We’ve officially entered the second half, ladies and gentleman.

“Winter Champions” has a nice ring to it, huh? Now we can all walk around with a little extra hop in our step with our ADP or Marchisio jerseys on. Ah, but you all know what will be better than winning the first half of the season, so I don’t have to remind you.

I’ll just be Mr. Cliché and look at things one game at a time.

Weren’t Juve just playing these dudes from Udine? Yeah, they were. Thanks to all the confusion that had to do with the Serie A strike, for the second time in five weeks, Juventus will be matched up against its bianconeri brethren. But now it’s in our house, the beautiful palace that should be rocking from opening whistle to hopefully the final one.

And as we sit just a few days away from February, each game gets even that much more important — especially against a team that is just a win on Saturday away from tying Juve on points.

Here’s to hoping this sporting event turns out a lot better than the one I sat and watched in my recliner six days ago. (You’re welcome, John.)

Le chiavi: Martin Caceres is signed, sealed, and delivered. Happy day, happy day!

Okay, I got that out of the way. Now back to Udinese.

Conte has switching around his formation in recent weeks. Will he go with a three-man defense like he did against Roma in the midweek Coppa match? Stay with four a the back? Most reports seem to think that Conte will indeed go with a 3-5-2. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. (Check out this quality piece from James Horncastle on the subject.) This may be the Mister’s biggest decision of them all. Seeing how well the three-man defense went against Roma, I wouldn’t be surprised if he went in that direction again against Udine.

Also of note is who Conte will go with up front. Does he stick with the slumping Alessandro Matri, or go with Marco Borriello? Quags or Il Capitano? Borriello had a very good showing against his former club, Roma, in the Coppa Italia match and could be handed his first Serie A start with Juve if Conte feels Matri isn’t the best option.

Speaking of guys who have scored a few goals in their career, keeping Antonio Di Natale in check is obviously one of the biggest keys to this game for Juventus. Toto himself has scored more goals (14) than the Juventus D has allowed (12) this season. Let’s hope that the defense can do the same kind of job they did on Di Natale last time these two teams played and that his form against Juve — only three goals in 12 games — stays the same.

Good news: No Juventus players are suspended for this one, while Marchisio and Pepe after picking up a knock against Atalanta. And we all know how Marchisio likes to score amazing goals against Udinese.

Udinese also have a trio of players — Mehdi Benatia, Kwadwo Asamoah, and Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu — away at the African Cup of Nations, which makes Guidolin’s squad selection that much more limited.

Bad news: No Vucinic at Conte’s disposal. The knock to his knee he picked up against Atalanta last weekend is still bothering him, so he will be watching from the stands when his teammates take on Udinese.

My starting XI (3-5-2): San Gigi; Bon Bon, Dre, Giorgio of the Jungle; Mr. Swiss, King Arthur, John Bon Pirlo, Principino, Esti; Quags, Matri

Juve probable XI: I really have no idea. Will Conte go 3-5-2, 4-3-3 or 4-4-2?

Udinese probable XI: (3-5-1-1): Handanovic; Ferronetti, Danilo, Domizzi; Basta, Isla, Fernandes, Armero, Pasquale; Abdi; Di Natale

IN CONTE WE TRUST! AND WIN ONE ON BUFFON’S BIRTHDAY!

Juve was certainly in complete control of the match, but things weren’t exactly going their way. Does that makes sense? I hope it does. Juventus attempted 29 shots against Cesena. TWENTY-NINE. They had 74 percent of the possession. And this was without Andrea Pirlo and his glorious hair on the field. But only eight of those were on goal. Not exactly a kind of ratio we were all hoping for.

But like we’ve seen in the previous couple of seasons, it was a match that Juve might have dropped points in. Be it a fluke equalizer late by (insert low-table team here) or continuous chances being blown, the past few editions of our beloved Bianconeri had found a way to come away with one or no points rather than three in the kinds of games against teams they should beat.

Yes, it should’ve been put away much earlier, but they got the job done. Three more points and back on top of the table. Business has been taken care of.

LE PAGELLE:

Buffon: 6 – Only had to make one save, and that wasn’t even difficult. Probably could have sat on a Chaise lounge chair with Alena and it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. It was nice of the guys to pass it back to Gigi every now and then to make sure he was still awake.

