown his “workmanlike nature.” But between defense and offense, he clearly prefers attacking wingers. This is particularly important when you consider what happens when the ball is moved down a single flank.

Say the ball is moving down the right flank in Delneri’s system. Often, you’d see the right-back make overlapping runs and the left-back holding back to make up a 3-man counter buffer, typically the CBs (if one is forward, say on a set piece, then a CM) and one FB are meant to slow down counter-attacks. In Delneri’s system, I think we’ll often see the right-back providing support, but not making runs constantly in the corner. Instead, you’ll see the left winger running into the box as an additional scoring threat, and the left-back will move up a bit to occupy the space he left. It’s nothing earth-shattering new, but compared to Capello and Ranieri’s 4-4-2, the wingers are given much more freedom to attack the box.

As for the midfield, I think we’ll see a situation similar to Ranieri’s Juve, not as much like Capello’s Juve. Ranieri was criticized for fielding two defensive midfielders, but that wasn’t really ever the case. He basically had one pure central midfielder, and a defensive midfielder with a decent passing ability. Tiago was supposed to be the 2nd, Zanetti ended up taking the place, and in the first year Nocerino was the central midfielder and followed by Marchisio. (Case in point, look at our first game back in Serie A- Nocerino makes it all the way to the byline to cross it to Trezeguet. Later it became apparent he wasn’t really very well rounded.) Last year we desperately needed a regista, as I whined about plenty on this blog, and that’s where Felipe Melo’s inability became obvious. He will suit much better into Delneri’s system, where he will likely play the Zanetti role, of a defensive midfielder with an occasional eye for a pass. The playmaking burden is largely removed from the central midfielders and transferred to the flanks, hence the lack of a need for an out-and-out regista in a 4-4-2, particularly one with a heavy emphasis wingers. Filling the pure central midfielder role will of course be Marchisio, who Delneri said he intends to build much of Juventus around. Sissoko will probably be the (not exactly like-for-like) substitute for Melo, and perhaps Ekdal will remain with Poulsen’s sale as Marchisio’s reserve. I don’t know who he plans to use their otherwise.

Cassano on the bench last January, as Delneri tinkered with the offense

Up top, it’s simple. Delneri uses what works, and that is typically a classic pairing of a seconda punta and a prima punta. At Sampdoria, it was Cassano and Pazzini quite clearly, and it worked excellently. Cassano started the season drifting wide and not entering the box much, but Delneri converted him into a more central, more clinical striker. That’s not to say Delneri is not up for alternatives, though. At Sampdoria, the team struggled greatly in the dead of winter, going weeks without a win. Everyone assumed the team had gone bust, more or less, after an excellent start, and Delneri did the “unthinkable” and benched Cassano, opting for Nicola Pozzi and two prima puntas up top. It’s not pretty, but it’s a much more physical approach and it started to get Sampdoria some points on the board again. At that point, Cassano was reintroduced into the team.

So where does Diego fit into the attack? The media would like to think he doesn’t, but he does. Delneri said, “I would play a trequartista behind one striker, but behind two, never.” Anotherwords, he’s not a fan of the 4-3-1-2 or the 4-3-3, but we already knew that. Everyone however has forgotten the first portion, and that’s where Diego fits in. There is plenty of history, too. At Atalanta, Delneri played a 4-4-1-1 with mercurial Atalanta captain Cristiano Doni as that trequartista, and talented central forward Sergio Floccari as the man leading the line. A switch between a 4-4-1-1 and a 4-4-2 is not difficult, and it simply depends on who is playing. If Diego is, it’ll be more of a 4-4-1-1 with him playing behind the prima punta, rather than around. If Del Piero plays, it’s a standard 4-4-2 as he’s a far more clinical striker, equally adept at banging them in as much as setting them up. At prima punta, Trezeguet, Amauri, and Iaquinta will all fit in naturally. Trezeguet of course offers the poachers angle, Amauri, the power in the air (hoping for some good crosses), and Iaquinta the pace to run onto through-balls.

Delneri gets excited about clean sheets

So what is similar and what is different between this and Ranieri/Capello’s 4-4-2s? Similar is the compactness. The team plays together, like a team, defending and attacking together. There is a strong desire for cleansheets, which will come as a welcome surprise after last season. There are two things that a tactical 4-4-2 side can do, and certainly did under Ranieri and Capello, that Delneri will aim for. The first is an ability to hold out leads. Perfect example of this would be our victories against Real Madrid, where we were under immense pressure for significant portions of the game, but did not crack. Not even when Van Nistelrooy scored. The second, is a strength at scoring, and defending against set pieces. During Capello and Ranieri’s era, the tactical discipline meant we took advantage of many set pieces, at the same time it is hard to think of many we conceded, rather, our weakness was generally on the counter-attack. (particularly for Ranieri) Delneri aims to resolve this by keeping the fullbacks defensive, but it also resolves by the refreshing of the squad. We had a fairly old team under Ranieri, and a lot of times they were simply too slow or tired late in the game to track back fast enough on the counter. I think we will find this refreshing- last season, we were pathetic at defending set pieces and more importantly, if pressure was against us, we would crack, and the floodgates opened. Games against Napoli, Bayern, and Fulham showed when we were under sustained pressure, at some point it would just all come apart. We could not hold our own.

How is it different from their systems? It’s more attacking, and more based on wing play. The fact that we don’t have the world-class wingers we did 5 years ago is a knock, but not a complete failure for the system as wingers who are quick are similarly important to excellent dribblers. 4-2-3-1 fans, rejoice. Given Diego playing deep at trequartista, and the attacking nature (both tactically and amount of goals they’ve scored in the past) of our wingers, the 4-4-1-1 is more likely to resemble a 4-2-3-1 (particularly on offense) than a Capello or Ranieri style 4-man midfield.

How have his teams looked in the past, as far as statistics go? His defense clearly is tight. Last year, Sampdoria conceded the 3rd least goals in the league, only 2 behind 2nd place. In 2008-2009, Atalanta conceded the 8th least amount of goals, though finishing in 11th. It’s no coincidence that the next year, Atalanta conceded far more and were relegated. At both Chievo and Atalanta, however, his first season had a relatively “high” level amount of goals conceded, by “high” I mean that expected, rather than a tight defense. We can probably attribute that to the lag of a team transformation that a smaller team forces, it takes far longer for Chievo to change their team than ourselves. As far as offense goes, Sampdoria didn’t light the world on fire last year, finishing a relatively miserly 9th in the scoring charts, though I would attribute that to a lack of depth for the wings and offense. At Atalanta, his team scored a few more goals than their placing in the standings, which is probably what we should expect. We shouldn’t expect Barcelona-style scoring, but we will score the appropriate amount of goals, assuming Delneri can extract the best from our forwards.

I’ve said enough, but I do have faith in Delneri. He’s a solid coach, and if his mission is to get us into the Champion’s League, he is a good man for it. Like Ranieri, there are questions over whether he can inspire his team with the confidence or odd tactical change necessary to win the league, but that’s not what we’re focused on this coming season. We fight for 3rd, and in March if we’re at Inter’s level, then we can start thinking about the Scudetto. Of course, this is his vision for Juventus- whether he gets us playing it is a whole different situation, and that’s one we’ll simply have to wait for. Personally, I can’t wait for the season to start.

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These judges gave better ratings than I did

4- Dreadful. Consistently producing horror shows and generally completely incompetent.
4.5- Poor.
5- Subpar. Never impressing, and while not terrible, never playing well either.
5.5- Mediocre. Not something a player should be pleased with.
6- Decent.
6.5- Solid. Putting in consistently good shifts, though not exemplary.
7- Excellent. Playing well typically, and capable of brilliance.
7.5- Outstanding. Consistently winning MOTM awards.
8- Phenomenal.
9- Legendary.

Injuries don’t directly factor, as that has weighed enough on their performances as is. So without further ado, the Juventus Pagelle for season 2009-2010.

SuperrrrrrrGigi!!!

KEEPERS
GIANLUIGI BUFFON- 7: An odd season from Gigi. Due to injuries last season, people wondered if Buffon’s days were numbered. At the beginning of the season, he showed them when healthy, he is still the worlds best. Unfortunately, Gigi incurred his seasonal length injury, as a meniscus problem kept him out for 1-2 months. It seemed he recovered well enough, but was struck again with injury in late February, a strain to the right thigh keeping him out for 6 weeks. It seemed he’d be well enough for the World Cup, but a substitution in the last game against Milan was worrying, and it occurred against as a back problem caused him to substitute out of the first World Cup game against Paraguay, and miss the rest. Sadly, the Lippi-Buffon reunion did not go well. He’s due to undergo surgery on his back which will keep him out until January…one wonders if Buffon will ever be healthy. One other note- in the game against Roma, towards the end Buffon came flying out and took out Riise, earning himself a straight red card. Some players might storm off in the tunnel angry or disappointed, but Gigi walked over to the bench to embrace Manninger and wish him luck.
BEST MOMENT: For Italy, it was no doubt the wondersave against Bulgaria that defies all physics and logic. For Juventus, his two games against Maccabi were just chock full of brilliant saves.

“Why in God’s name am I here in America?”

ALEX MANNINGER- 6: As Buffon took his annual 3-month sabbatical, Manninger once again got his chance to shine. He wasn’t quite up to the standard as last year, he looked uncharacteristically nervy in a few games, but a fairly capable showing. If he gets relegated to position of 3rd-choice keeper with Storari’s arrival, he’ll be the best third-string keeper in the history of Juventus.
BEST MOMENT: Terrific save on an (offside) Gilardino when Juve was up 1-0 in Firenze.

Playing his role as Vice-Seredova

ANTONIO CHIMENTI- 4.5: Last year, I said his best moment was “never setting foot on the pitch.” Wish I could have said the same this year. Chimenti played a couple games when Buffon and Manninger were both out, and they were awful. 3 goals conceded against Siena, 4 goals conceded against Fulham, and then the Samp game…oh, the Samp game. Chimenti actually had a good game, then Cassano tried an ambitious volley which he inexplicably punched into his own net. Afterwords, Samp was peppering him with some (excellent) long-range shots, and he saved them very well, but it wasn’t enough.
BEST MOMENT: At least the guy cares somewhat about Juve and/or his personal performances, which is more than I can say for at least 1/2 of the team this year. After conceding Cassano’s wondergoal, he was so angry that he punched a table in the locker room, fracturing his hand in the process and ending his season.

DEFENDERS

Giorgio of the Jungle celebrating a goal

GIORGIO CHIELLINI- 7.5: One of the few bright spots in our defense this year, Giorgio was typical Giorgio. Our defense conceded the most goals in a single league campaign in Juve’s 100+ year history, but Chiellini wasn’t responsible. In fact, he was one of the few things keeping it from being even worse. Constantly had to be cleaning up and covering for his muppet-ish clowns otherwise known as defensive teammates, but one defender isn’t enough. Looks like he’s properly getting the contract and defensive teammates that he deserves. I do have to mention he scored 4 goals in 32 games, Amauri scored 5 in 30. Had it not been for Iaquinta offside-ly poaching a Chiellini header, he’d have matched Amauri. A center-back. Almost matching a center forward. God, it’s been a shitty year.
BEST MOMENT: I am a big fan of his goal against Sampdoria, way back in Fall when it was #1 v. #2 in the table, a huge match. Despite being a CB, he goes far up, starts the move with a nice sliding pace to Amauri, and continues his run and taps it in. At the time when he started running into the box I was thinking “What on earth are you doing, Giorgio?”

“Hmmm, maybe I should have signed with Albinoleffe”

FABIO CANNAVARO- 4.5: He had an excellent start to the campaign that would easily merit a 6.5, and closed out the season equally, perhaps trying to keep Lippi’s attention. For the 6+ months in between though, he was garbage. Too slow, tactically out of position, he looked vulnerable every goddamn game. Notably roasted by Alessandro Matri against Cagliari, there were numerous incidents where he simply lost his man and watched as they rounded Buffon/Manninger and tapped in. Was the only natural CB available for the away game at Fulham, got bitched off the ball in the 10th minute for Zamora’s goal, and then 15 minutes later got himself sent off, which led to the complete disaster that was Salihamidzic-Grygera-Zebina-Grosso protecting Chimenti. Awful, awful season, and he never should have come back. Equally poor at the World Cup, unfortunately.
BEST MOMENT: Cannavaro scored one goal this season, and in true traitor fashion, it was against his newly ex-club in preseason, Real Madrid in the Peace Cup. Poetic.

Class act, giving credit to Diego for the goal.

NICOLA LEGROTTAGLIE- 6.5: I said all last summer that Legrottaglie-Chiellini was the ideal CB partnership, and after Fabio’s brief flame into form, it turned out to be so. Datasport, an excellent source for player ratings, mentioned in winter “Cannavaro is no longer at Legrottaglie’s level.” I am convinced that he’s got haters because of his past, but fact is, he’s been excellent the last 3 years. Started out the season shaky, probably because he wasn’t playing much and bringing in Cannavaro (who replaced in him in 2004) was a very public bitchslap from the management, but he grew into form. After September, he was pretty solid and the biggest difference for me was the Fulham games. The first, our CB partnership was Legro-Canna, and the second, it was Zebina-Canna. Canna wasn’t great in either game, and as the Fulham Offside put it-

One nugget of information I’ve noticed little mention of is the absence of Juventus defender Nicola Legrottaglie. Last week he manhandled Bobby Zamora. Thankfully for us he was suspended last night and Bobby managed to have a field day — even before Fabio Cannavaro was sent off.

Also of very important note. Nicola Legrottaglie did not miss ONE game through injury this entire season. You read that correctly. I’m a huge fan of his of course, but between his decent record last year, his un-injuredness (it’s a word) and his leadership, he deserves to stay. Storari, Motta, and Lanzafame have all explicitly identified Legrottaglie as one who has welcomed them into the team, Motta said he has helped him defensively. Guy would be a great youth team coach when he retires, I think.

BEST MOMENT: Probably the first Fulham game, where he scored a nice thumping header inside the first 10minutes and it looked like everything would go well. And it did, Fulham had virtually no effort on goal and their only goal was a horribly deflected lucky shot. About a month before that, he scored another nice header against Livorno. (Which I predicted- “Amauri should take lessons on set piece headers from Legrottaglie”, about 15 minutes before the goal) Also of note- both of those goals come from perfect set pieces from Diego.

“Oh God, he got by me! Time to rugby tackle him!!”

ZDENEK GRYGERA- 4: God, it was an awful season for Grygera. He probably deserves a 4.5 in that he wasn’t completely dreadful in every game, but he gets -.5 for being comically bad in a couple. Notably Palermo and Siena, where he singlehandedly doomed our team, with horrendous backpasses and generally getting schooled by Maccarone, who now plays for Palermo. Please, if he stays, do not field him against Maccalermo. Should he stay? He certainly hasn’t played to deserve it, but I’d rather sell Grosso and Zebina first, who are older, have higher salaries, and are equally worthless. There’s so much rebuilding going on this season that Grygera might get spared. Or maybe not, Ajax and Bologna have been linked with him.
BEST MOMENT: It’s probably telling that I’ve chosen a pre-season friendly incident (again, Real Madrid) for both Grygera and Cannavaro. Best no doubt goes to a horrendous potential knee-breaking tackle on Cristiano Ronaldo, a month after Perez shelled out 90million euros for him. Bosman > 90million euro crocked player.

World Cup bringing the inner Paolo Montero out in Martin

MARTIN CACERES- 6.5: Considering his age, and the fact that he came from a league not known for defending, Martin did very well. His first month or so was very shaky, he was frequently caught out of position at RB and beaten defensively. (see Kolorav’s effort back in September) But he quickly grew into Serie A, and by November, was an undisputed starter at RB. That month, in the Derby d’Italia, he was named MOTM has his defensive tackles and never-say-die attitude kept Inter at bay. He’s young, he’s Uruguayan, and he wasn’t owned by Juve, but he showed the Juventus spirit like an Italian veteran, some of his tackles reminded me of Tacchinardi rushing back in defense. He developed some solid defensive skills, but he was no slouch offensively. Pacey, with decent technical skills and an eye for a good cross, he set up many goals from the right flank. See Camo’s best moment where his cross provided Camo’s goal against Maccabi, or Fabio Grosso where he perfectly ran onto a pass from Poulsen and volley-crossed it pinpoint to Fabio. Or the game against Genoa, where he received a throw-in, beat two Genoa defenders and then put in a delicious cross to Amauri, who actually converted it. I am very, very disappointed that we won’t be signing him. He’s very young, already has decent Serie A/Juve experiment, why not sign him and convert him or Motta into a left-back, alla Zambrotta? Wherever he ends up, I wish him well.
BEST MOMENT: Caceres had some excellent games this season, I wish someone made a compilation of his performance against Inter, but it goes to his first and only goal at Juve, in his first ever Serie A start. It was against Lazio, in September, and Juventus struggled to break them down, until Martin scored. Ironically, it was a relatively poor performance from Caceres, he was beaten by Kolarov more than once and caught out of position. But the goal won us 3 points.

Swap Eto’o for a figurative Juventus bank account, and this is what has been happening the last three years.

JONATHAN ZEBINA- 4.5: One of my least favorite players to ever wear the Juventus jersey, as regular readers will well know. Zebina wasn’t completely awful this season, he wasn’t injured for 4 months like in 07-08 and 08-09, so that’s an improvement. But he just is simply inadequate, as he’s always been. Offensively, he contributes something nice one in every 20 games, and in doing so, leaves large gaps at the back. Better than Grygera or Grosso this season, but that doesn’t say much. Especially when you’re making 2.5 million a year, making more than Chiellini and furthermore, the best paid defender on the team. Unbelievable. Thankfully, he looks certain to leave, as Marotta/Delneri are giving him a free transfer in exchange for “getting the hell outta here.”
BEST MOMENT: Zebina did have two good moments this year, a nice dribble/shot that turned into an assist for Trezeguet against Bologna, and then the Fulham game. Oh, the Fulham game. In the first, he scored a brilliant, brilliant goal, his 2nd ever for Juventus that literally left me laughing in tears. (and Bettega, from the video) In the return leg at Craven Cottage, when he played terrible, got sent off, and gave the middle finger to the Juventus fans. Another words, normal service resumed.

“Why does anyone ever let me play club football??”

FABIO GROSSO- 4: Oh, Fabio. Though I was a naysayer on the last mercato, saying Felipe Melo and Cannavaro was the wrong pick when most thought they were smart signings, I was TOTALLY wrong on Fabio. I’ve been advocating his signing since two summers ago, I though he’d be a great left-back for 2-3 years, solve our issues. I knew he was not that great of a club player, but at worst, I thought he’d be a moderate upgrade on Molinaro. In all seriousness, he was worse than Molinaro’s performances in 08-09. With Molinaro, we got pace, decent defending, and utterly garbage offense. With Grosso, he was a slow, and didn’t really contribute much on offense either, his crosses were an improvement, but not by much. And while he was drifting up the field, he constantly was leaving massive gaps at the back that were frequently exploited on counter-attacks. Beaten often by his man (I remember a goal we conceded I believe against Atalanta, where he just simply got schooled) it was a terrible, terrible season, and Secco gave him a 3-year contract. He hasn’t improved, either. Delneri likes his wingers attacking and his fullbacks defensive, which doesn’t play into Grosso’s hands, Tuttosport ran a report on players progress thus far in training and Grosso was definitely in the negative bucket. Could be experimented as a left-winger, but there’s really no point.
BEST MOMENT: Two nice goals this season that won the game for us. The first was just odd, our flanks were generally rubbish this season, and this was a goal scored between our two fullbacks against Udinese. (Nice pass from Poulsen there) The second was the match-winning goal in Firenze, where he chipped it in from a very tight angle to beat Frey.