Lichtsteiner: 6.5 – Back to normal for the Swiss right back. He did his usual running, got involved in the offense frequently. With Cesena sitting back and defending the whole time, Licht was able to push up as much as he wanted to. Getting Forrest Gump back to normal was definitely a good sight considering how much he struggled — especially defensively — against Napoli.

Barzagli: 6.5 – If I were to tell you that he’s the only guy to play in every single minute, what would you say? Crazy, isn’t it? Didn’t have to do much with Cesena sitting back trying to weather the Juve storm in front of their goal, but he didn’t have any major screw ups either. Sound performance.

Bonucci: 6.5 – The only blemish for Leo was his screw up in the match’s opening moments. Other than that, things were solid. There was no Napoli hangover. Obviously we’ll see in the coming matches against more attack-minded teams (Hi, Udinese) whether that is still the case.

Chiellini: 6.5 – Like his teammate on the other flank, was really able to push up the field with Cesena doing nothing on offense. Had a part in a lot of the attacks, be it crosses or going more centrally toward the middle of the pitch.

Marchisio: 7 – On a night where goals were extremely hard to come by for the Juve offense, leave it to Il Principino to get the game-winner. An extremely well taken effort, both with his first touch and then the finish with his left foot, for his sixth (!!) goal of the campaign. I love this man.

Vidal: 7.5 – He was an absolute warrior in the midfield; Vidal was all over the place against Cesena — breaking up a potential attack, contributing to his own team’s attack. The stats back it up: 91 percent pass accuracy, 10 tackles. Had the assist on Marchisio’s opener and then got a goal of his own with the late penalty. Man of the Match.

Pazienza: 6.5 – He’s certainly not Pirlo out there, but it was a smart match from Pazienza. Did his work, put in a good shift. A solid performance by the former Napoli man making his first start of the season. Now back to your role of being the official victory sub, Michele.

Pepe: 6 – Oh, Simone. Where were your finishing boots from the previous three games? Pepe had three incredible chances in the 2nd half to put his name on the score sheet for a 4th consecutive game. He didn’t finish any of them, blasting one right at Antonioli, one over the bar, and heading one just wide.

Matri: 5.5 – A frustrating night for Matri, without a doubt. Had chances but never really got into the flow of things in front of the goal. Was definitely a battle for him against Cesena. First time in a long time he had been substituted for that early in the second half.

Vucinic: 5.5 – He definitely had a better first half than he did against Napoli, but it just seems like there’s something missing with Mirko. He was involved in setting up some scoring opportunities, had a few scoring chances of his own, but he’s still struggling with that final step involved in scoring a goal. Was correctly yanked by Conte early in the second half.

Subs:

Quagliarella: 5.5 – Wait, Quags is allowed to play before 80 minutes is off the clock? Huh, who knew? He struggled to make a huge impact on the match. Understandable seeing how little he’s played this season.

Del Piero: sv – Finally got a chance to get a good chunk of playing time. But within eight minutes, he was being carried off the field after being kicked in the head. What about that backheel when he was in, though? Sexy.

Giaccherini: 6 – He came on after Del Piero had to be taken off. Got involved right off the bat and subsequently crashed into Antonioli for the resulting penalty.

Coach:

Conte: 7 – He’s now in charge of the only team in Europe to not lose a game this season. It’s incredible how well this squad is doing under Conte. He went back to the usual 4-3-3 setup and it looked much, much better. Obviously playing against a team that was just sitting back and defending the whole time helped, but there wasn’t any kind of tactical madness and chaos like there was against Napoli. Extra kudos for his celebration after Marchisio’s goal. He’s such a Juventino.

Things I think I think

#1: Only Il Capitano posts a picture of himself in an ambulance on Facebook to let everybody know he’s okay.

#2: That wasn’t a red card on Antonioli. That wasn’t even a penalty. And you might be saying right now “WAY TO STICK UP FOR THE KEEPER, YOU BIASED PUNK.” Yeah, well, the ref got both of the calls wrong.

Now I will patiently wait for everybody to disagree with me.