Nooo! YOU. SHALL. NOT. PASSSS”

PAOLO DE CEGLIE- 5.5: A middling campaign from the young left-back, who put in some good games, and some average ones. Typically good offensively, his crosses are excellent, and occasionally lost his man for a goal. I think this kid has some serious potential, Zambrotta was much older when he was converted to a fullback (and was iffy for the firt season) and De Ceglie has the offensive capability to be a great fullback. He just needs some confidence from the coach, and some personal tutoring on defense. It may be happening, in Tuttosport’s report of early training notes, they stated that “De Ceglie no longer appears timid” and that Delneri’s instructions seem to have calmed him. Noted that his crossing has been good, he’s pacey as usual, but also that his defense reporting, though it left the report warning that “it remains to be seen against top-level strikers.” Hoping this kid has a breakout season, I like him. And so should the ladies.
BEST MOMENT: Nothing really jumps out, kind of like his personality in general. A nice combination with Del Piero against Ajax let to a perfect cross from De Ceglie, and a goal headed in by Amauri.

Molinaro in something not black-and-white striped. Hooray!

CRISTIAN MOLINARO- 4.5: It was clear from day one that Molinaro would be leaving, as both De Ceglie and Grosso were preferred to him at left-back. This snub definitely hurt his performance, he was alright last year but the confidence was shot, and he played like garbage.
BEST MOMENT: Molinaro, not exactly the most technical of players, attempted an ambitious backheel. It did not succeed.

MIDFIELDERS

DIEGO- 6.5: I’ve made my opinion clear on Diego many times, and that is that Diego had a relatively successful in his debut season in Serie A. It’s totally ludicrous to me that he’s been labelled one of the flops of the season, and in the worst Serie A XI of the season. I have one very, very simple argument. Go watch all the goals we scored this season, and you’ll see Diego’s brilliance. He has an important hand in something like 40% of the goals (probably almost 50% if you consider the games he was absent for), and while he didn’t score as much as we hoped…he was massively influential. He actually has 1 more goal and assist (as well as two goals in the Coppa Italia) over Sneidjer in 7 more games, and was fouled almost three times as many times as Sneidjer.

Yet Sneidjer is hailed as one of the best players in the world. Don’t get me wrong, Sneidjer deserves all the accolades he got, but the difference between Diego and Sneidjer is simple. Juventus sucked, and Inter won a lot. Mostly due to the difference in defenses, of course. Had the opposite transfers happened, Sneidjer would have been labelled a flop and Diego a champion. Thankfully, it seems Gigi Delneri has seen his talent shine in training and reversed his previous anti-Diego stance. Looks like we might be playing a 4-4-1-1.
BEST MOMENT: No doubt, his wonderful performance against Roma where he banged in two beautiful goals. Close second would be where he completely faked out Frey and slotted it in against Fiorentina.

A goal that will long live in our memories.

CLAUDIO MARCHISIO- 6.5: A consistent year from Marchisio. He had a few tremendous games, plenty of satisfactory ones, and very few poor ones. For a young player, consistency is sometimes rare, just more signs of his tremendous maturity. Delneri has said he plans to build Juventus around Marchisio, excellent news. Was always a first-choice player, whether as a left-winger or central midfielder. Played three games in March when suffering from the flu, picking up a MOTM award in one of them. You can’t not love this guy.
BEST MOMENT: The highlight of the entire season. Juventus v. Inter, against a team who cannot seem to play one player from Italy. Our homegrown player, born and bred in Torino, wearing the Juventus jersey for the 16th year of the last 17, and scores a delicious game-winning chip...schooling experienced players Walter Samuel and Julio Cesar in the process.

HASAN SALIHAMIDZIC- 5: To be honest, I remember VERY little of Salihamidzic from this season, which considering how the season went, maybe isn’t bad. I mean, I know he played, but I just can’t really remember anything. The little I do remember was noting that Salihamidzic cannot play as a central-midfielder, only as a winger. Camo could adapt to playing in the 4-3-1-2, so Ferrara gave Brazzo a shot at it, but he just had very little impact when positioned there.
BEST MOMENT: Sometimes I think he missed his true calling to be a Pippo Inzaghi-style striker. He seems to just pop up at the right time and score, like he did against Parma and Catania.

I can’t decide which one of these players I hate more.

FELIPE MELO- 4.5: You don’t win the Bidone d’Oro for nothing. Although at the time it was a little ridiculous to give him the award, he evidently promised the radio sponsors that he would do everything in his power to merit it. He was the wrong choice for Juventus from day one, as he simply did not fit into our transfer needs. Melo started the season brightly enough, indeed the team did as a whole, but as the season progressed, like Cannavaro, his season went to utter garbage. Every game highlighted his inadequacy, as he wasn’t technically skilled enough to play as deep as he did, and when he was shielding the defense, he often gave away the ball in a dangerous position. It got to a point where we were guaranteed an awful performance from him, and more than likely he was going to receive a card for a poor tackle. Unlike Cannavaro, he never got out of his dreadful form, and finished the season in outright war with the Juventus fans. Against Siena, he infamously shouted at the fans to “shut the f*** up” after being jeered for attempting to dribble out of defense. At least unlike Zebina, he didn’t try and play the race card. If Melo is played correctly, he can be a strong component of the team, and in a 4-4-2 where his passing abilities are less needed and he’s given the ability to roam, he’ll be better. However, he has literally burnt every bridge with the fans and I would much prefer to see him sold. Unfortunately, singlehandedly knocking Brazil out of the World Cup seems to have dampened any remaining interest. He’s too emotional of a player.
BEST MOMENT: Felipe Melo scored an excellent header against Atalanta, and then ran under the (empty) Curva to ask forgiveness for the Siena debacle. As Juve commentator Claudio Zuliani said, “finally, he did something good!” A nice gesture, but the fans weren’t there to see it.

I hope to see these two Argies with us still next year.

MAURO CAMORANESI- 6: Mauro’s season was interrupted by far too many injuries, which is becoming more and more common for him. And the frustration of the godawful season got to him, as he started to become a walking red card later in the season. It is suggested that he was the player who told Zaccheroni upon his arrival “I am here, but don’t count on me” but there’s no way of knowing for sure. That said, when Camo plays, he’s still excellent, and that’s the reason I’d like to keep him for the last year of his contract. (That, and he played in Serie B) He had a period, not surprisingly uninterrupted by injury, back in October where he was in tremendous form, scoring two goals against Atalanta and then one against Maccabi.
BEST MOMENT: His goal against Maccabi set us up for qualification to the round of 16, before the Bayern/Lyon disasters. Then there was the Atalanta game, where he was just all over the place.

“Yo Giorgio, watch where you’re puttin your foot!”

CHRISTIAN POULSEN- 6: An improved season for Poulsen, who is very understated in his role, but effective nonetheless. As Felipe Melo’s season imploded, Poulsen slowly got more and more chances to play, and grew into the team. He’s not a flashy player, but he effectively protected the backline, and has an eye occasionally for a brilliant pass. (see Grosso’s goal against Udinese) The Dane continued to improve into the winter (just like home?), even picking up a MOTM award or two, before breaking his fibula against Napoli in the Coppa Italia. He was out for about 6 weeks, and by the time he got back, the whole team had given up. Not anywhere near his Liga form, where he was considered one of the best in the league, but an improved season. Hopefully he has an impact next year.
BEST MOMENT: Can’t really think of one. Didn’t score any goals, and had a very quiet role in the team.

Gio has tremendous talent. He just needs someone who believes in him.

SEBASTIAN GIOVINCO- 5.5: Definitely a step down from last year, but can you blame the kid? He got FIVE league starts all season, which is just absolutely absurd. FIVE. Molinaro basically did the same, and he was 3rd choice and sent on loan for the 2nd half of the year!! Frankly, him leaving makes no sense to me, but when it comes to Gio, nothing that makes sense seems to happen. Marotta likes young Italian players, and Delneri likes pacey attacking wingers. (and wanted him at Sampdoria this January, ended up with Guberti) So while it makes perfect sense that he would get a lot of playing time at LM in the new regime, it doesn’t look likely. I want the kid to go to Bari, my sympathies aside, it’s an attacking team, and Ventura has a great record with young players. And he’s promised to build the team around him. Under Ranieri, Gio shoulda played more but played “enough”, starting 10 matches and having important cameos in 10 more league ones, he also took part in 4 CL games. This year it should have been a further step forward, but it’s been one giant leap backward, and his development has certainly stalled. He needs to play, and if he can’t at Juve, time for him to leave.
BEST MOMENT: In the 4-2-3-1 he flourished, playing excellent against Sampdoria and Atalanta where where racked up 5 goals in both games, with Gio getting some assists. Despite losing the game, against Napoli, he scored his only goal, had another opportunity, and had an excellent pass to Diego on the flanks that opened Napoli up.

Strangely, after this tackle got Sissoko sent off, Javier Zanetti didn’t run to the referee. Previously, he said he would demand the game be suspended if there was any racism, but Interista racism is acceptable I guess…

MOHAMED SISSOKO- 5: Very much a year to forget for Sissoko as well. It wasn’t really his fault though, he didn’t have enough consistent games to nobody’s fault. He started the season injured from breaking his foot against Torino in March 2009, didn’t return until October this year. Three weeks later, strained his thigh, spent another month out until December, and then went to the African Cup of Nations, then came back and was out for another 6 weeks due to reaggravating his muscle strain. Then in February he was out for a while with an inflamed tendon, you get the idea, shit just continued. Finally, Sissoko gets healthy, and in a terrible tragedy, both of his in-laws were killed in a car accident. Bad enough situation, except as Zaccheroni revealed in June, Sissoko ended up having to take care of 4-5 of his siblings-in-law, who were still under 18. Between injuries and this tragedy, his mind was never really focused this season and he didn’t play particularly well in the few games he made it for.
BEST MOMENT: There really wasn’t one, but I can tell you what his best moment wasn’t: getting sent off early in the Derby d’Italia in Milan, which pretty much doomed our team after a pretty positive start.

Those stripes look nice on you, Tiago. Keep ‘em.

TIAGO- 5: Played well the first few weeks, and it seemed Ferrara was getting the best out of Tiago in the 3-man midfield. As the season went to shit, Tiago just started completely disappearing in games. Fed up, the management finally offed him on loan to Atletico Madrid for the spring, and negotiations are on-going with Atletico due to his rather high salary demands. Juventus gave him permission to skip on our training camp to stay looking for a casa in Madrid, so he’s finally gone for all intents and purposes. And Marotta also got rid of Almiron this summer, not bad.
BEST MOMENT: Getting the HELL out in January, after failed attempts in the past to loan him to Marseille, Atletico, Sporting, Fiorentina, Tottenham, etc….

ANTONIO CANDREVA- 6: Not bad, Antonio. You made the jump from Serie B to Juventus and an Azzurri call-up all in one year. Here’s the thing about Candreva, he has the talent to play for Juventus, he just came at the wrong time. The team was in free fall, and he isn’t good enough to singlehandedly turn the team around. A versatile, creative player, he did have a bad habit of disappearing from the game in the 2nd half, but his versatility was excellent, playing as a attacking midfielder, a creative central midfielder, what have you. I wish we had seen him experimented as a regista, but it didn’t happen. Good player, but not worth 8.5mil for co-ownership.
BEST MOMENT: He kind of has a girly shot, but his goal against Bologna was excellently placed. Had a nice clever through ball for Diego against Fiorentina.

STRIKERS

“I’M A BALD DOUCHEBAG WHO CAN NEVER COMPARE TO YOU!!!”

ALESSANDRO DEL PIERO- 6: It took Alessandro a LONG time to get into form, and I mean a LONG time. This was the first time ever he hadn’t scored a goal in the Fall portion of the season, and given how much he fell off in Spring of last year, he didn’t score many goals in calendar year 2009. Not really his fault for this season, he was pretty much injured the whole time, he had a back problem during preseason training and was out until September, then after returning to the bench for the 2nd game against Roma, mysteriously disappeared again until October, where he played 10 minutes against Bologna. Reaggravated the injury and was out until December, so he played 10minutes in the first 14 games of the season, give or take. Once he started to play though, Del Piero rounded into form. Excellent performances against Ajax, Lazio, Genoa, etc, he finally found his scoring boots around February. Creative and deadly as usual, he racked up his 300th and 301st goal against Siena this year. Looks set to still have an important role under Delneri, though perhaps not as starter.
BEST MOMENT: As Diego Maradona says, “I am convinced that Del Piero never really grows old.” He had some beautiful goals this season. My personal favorite was against Genoa, where he tackles Criscito to maintain possession of the ball, dribbles around a bit, passes to Diego who makes a wonderful backheel, and Del Piero finishes. Brilliant volley to score against Roma, as well as the above volley and 301st goal against Siena.

DAVID TREZEGUET- 6.5: At the beginning of the season, a lot of people said Trezeguet was past it. He came off a crap season due to double knee surgery and disagreements with Ranieri, and was supposedly on the market last summer. I said it before, and I’ll say it again- Like Inzaghi or Del Piero, Trezeguet’s talent won’t ever die, because it is relatively independent of physical condition. Unlike his friend Thierry Henry, who based a lot of his ability on his acceleration (not just that, but that was an important part of his game) and thus declined rapidly, Trez is a poacher, and thus his talent will remain. It was no surprise then, that once he started playing, he started scoring. The first came against Lazio. The first few weeks of the season were filled with optimism, Amauri and Iaquinta were playing well, and Trezeguet had been forgotten on the bench. In a “cry for help” he said he was planning to leave Turin at the end of the year, which perhaps wasn’t the most professional thing to say, but he had been forgotten. Ferrara responded accordingly by giving him a substitute performance against Lazio, and he scored. A crap goal, but it’s a goal. It justified a few more games though, and sure enough, he started scoring. Though like everyone else, his season was disrupted by injury, he scored 10 goals in 18 starts by the end of the season. Not bad. I’m hoping, like Camo, for him to finish his contract at Juventus this season and get the farewell he deserves. He’s talked about possibly rejoining his best friend Thierry in NY, and that would be a fearsome attack for RBNY.
BEST MOMENT: His goal against Atalanta tied Omar Sivori for the 4th greatest goalscorer in Juventus history and the greatest foreign goalscorer, and he ended up surpassing him. Tremendous game against Bari back in December, where he not only scored but in very un-Trez-like style, provided several golden assists for teammates. Trez scored some amazing volleys in Europe this year, against Bayern Munich and then an even more ridiculous one against Fulham at home. Another favorite of mine is the Napoli game (See the Giovinco Best Moment) where Grygera floats in a nice teasing cross, and Trez in SUPER poacher style, just nails it in. Brilliant.

VINCENZO IAQUINTA- 5.5: This could have been Vincenzo’s year, given that Lippi put an extraordinary amount of faith in him, but sadly, as it seems for his entire Juve career, injuries have disrupted his growth. When Vinnie is unencumbered by physical problems (and eventually gets in form), he is one of the best strikers in Italy. Unfortunately, we’ve seen that in 3-4 month spurts here and there and then he gets injured. This year he was out for 100+ straight days after knee meniscus surgery, taking longer than Marchisio and Buffon combined, who had the same injury. Believe it or not, but he was out for 100+ days, played 1/2 the amount of games Amauri did, and scored 1 more goal in the league than him. Incredible.
BEST MOMENT: No doubt, his MOTM game against Bari in the spring. Scored an excellent goal from a tight angle and then followed up with a nice tap-in later in the game.

Playing in a league where he probably belongs.

AMAURI- 4: Goddddawful. Just terrible. He started the season out in good form, but as the goals were denied with by the post, or super Sorrentino/Julio Sergio saves, his confidence plummeted. And then some. Looked too slow and static up top, couldn’t score with his feet or head, Amauri was awful. And to compound it, he was always seen bitching and whining, often at his teammates. Needs to work on sprinting, playing with the ball at his feet, playing with his face forward, aka learning how to be a striker. 4-4-2 and Delneri may suit him better, but he’s got a LONG ways to go to earning back the fans love. 5 goals in the league, he was outscored by Iaquinta and nearly Chiellini, of all people. And it’d be one thing if he scored once a month, but 4 of his goals came in a one week span
BEST MOMENT: The Genoa goal (see Caceres section) was pretty nice, a solid header with two defenders marking him, but it definitely goes to the Ajax game, in Amsterdam. Before the game in the press conference, Martin Jol identified Amauri as the biggest threat to his team. Juventini laughed. Evidently Jol either knows his team really well, or can predict the future, because Amauri scored a double. (Thanks to some brilliant work from Alessandro Del Piero) Juventini were confused. Jol was angry.

MICHELE PAOLUCCI- s.v.: What a waste of 6 months for the kid.
BEST MOMENT: Giving Blanc and co the finger.

MANAGEMENT:

FERRARA- 4.5: The squad was poorly built, and he had an injury crisis of biblical proportions. That said, he really didn’t seem to be able to get the team to be playing his vision. Ultimately, his inexperience was his downfall- when the team got stuck in a bad rut, he was unable to get us out. Sampdoria got stuck in a bad free fall last January as well, but Delneri tactically got his taem out of it, let’s hope he can show the same balls and brains at Juve.
ZACCHERONI- 5: Poor Zac, he was screwed from the start. He inherited a squad ravaged by injury, and with confidence levels in the team as low as humanly possible. Zac tried, he had some good ideas, and at one point, the team’s confidence appeared to have returned and we were playing decent footy. In one week, that was irreparably destroyed, and he can thank Grygera for most of it. Against Siena, having gone up 3-0 in 10 minutes, we proceeded to concede 3. Confidence plummeted. Then we traveled to Fulham, and in the perfect storm of injuries, suspensions, questionable refereeing decisions, etc, we got mauled 4-1. There was no turning back point after that.
SECCO- 3.5: Diego was a great signing, although not entirely necessary. Melo is a good player, but was the wrong buy from day one. Grosso and Cannavaro were both old, cheap, and far too over-the-hill to play at Juve. The only necessary and excellent signing he made was Caceres, except it was only on loan. Candreva was alright, but one player isn’t going to fix things. Paolucci’s development was set back an entire year because of an unnecessary, stupid, and panicked recall.
AGRICOLA- 0: ‘Nuff said.

Note- You may want to bookmark this page, as I intend to update it in the future. I’m willing to bet that Chimenti punching the wall won’t be the last injury…

Edit: Updated to finish out the season.

Though we failed to sign Aquilani, his spirit pervades over Torino

Sissoko= Fracture to the 5th metatarsal of the left foot and endemic marrow damage.
L'injury, in reality, realized in the 2008-2009 season, in the derby with Torino, March 7th 2009.

• Missed the rest of season 2008-2009
• 2009-2010 Preseason Friendlies
• Missed all 2009-2010 matches up to the 7th matchday of the league, October 4th against Palermo

Returned for the 8th matchday against Fiorentina, October 17th.

De Ceglie= Sprain to the left ankle, occurred during the game Italy-Belarus on June 23rd, 2009.

• Missed the friendly on July 15th against Cisco Roma
• Missed the friendly July 19th against Nancy
• Missed the friendly July 21st against Vicenza
• Missed the Peace Cup first game against Sevilla, July 24th
• Missed the 2nd Peace Cup match, July 28th, against Seongnam
• Missed the Peace Cup semifinal, July 31st, against Real Madrid
• Missed the Peace Cup final, August 2nd, against Aston Villa
• Missed the August 7th friendly against Villarreal
• Missed the August 11th friendly of Villar Perosa

Returned for the TIM Tournament, August 14th, where he took part in the 2nd game against Milan

Giovinco= Subjected July 1st to a nasal surgery, to restore normal respiratory function
The prognosis for his return is about 21 days after the operation.

• Missed the friendly on July 15th against Cisco Roma
• Missed the friendly July 19th against Nancy
• Missed the friendly July 21st against Vicenza
• Missed the Peace Cup first game against Sevilla, July 24th

Returned for the 2nd game of the Peace Cup, July 28th, against Seongnam, where he played the last 30 minutes.

Diego= Muscle fatigue to the right to the quadriceps of the right thigh during training against Sevilla, July 31st

• Missed the Peace Cup semifinal, July 31st, against Real Madrid
• Missed the Peace Cup final, August 2nd, against Aston Villa
• Missed the friendly, August 7th, against Villarreal
• Missed the friendly, August 11th, of Villar Perosa
• Missed the TIM tournament, on August 14th

Returned for the Berlusconi Tournament, August 17th

Giovinco= Hyperextension of the left thigh flexor, during the August 7th game against Villarreal
20 days of rest required

• Missed the August 11th friendly of Villar Perosa
• Missed the TIM Tournament of August 14th
• Missed the Berlusconi Tournament, of August 17th
• Missed the first matchday of the league, August 23rd against Chievo

Returned for the 2nd matchday of the league, against Roma on August 30th

Zebina= Tendonitis to the right Achilles heel

• Missed the August 11th friendly of Villar Perosa
• Missed the TIM Tournament, of August 14th

Returned for the Berlusconi Tournament on August 17th, but reinjured it and missed the first matchday of the league, against Chievo on August 23rd, the 2nd matchday on August 30th against Roma, and the 3rd matchday against Lazio on September 12th.

Returned definitively for the first game of the Champions League, Juventus-Bordeaux, on September 15th.

Almiron= Muscle tear of the first/second degree, to the left thigh, that occured during the Villar Perosa friendly on August 11th.
Expected rest of 15-20 days

• Missed the TIM Tournament on August 14th
• Missed the Berlusconi Tournament on August 17th.

Was subsequently loaned to Bari.

Camoranesi= Bruising trauma to the right ankle, that occurred during the Italy-Swizerland game on August 12th.

• Missed the TIM Tournament on August 14th
• Missed the Berlusconi Tournament on August 17th.

Returned for the first matchday of the league, on August 23rd.

Del Piero= Bruising lower back pain from trauma, occurred during the friendly of Villar Perosa, on August 11th.

• Missed the TIM Tournament, on August 14th.
• Was listed in the call-up list for the Berlusconi Tournament, but was left out of the match and given rest as a precautionary measure for muscle fatigue.
• Missed the first matchday of the league, August 23rd against Chievo, even though he was initially among the callups
• Returned for the 2nd matchday, August 30th against Roma, but did not make an appearance..

Became officially unavailable starting the 3rd matchday, September 12th against Lazio.

• Missed the 3rd matchday against Lazio.
• Missed the first Champion’s League game, September 15th, against Bordeaux.
• Missed the 4th matchday of the league, September 19th against Livorno.
• Missed the 5th matchday of the league, September 24th against Genoa.

Returned for the 6th matchday of the league, September 27th against Bologna, where he played the last 10 minutes.

Marchisio= Mild bruising trauma to the left thigh, occurred during the Italy-Swizerland friendly on August 12th.

• Missed the TIM Tournament, on August 14th

Returned for the Berlusconi Tournament, on August 17th.

Trezeguet= Metatarsal injury on his right foot, noticed during training on August 13th.

• Missed the TIM Tournament, on August 14th.

TReturned for the Berlusconi Tournament, on August 17th.

Tiago= Muscle fatigue to the flexor of the right thigh.

• Missed the Berlusconi tournament, on August 17th.

Returned for the first matchday of the league, on August 23rd.

Salihamidzic= Spraining trauma to the ankle and the left knee during the game against Chievo, on August 23rd.

• Missed the 2nd matchday of the league, against Roma on August 30th.
• Missed the 3rd matchday, September 12th, against Lazio
• Missed the first Champion’s League game, September 15th, against Bordeaux
• Missed the 4th matchday of the league, September 19th, against Livorno

Returned for the 5th matchday of the league, September 24th, against Genoa.

Marchisio= Bruising trauma to the left foot during the game against Roma, August 30th. Also aggravated muscle fatigue to the right femoral muscle of the right thigh.

• Missed the George-Italy game with the Nazionale on September 5th

Returned for the second Nazionale game, Italy-Bulgaria, on September 9th

Grygera= Bruising to the right leg, occurred during the Czech Republic’s game against San Marino on September 9th

• Missed the 3rd matchday of the league, September 12th, against Lazio
• Missed the first Champion’s League game, September 15th, against Bordeaux

Returned for the 4th matchday of the league, September 19th, against Livorno

Diego= Muscle fatigue of the right thigh membrane, occurred during the September 12th game against Lazio

• Missed the first Champion’s League game, September 15th, against Bordeaux.
• Missed the 4th matchday of the league, September 19th, against Livorno.
• Missed the 5th matchday of the league, September 24th, against Genoa.

Returned for the 6th matchday of the league, September 27th, against Bologna.

Cannavaro= Strain of the first grade, of the adductor muscle of the right thigh, during the September 15th game against Bordeaux.
15-20 days of rest expected.

• Missed the 4th matchday of the league, September 19th against Livorno.
• Missed the 5th matchday of the league, September 24th, against Genoa.
• Missed the 6th matchday of the league, September 27th against Bologna.
• Missed the 2nd Champion’s League game, September 30th, against Bayern Munich

Returned to selection the 7th matchday of the league, October 4th, against Palermo, although he did not make an appearance on the field.

Tiago= Contracture of the left thigh flexor, occurred during the Champion’s League match against Bordeaux, September 15th.

• Missed the 4th matchday of the league, September 19th against Livorno.
• Missed the 5th matchday of the league, September 24th, against Genoa.
• Missed the 6th matchday of the league, September 27th against Bologna.

Returned for the 2nd Champion’s League game, September 30th, against Bayern Munich.

Melo= Traumatic sprain to the left ankle, occurred during the Champion’s League match against Bordeaux, September 15th

• Missed the 4th matchday of the league, September 19th, against Livorno.

Returned for the 5th matchday of the league, September 24th, against Genoa.

Salihamidzic= Having returned after an injury sustained in the first matchday against Chievo, he reinjured himself due to a reoccurrying problem during warmup against Genoa, on September 24th.

• Missed the 5th matchday of the league, September 24th, against Genoa.
• Missed the 6th matchday of the league, September 27th, against Bologna

Returned for the 2nd game of the Champion’s League, September 30th, against Bayern Munich.

Salihamidzic = Aggravated an inflammation to the left fibula

• Missed the 7th matchday of the league, Octuber 4th, against Palermo
• Missed the 8th matchday of the league, October 17th, against Fiorentina.
• Missed the 3rd Champion’s League game, October 21st, against Maccabi Haifa.
• Missed the 9th matchday of the league, October 25th, against Siena.
• Missed the 10th matchday of the league, October 28th, against Sampdoria.
• Missed the 11 matchday of the league, October 31st, against Napoli
• Missed the 4th Champion’s League game, November 3rd, against Maccabi Haifa.
• Missed the 12th matchday of the league, November 7th, against Atalanta.
• Missed the 13th matchday of the league, November 22nd, against Udinese.
• Was called up for the Champion’s League game, November 25th, against Bordeaux, but did not take part in it.
• Missed the 14th matchday of the league, November 29th, against Cagliari.
• Missed the 15th matchday of the league, December 5th, against Inter.

Returned for the 6th Champion’s League game, December 8th, against Bayern Munich.

Tiago= Acute pain to the left thigh flexor during the Champion’s League game against Bayern Munich, September 30th.
Further exams revealed a post-bruising swelling to the left femoral bicep muscle
Expected a rest of around 20 days.

• Missed the 7th matchday of the league, Octuber 4th, against Palermo
• Missed the 8th matchday of the league, October 17th, against Fiorentina.
• Missed the 3rd Champion’s League game, October 21st, against Maccabi Haifa.
• Missed the 9th matchday of the league, October 25th, against Siena.
• Missed the 10th matchday of the league, October 28th, against Sampdoria.

Returned for the 11th matchday of the league, October 31st, against Napoli

Del Piero= Strain of the 1st/2nd degree to his left adductor muscle, occurring during training on October 1st.
Expected rest from 30-40 days.

• Missed the 7th matchday of the league, Octuber 4th, against Palermo
• Missed the 8th matchday of the league, October 17th, against Fiorentina.
• Missed the 3rd Champion’s League game, October 21st, against Maccabi Haifa.
• Missed the 9th matchday of the league, October 25th, against Siena.
• Missed the 10th matchday of the league, October 28th, against Sampdoria.
• Missed the 11 matchday of the league, October 31st, against Napoli
• Missed the 4th Champion’s League game, November 3rd, against Maccabi Haifa.
• Missed the 12th matchday of the league, November 7th, against Atalanta.

Returned for the 13th matchday of the league, November 22nd, against Udinese

Marchisio= On October 10th, underwent an arthroscopic surgical procedure on the outer meniscus of the right knee
Expected to be out for 40 days.

• Missed the 2 games with the Nazionale, against Ireland on October 10th, and against Cyprus on October 14th.
• Missed the 8th matchday of the league, October 17th, against Fiorentina.
• Missed the 3rd Champion’s League game, October 21st, against Maccabi Haifa.
• Missed the 9th matchday of the league, October 25th, against Siena.
• Missed the 10th matchday of the league, October 28th, against Sampdoria.
• Missed the 11 matchday of the league, October 31st, against Napoli
• Missed the 4th Champion’s League game, November 3rd, against Maccabi Haifa.
• Missed the 12th matchday of the league, November 7th, against Atalanta.
• Missed the 13th matchday of the league, November 22nd, against Udinese

Returned for the 5th game of the Champion’s League, November 25th, against Bordeaux.

Zebina= Left the pitch during the October 21st game against Maccabi Haifa, due to a tear of the left thigh flexor

• Missed the 9th matchday of the league, October 25th, against Siena.
• Missed the 10th matchday of the league, October 28th, against Sampdoria.
• Missed the 11 matchday of the league, October 31st, against Napoli
• Missed the 4th Champion’s League game, November 3rd, against Maccabi Haifa.
• Missed the 12th matchday of the league, November 7th, against Atalanta.
• Missed the 13th matchday of the league, November 22nd, against Udinese

Returned for the 5th game of the Champion’s League, November 25th, against Bordeaux.

Iaquinta= Injured himself in following a play, which caused a hyperextension of the left knee during morning training before Siena on October 24th.
October 27th, underwent a surgical operation to fix problems with his outer meniscus of the knee, removing hypertropic synovial membrane, and fixing micro-perforations of the cartilage.
The expected rest was 40 days.La prognosi è di 40 giorni.

• Missed the 10th matchday of the league, October 28th, against Sampdoria and all the successive games until Juventus-Palermo on February 28th, 2010.

Returned for the 27th matchday of the league, March 6th, against Fiorentina.

Caceres= Had a surgical operation on October 28th, to fix the fracturing of the nasal bone that occurred during training on October 27th.

• Missed the 10th matchday of the league, October 28th, against Sampdoria.
• Missed the 11th matchday of the league, October 31st, against Napoli.

Returned for the 4th Champion’s League game, November 3rd, against Maccabi Haifa

Sissoko= Strain of the first degree to the adductor muscle of the left thigh, occured during October 28th, against Sampdoria.
Expected to be out for 25 days

• Missed the 11 matchday of the league, October 31st, against Napoli
• Missed the 4th Champion’s League game, November 3rd, against Maccabi Haifa.
• Missed the 12th matchday of the league, November 7th, against Atalanta.

Returned for the 13th matchday of the league, November 22nd, against Udinese.

Trezeguet= Straining trauma to the left calf, during training on November 19th. The diagnosis was a wound of the first degree of the soleus muscle, for which is expected a rest of about 30 days.

• Missed the 13th matchday of the league, November 22nd, against Udinese.
• Missed the 5th Champion’s League game, November 25th, against Bordeaux
• Missed the 14th matchday of the league, November 29th, against Cagliari.

Returned for the 15th matchday of the league, December 5th, against Inter.

Tiago = Stopped due to bruising of the left ankle, that occurred during a game for the Portuguese National Team, in the 2nd leg of the World Cup playoff game, against Bosnia-Herzegovina, on November 18th.

• Missed the 13th matchday of the league, November 22nd, against Udinese.

Returned for the 14th matchday of the league, November 29th, against Cagliari.

Grosso= Muscle fatigue to the right adductor

• Missed the 14th matchday of the league, against Cagliari

Returned for the 15th matchday of the league, December 5th, against Inter.

Chiellini= Was operated on November 30th, to reduce the facture of the nasal bone, that occurred during the 14th matchday of the league, against Cagliari, in a clash with Nene.
Did not miss any games, but played on the pitch in the next few with a protective mask.

Chiellini= Exams showed a small strain trauma to the right posterior, occurring during the last minutes of the match against Inter, December 5th. (Who knew Inter was such a pain in the ass?) Further exams showed a strain of the first grade to the right femoral leg muscle.
Expected rest is 20 days.

• Missed the 6th Champion’s League game, December 8th, against Bayern Munich.
• Missed the 16th matchday of the league, December 12th, against Bari.
• Missed the 17th matchday of the league, December 20th, against Catania

Returned for the 18th matchday of the league, January 6th against Parma.

Sissoko= Strain of the first/second degree to the adductor of the left leg.

• Missed the 6th Champion’s League game, December 8th, against Bayern Munich.
• Missed the 16th matchday of the league, December 12th, against Bari.
• Missed the 17th matchday of the league, December 20th, against Catania
• Missed the 18th matchday of the league, January 6th, against Parma

Was then called up for the African Cup of Nations, and was called off the bench for the first match, January 10th, against Angola. Played the first 66 minutes of the second match, January 14th, against Algeria. Because of international duty, missed the 19th matchday of the league, January 10th, against Milan, the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia, January 13th, against Napoli, and the 20th matchday of the league, January 17th, against Chievo

Returned for the 21st matchday of the league, January 23rd, against Roma.

Camoranesi= Bruising trauma to the right thigh occurred during the December 12th game against Bari. trauma contusivo alla coscia destra rimediato durante la gara del 12 dicembre contro il Bari. The clinical and instrumental exams revealed a large post-traumatic wound to the muscle with residual hematoma.
Expected rest is about 60-70 days

• Missed all the matches from the 17th matchday of the league, December 20th, against Catania, until the 23rd matchday of the league, February 6th, against Livorno.

Returned for the 24th matchday of the league, February 14th, against Genoa, but was not on the bench. Returned to the bench in the next game, February 18th, against Ajax. Entered in the last few minutes of the game against Bologna, on February 21st.

Buffon= Surgical operation on the lateral meniscus of the left knee, scheduled ahead of time.

• Missed the 17th matchday of the league, December 20th, against Catania
• Missed the 18th matchday of the league, January 6th, against Parma.
• Missed the 19th matchday of the league, January 10th, against Milan.
• Missed the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia, January 13th, against Napoli

Returned for the 20th matchday of the league, January 17th, against Chievo.

Molinaro= left the pitch during the first half of the friendly with Al-Ittihad, on December 30th, due to a light trauma to the left knee.

Was loaned to Stuttgart 5 days later.

Trezeguet= 2nd degree distortion to the outside of the right ankle, occurred during a clash with Panucci in the game against Parma, on January 6th.
Expected rest is about 40 days.

• Missed the 19th matchday of the league, January 10th, against Milan
• Missed the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia, January 13th, against Napoli.
• Missed the 20th matchday of the league, January 17th, against Chievo.
• Missed the 21st matchday of the league, January 23rd, against Roma.
• Missed the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia, January 28th, against Inter
• Missed the 22nd matchday of the league, January 31st, against Lazio.
• Missed the 23rd matchday of the league, February 6th, against Livorno.
• Missed the 24th matchday of the league, February 14th, against Genoa.

Returned for the last 32 round of the Europa League, February 18th, against Ajax, where he played the last 10 minutes.

Giovinco= Strain of the 1st/2nd degree to the femoral bicep muscle of the left thigh, during morning training on January 8th.
Expected rest for fully recovery is 25-30 days.

• Missed the 19th matchday of the league, January 10th, against Milan
• Missed the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia, January 13th, against Napoli.
• Missed the 20th matchday of the league, January 17th, against Chievo.
• Missed the 21st matchday of the league, January 23rd, against Roma.
• Missed the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia, January 28th, against Inter

Returned for the 22nd matchday of the league, January 31st, against Lazio.

Poulsen= Injured in the January 10th game against Milan. Clinical exams, other than severe bruising, revealed a compound facture of the left fibula.
Expected rest is 45 days.

• Missed the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia, January 13th, against Napoli.
• Missed the 20th matchday of the league, January 17th, against Chievo.
• Missed the 21st matchday of the league, January 23rd, against Roma.
• Missed the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia, January 28th, against Inter
• Missed the 22nd matchday of the league, January 31st, against Lazio.
• Missed the 23rd matchday of the league, February 6th, against Livorno.
• Missed the 24th matchday of the league, February 14th, against Genoa.
• Missed the round of 16 of the Europa League, February 18th, against Ajax. Missed the 25th matchday of the league, February 21st, against Bologna.
•
• Missed the return leg of the Europa League game against Ajax, February 25th
• Missed the 26th matchday of the league, February 28th, against Palermo

Returned for the 27th matchday of the league, March 6th, against Fiorentina.

Caceres= Strain of the first degree to the semitendon, occurred in the January 13th Coppa Italia match against Napoli.
Expected rest for a complete recovery is around 20 days.

• Missed the 20th matchday of the league, January 17th, against Chievo.
• Missed the 21st matchday of the league, January 23rd, against Roma.
• Missed the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia, January 28th, against Inter

Returned for the 22nd matchday of the league, January 31st, against Lazio.

Cannavaro= Was operated on January 18th, to fix the fracture of the nasal cavity, occurred during the 20th matchday against Chievo, in a clash with Granoche.
Did not miss a game, but had to play the next few with a protective mask.

Grygera=Was operated on January 18th, to fix the fracture of the nasal cavity, occurred during the 20th matchday against Chievo, in a clash with Granoche.
Did not miss a game, but had to play the next few with a protective mask. (No, that is not an accidental copy of Cannavaro’s injury)

Marchisio= Strain of the first grade, to the femoral muscle of the right thigh, occurred during the match against Roma, January 23rd.
The expected rest for complete recovery is around 20 days.

• Missed the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia, January 28th, against Inter
• Missed the 22nd matchday of the league, January 31st, against Lazio.
• Missed the 23rd matchday of the league, February 6th, against Livorno.

Returned for selection for the 24th matchday of the league, February 14th, against Genoa.

Salihamidzic= Hyperextension of the left leg muscle, occurred during training on January 26th.

• Missed the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia, January 28th, against Inter
• Missed the 22nd matchday of the league, January 31st, against Lazio.
• Missed the 23rd matchday of the league, February 6th, against Livorno.

Returned for the 24th matchday of the league, January 14th, against Genoa.

Cannavaro= Left during the February 6th match against Livorno, due to muscle fatigue to the right thigh.

• Missed the 24th matchday of the league, February 14th, against Genoa.
• Missed the 2nd leg of the Europa League match with Ajax, February 18th, though officially he was left to rest due to a light case of sciata pain.

Returned for the 25th matchday of the league, February 21st, against Bologna.

Chimenti= An injury which it is not known the nature, as the society never issued a note (I swear, he’s not on a salary)

• Missed the 24th matchday of the league, February 14th, against Genoa.
• Missed the round of 16 of the Europa League, February 18th, against Ajax. Missed the 25th matchday of the league, February 21st, against Bologna.
•
• Missed the return leg of the Europa League game against Ajax, February 25th
• Missed the 26th matchday of the league, February 28th, against Palermo
• Missed the 27th matchday of the league, March 6th, against Fiorentina
• Missed the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, March 11th, against Fulham.

Returned for the 28th matchday of the league, March 14th, against Siena.

Caceres= Abdominal problem, perhaps a sports hernia

• Missed the round of 16 of the Europa League, February 18th, against Ajax. (Although he was called up)
• Missed the 25th matchday of the league, February 21st, against Bologna.
•
• Missed the return leg of the Europa League game against Ajax, February 25th
• Missed the 26th matchday of the league, February 28th, against Palermo
• Missed the 27th matchday of the league, March 6th, against Fiorentina
• Missed the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, March 11th, against Fulham.
• Missed the 28th matchday of the league, March 14th, against Siena
• Missed the 2nd leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, March 18th, against Fulham
• Missed the 29th matchday of the league, March 21st, against Sampdoria.•
• Missed the 30th matchday of the league, March 25th, against Napoli
• Missed the 31st matchday of the league, March 28th, against Atalanta
• Missed the 32nd matchday of the league, April 3rd, against Udinese
• Missed the 33rd matchday of the league, April 11th, against Cagliari
• Missed the 34th matchday of the league, April 16th, against Inter
• Missed the 35th matchday of the league, April 25th, against Bari
• Missed the 36th matchday of the league, May 2nd, against Catania. Although initially called up, he remained in the stands.

Returned for the 37th matchday of the league, May 9th, against Parma, where he played as a starter.

Giovinco= Moderate muscle fatigue to the bilateral flexor of the right posterior thigh.

• Missed the 25th matchday of the league, February 21st, against Bologna.
•
• Missed the return leg of the Europa League game against Ajax, February 25th
• Missed the 26th matchday of the league, February 28th, against Palermo
• Missed the 27th matchday of the league, March 6th, against Fiorentina
• Missed the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, March 11th, against Fulham.
• Missed the 28th matchday of the league, March 14th, against Siena
• Missed the 2nd leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, March 18th, against Fulham
• Missed the 29th matchday of the league, March 21st, against Sampdoria, though initially called up


Returned for the 30th matchday of the league, March 25th, against Napoli

Buffon= Strain of the 1st/2nd degree, to the adductor muscle of the right thigh, during training February 23rd.
The expected rest for full recovery is about 30 days.

• • Missed the return leg of the Europa League game against Ajax, February 25th
• Missed the 26th matchday of the league, February 28th, against Palermo
• Missed the 27th matchday of the league, March 6th, against Fiorentina
• Missed the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, March 11th, against Fulham.
• Missed the 28th matchday of the league, March 14th, against Siena
• Missed the 2nd leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, March 18th, against Fulham
• Missed the 29th matchday of the league, March 21st, against Sampdoria.
• Missed the 30th matchday of the league, March 25th, against Napoli.
• Missed the 31st matchday of the league, March 28th, against Atalanta.
• Missed the 32nd matchday of the league, April 3rd, against Udinese.


Returned for the 33rd matchday of the league, April 11th, against Cagliari

Grosso= Light muscular fatigue, reports not very precise.

• Missed the 2nd leg of the Europa League round of 16 against Ajax

Returned for the 26th matchday of the league, February 28th, against Palermo

Amauri= Strain of the first degree to the tendon of the left femor, occurred 12 minutes in the 1st half of the return leg of the Europa League, February 25th, against Ajax.
Expected rest is about 25 days.

• Missed the 26th matchday of the league, February 28th, against Palermo
• Missed the 27th matchday of the league, March 6th, against Fiorentina
• Missed the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, March 11th, against Fulham.
• Missed the 28th matchday of the league, March 14th, against Siena
• Missed the 2nd leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, March 18th, against Fulham.
• Missed the 29th matchday of the league, March 21st, against Sampdoria, though initially called up, he remained in the stands

Returned for the 30th matchday of the league, March 25th, against Napoli.

Camoranesi= Muscle fatigue to the right femoral quadricep, occurred during the February 25th match against Ajax.

• Missed the 26th matchday of the league, February 28th, against Palermo
• Missed the 27th matchday of the league, March 6th, against Fiorentina

Returned for the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, March 11th, against Fulham.

Salihamidzic= Ended up in the stands, although he was called up, in the February 28th game against Palermo, due to a discomfort to the right thigh, during pre-game warmups.

• Missed the 26th matchday of the league, February 28th, although he was initially called up.

Returned for the 27th matchday of the league, March 6th, against Fiorentina.

Chiellini= Strain to the right leg flexor, occurred during the March 6th match against Fiorentina. Despite the injury, the player was required to stay on the pitch for the final minutes because all substitutions had been used.

• Missed the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, March 11th, against Fulham.
• Missed the 28th matchday of the league, March 14th, against Siena
• Missed the 2nd leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, March 18th, against Fulham.

Returned for the 29th matchday of the league, March 21st, against Sampdoria.

Paolucci= Received a blow to the knee during training on March 10th. The news came from the newspapers, there was nothing reported on the official website.

• Salta l’andata degli ottavi di finale di Europa League dell’ 11 marzo contro il Fulham
• Missed the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, March 11th, against Fulham.
• Missed the 28th matchday of the league, March 14th, against Siena
• Missed the 2nd leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, March 18th, against Fulham.
• Missed the 29th matchday of the league, March 21st, against Sampdoria.

Manninger= Strain of the first degree to the right femoral thigh muscle, before the game on March 14th with Siena.
Expected to be out 15-20 days.

• Missed the 28th matchday of the league, March 14th, against Siena
• Missed the 2nd leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, March 18th, against Fulham.br />• Missed the 29th matchday of the league, March 21st, against Sampdoria

Returned for the 30th matchday of the league, March 25th, against Napoli.

Marchisio= Didn’t return for the 2nd half in the March 14th game against, Siena, due to a problem with his back. Suffered, however, from the flu in the days preceding the first game against Fulham. Despite being required to skip training, he played in the game and in the next against Siena on March 14th.

• Missed the 2nd leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, March 18th, against Fulham though he was initially called up.

De Ceglie= Light strain and trauma to the left ankle, during the Europa League 2nd leg against Fulham, March 18th.

• Missed the 29th matchday of the league, March 21st, against Sampdoria.
• Missed the 30th matchday of the league, March 25th, against Napoli, although he was called up and on the bench, he missed the next game likely due to the same issue.
• Missed the 30th matchday of the league, March 28th, against Atalanta.

Returned for the 32nd matchday of the league, April 3rd, against Udinese.

Chimenti= Angrily punched a table after conceding Cassano’s goal, and fractured his hand.

•Missed the 30th matchday of the league, March 25th, against Napoli.
•Missed the 31st matchday of the league, March 28th, against Atalanta.
•Missed the 32nd matchday of the league, April 3rd, against Udinese.
•Missed the 33rd matchday of the league, April 11th, against Cagliari.
•Missed the 34th matchday of the league, April 16th, against Inter.
•Missed the 35th matchday of the league, April 25th, against Bari.
•Missed the 36th matchday of the league, May 2nd, against Catania.
•Missed the 37th matchday of the league, May 9th, against Parma.
•Missed the 38th matchday of the league, May 15th, against Milan.

Finished the season injured.

Del Piero= Contusive bruising to the left ankle occurred from a tackle during Sampdoria-Juventus, however, he participated as a starter in the next game against Napoli

Iaquinta= Strain to the left femoral quadricep

•Missed the 30th matchday of the league, March 25th, against Napoli.
•Missed the 30th matchday of the league, March 25th, against Napoli.
•Missed the 31st matchday of the league, March 28th, against Atalanta.

Returned for the 32nd matchday of the league, April 3rd, against Udinese.

Salihamidzic= Strain to the left posterior upper thigh

•Missed the 30th matchday of the league, March 25th, against Napoli.
•Missed the 30th matchday of the league, March 25th, against Napoli.
•Missed the 31st matchday of the league, March 28th, against Atalanta.

Returned for the 32nd matchday of the league, April 3rd, against Udinese.

Poulsen= Left in the 9th minute in the game against Napoli, complaining of serious bruising to the left fibula.

•Missed the 31st matchday of the league, March 28th, against Atalanta.
•Missed the 32nd matchday of the league, April 3rd, against Udinese.

Returned for the 33rd matchday of the league, April 11th, against Cagliari.

Chiellini= Muscle fatigue in the left femoral bicep, occurring during the March 25th game against Napoli

•Missed the 31st matchday of the league, March 28th, against Atalanta.
•Missed the 32nd matchday of the league, April 3rd, against Udinese.

Returned for the 33rd matchday of the league, April 11th, against Cagliari.>Diego= Muscle fatigue in the long adductor of his right leg, left in the 36th minute in the game against Atalanta

•Missed the 32nd matchday of the league, April 3rd, against Udinese.
•Missed the 33rd matchday of the league, April 11th, against Cagliari.

Returned for the 34th matchday of the league, April 16th, against Inter.

Giovinco= Tear of the 2nd degree to the tendon of the left leg, occurring during the April 11th game against Cagliari. To recover, 40-45 days required, so season finished.

•Missed the 34th matchday of the league, April 16th, against Inter.
•Missed the 35th matchday of the league, April 25th, against Bari.
•Missed the 36th matchday of the league, May 2nd, against Catania.
•Missed the 37th matchday of the league, May 9th, against Parma.
•Missed the 38th matchday of the league, May 15th, against Milan.

Finished the season injured.

Grygera= Tear of the 1st degree to the right femoral bicep, occurring during the warmup for Inter-Juventus on April 16th, about 20 days required to recuperate.

•Missed the 34th matchday of the league, April 16th, against Inter.
•Missed the 35th matchday of the league, April 25th, against Bari.
•Missed the 36th matchday of the league, May 2nd, against Catania.
•Missed the 37th matchday of the league, May 9th, against Parma.
•Missed the 38th matchday of the league, May 15th, against Milan.

Finished the season injured.

Trezeguet=Strain of the left femoral bicep, about 15 days required to recover

•Missed the 34th matchday of the league, April 16th, against Inter.
•Missed the 35th matchday of the league, April 25th, against Bari.
•Missed the 36th matchday of the league, May 2nd, against Catania.

Returned for the 37th matchday of the league, May 9th, against Parma.

Marchisio= Left in the 77th minute of the Inter-Juventus game, because of bruising to the left knee. Was called up for the game April 25th against Bari, though left in the 78th mintue with a cramp to the calf, owing to having not trained in the week due to the blow to the knee from the Inter game a week earlier

Sissoko= Inflammation to the right Achilles tendon, expected to be out for 20-25 days

•Missed the 36th matchday of the league, May 2nd, against Catania.
•Missed the 37th matchday of the league, May 9th, against Parma.
•Missed the 38th matchday of the league, May 15th, against Milan.

Finished the season injured.

Zebina= Not called up to the game against Parma, due to unnamed physical problems

•Missed the 37th matchday of the league, May 9th, against Parma.

Returned for the 38th matchday of the league, May 15th, against Milan.

Paolucci= Not called up to the game against Parma, due to general aches and pains from a friendly against Santhia on May 6th

•Missed the 37th matchday of the league, May 9th, against Parma.

Returned for the 38th matchday of the league, May 15th, against Milan.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

1) Juventus-Chievo (23/08/09)
Giovinco, Sissoko, Zebina, Del Piero + Melo (suspended)

2) Roma-Juventus (30/08/09)
Salihamidzic, Sissoko e Zebina

3) Lazio-Juventus (12/09/09)
Salihamidzic, Sissoko, Zebina, Del Piero e Grygera

4) Juventus-Livorno (19/09/09)
Del Piero, Diego, Melo, Cannavaro, Tiago, Salihamidzic e Sissoko

5) Genoa-Juventus (24/09/09)
Del Piero, Diego, Cannavaro, Tiago e Sissoko

6) Juventus-Bologna (27/09/09)
Cannavaro, Tiago, Salihamidzic e Sissoko. Grosso given a round of rest

7) Palermo-Juventus (04/10/09)
Del Piero, Tiago, Salihamidzic e Sissoko. Marchisio given a round of rest

Juventus-Fiorentina (17/10/09)
Del Piero, Tiago, Salihamidzic e Marchisio

9) Siena-Juventus (25/10/09)
Del Piero, Tiago, Zebina, Salihamidzic e Marchisio. Iaquinta, though called up, in the stands.

10) Juventus-Sampdoria (28/10/09)
Del Piero, Tiago, Salihamidzic, Marchisio, Zebina, Iaquinta e Caceres

11) Juventus-Napoli (31/10/09)
Del Piero, Salihamidzic, Marchisio, Iaquinta, Zebina, Caceres e Sissoko

12) Atalanta-Juventus (7/11/09)
Del Piero, Salihamidzic, Marchisio, Iaquinta, Sissoko, Zebina + Amauri (suspended)

13) Juventus-Udinese (22/11/09)
Salihamidzic, Marchisio, Iaquinta, Tiago, Trezeguet e Zebina

14) Cagliari-Juventus (29/11/09)
Grosso, Salihamidzic, Iaquinta e Trezeguet

15) Juventus-Inter (05/12/09)
Iaquinta e Salihamidzic

16) Bari-Juventus (12/12/09)
Iaquinta, Chiellini, Sissoko + Melo (suspended)

17) Juventus-Catania (20/12/09)
Iaquinta, Chiellini, Sissoko, Camoranesi, Buffon + Poulsen (suspended)

18) Parma-Juventus (06/01/10)
Buffon, Iaquinta, Sissoko, Camoranesi + Cannavaro (suspended)

19) Juventus-Milan (10/01/10)
Iaquinta, Sissoko, Camoranesi, Buffon, Trezeguet, Giovinco + Caceres (suspended)

20) Chievo-Juventus (17/01/10)
Iaquinta, Sissoko, Camoranesi, Trezeguet, Giovinco, Poulsen, Caceres + Amauri (suspended)

21) Juventus-Roma (21/01/10)
Iaquinta, Camoranesi, Trezeguet, Poulsen, Giovinco, Caceres + Melo (suspended)

22) Juventus-Lazio (31/01/10)
Iaquinta, Camoranesi, Trezeguet, Salihamidzic, Marchisio, Poulsen + Buffon e Grosso (suspended)

23) Livorno-Juventus (06/02/10)
Iaquinta, Camoranesi, Trezeguet, Salihamidzic, Marchisio, Poulsen + Grygera e Sissoko (suspended)

24) Juventus-Genoa (14/02/10)
Iaquinta, Trezeguet, Poulsen, Chimenti e Cannavaro + Melo (suspended). Camoranesi in tribuna

25) Bologna-Juventus (21/02/10)
Iaquinta, Poulsen, Chimenti, Caceres e Giovinco (officially as a precaution)

26) Juventus-Palermo (28/02/10)
Iaquinta, Poulsen, Chimenti, Caceres, Giovinco, Amauri, Camoranesi, Buffon e Salihamidzic (although called up) + Marchisio (suspended)

27) Fiorentina-Juventus (06/03/10)
Chimenti, Caceres, Giovinco, Amauri, Camoranesi e Buffon

28) Juventus-Siena (14/03/10)
Buffon, Caceres, Giovinco, Amauri, Chiellini, Paolucci, Manninger (initially called up) + Zebina (suspended)

29) Sampdoria-Juventus (21/03/10)
Buffon, Caceres e Paolucci

30) Napoli-Juventus (25/03/10)
Buffon, Caceres, Chimenti, Iaquinta e Salihamidzic + Sissoko (for mourning) e Legrottaglie (suspended)

31) Juventus-Atalanta (28/03/10)
Buffon, Chimenti, Caceres, Chiellini, Iaquinta, Salihamidzic, Poulsen e De Ceglie + Camoranesi (suspended)

32) Udinese-Juventus (03/04/10)
Buffon, Chimenti, Caceres, Chiellini, Poulsen e Diego.

33) Juventus-Cagliari (11/04/10)
Chimenti, Caceres e Diego + Sissoko (suspended)

34) Inter-Juventus (16/04/10)
Trezeguet, Grygera, Caceres, Chimenti e Giovinco

35) Juventus-Bari (25/04/10)
Chimenti, Giovinco, Grygera, Caceres e Trezeguet + Sissoko e Melo (suspended)

36) Catania-Juventus (02/05/10)
Chimenti, Giovinco, Grygera, Trezeguet, Sissoko e Caceres

37) Juventus-Parma (09/05/10)
Chimenti, Giovinco, Grygera, Sissoko, Paolucci e Zebina + Salihamidzic (suspended)

38) Milan-Juventus (15/05/10)
Chimenti, Giovinco, Grygera e Sissoko

1) Juventus-Bordeaux (15/09/09)
Del Piero,Grygera,Sissoko,Salihamidzic e Diego

2) Bayern Munich-Juventus (30/09/09)
Cannavaro e Sissoko

3) Juventus-Maccabi Haifa (21/10/09)
Del Piero,Tiago,Salihamidzic e Marchisio

4) Maccabi Haifa-Juventus (03/11/09)
Del Piero,Salihamidzic,Marchisio,Iaquinta,Zebina e Sissoko

5) Bordeaux-Juventus (25/11/09)
Iaquinta e Trezeguet

6) Juventus-Bayern Munich (08/12/09)
Sissoko,Chiellini e Iaquinta

Round of Sixteen: Juventus-Napoli (13/01/10)
Buffon,Sissoko,Iaquinta,Camoranesi,Trezeguet,Giovinco,Poulsen + Marchisio (suspended)

Quarterfinals: Inter-Juventus (28/01/10)
Iaquinta,Camoranesi,Trezeguet,Giovinco,Poulsen,Marchisio,Caceres,Salihamidzic e Del Piero (gastroenteritis)

Round of Sixteen (1st Leg): Ajax-Juventus (18/02/10)
Iaquinta, Poulsen, Chimenti e Cannavaro (officially given rest, due to a slight schiatic problem). Caceres, called up, in the stands due to abdominal problem.

Round of Sixteen (2nd Leg): Juventus-Ajax (25/02/10)
Iaquinta, Poulsen, Chimenti, Caceres, Giovinco, Buffon, Grosso + Salihamidzic (suspended)

Quarterfinals (1st Leg): Juventus-Fulham (11/03/10)
Buffon, Chimenti, Caceres, Giovinco, Amauri, Chiellini e Paolucci + Melo (suspended)

Quarterfinals (2nd Leg): Fulham-Juventus (18/03/10)
Buffon, Manninger, Caceres, Giovinco, Amauri, Chiellini, Paolucci e Marchisio (in the stands, though initially called up) + Legrottaglie (suspended)