#3: So if that’s a red card in the ref’s mind, how is Rossi booting ADP in the face not a card? I don’t get it. Rossi was already on a yellow, give him another and he’s done … OH NOEZ! Incidental or not, that kind of challenge has to warrant something, right? I mean, Del Piero’s head needed eight stitches, so he obviously got a pretty good knock.

#4: Finish 2011 on a high note. Four more matches — three Serie A, one Coppa (this Thursday) — before the Christmas/New Years break. A struggling Roma side is next, then Novara, and finally Udinese. Those are all winnable matches, with the match at Udine being the toughest. Get nine out of nine points and things will be looking awfully nice going into a few weeks of vacation. Make it happen, boys.

THE JUVENTUS OFFSIDE SHITLIST:

- Krasic: Another game on the bench for poor Meelosh.

- Zebina: (lifetime award)

- Amauri: (lifetime award) #IBlameAmauri

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

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

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

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

LE PAGELLE:

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

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

Kissing 2 points goodbye?

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

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

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

Things I Think I Think:

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

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

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

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

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

Angry Gigi is angry

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LE PAGELLE:

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

Motta: 4.5- We all knew it was coming. From last week’s review- “Funny as hell that Grosso and Motta have decent games, and neither of them have the opportunity to repeat it next week- Grosso is suspended for yellow card accumulation, and Motta of course was injured. I don’t think either of them would have had a good game against Genoa anyways, so it’s a blessing both happened. I nearly threw my laptop out the window when I saw them lining up against Roma. One good performance doesn’t change the fact that they’re both shit and need to leave this summer. Picked apart time and time again.
Bonucci: 5- A very disappointing performance from Leonardo, who has been in poor form for much of the Spring. However, that’s to expected- he needs more playing time, not less. Let’s not forget, this is his 2nd season in Serie A, and going from Bari to Juve is a big jump. He will make mistakes, yes, but at the beginning of the season we knew we had a talented, though very inexperienced young player. I’ve heard a few comments of “sell Bonucci” which I assume were in the heat of the moment, but utterly pointless. Was shaky in the first have especially positionally- I think covering for Motta and his own goal badly affected him.
Barzagli: 6- Aside from losing Floro Flores for his goal, Andrea had a relatively composed match at the back. A fairly trustworthy 3rd-choice center back, let’s hope we never have to see his Palermo form.
Traore: 5.5- Story of his Juve career- he runs and runs, and doesn’t make and horrible mistakes, although Genoa didn’t attack much down his flank. But did he do anything useful? Not really.

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

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

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

Things I Think I Think:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh and one more time for good measure…

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

[From the Gazzetta dello Sport-] We’re here with Marco Storari, perhaps the best #12 in the world. One who doesn’t speak out because Gigi Buffon is in front of him, but rather one who considers himself always a starter. The positive results of this attitude resulted in Roma-Juventus, a performance of a madman, with world class saves. “And to think I only knew I’d play two hours before the match!”

After the match, perhaps you let out some too strong words. Is Delneri really blind?”

- (Grins) “I want to quickly clear this up. With the mister, I explained myself immediately after I returned into the locker room. My good faith shouldn’t be put into discussion. I spoke after the final whistle, I was euphoric both for my personal performance, but also for the victory, an important, a critical one for the team. Certainly, I said things that could lend themselves to worse interpretations, but truly, I never wanted to offend anyone.”

Buffon himself was involved in your statement. Have you spoken about it with him?
- “No, I haven’t spoken with him yet.”

Some interpreted it as some lingering anger for your treatment following Gigi’s recovery.
- “I thought I did well in the first half of the season, and I surely would have caused some controversy if it was anyone but Buffon to pull me from my position. The terms with the club have always been very clear, my role was to minimize how much the club missed Gigi until his return. I knew that I would probably finish on the bench.”

What kind of relationship is there between you and Buffon?
- “Mutual respect.”

Are you ready to spend another year with him?
- “We’re only thinking about trying to finish this season well, then we’ll see what happens. I always consider myself a starter. I train as if I was going to play every Sunday. That’s how I climbed the positions at Milan, and only training this way, do you not mess up the few opportunities that you get. At 34 years old, I still have plenty desire to play, but Juve is Juve, regardless of anything. When you arrive at the top, you need to think things over well before taking drastic decisions.”

If Marotta proposed a contract extension to 2014?
- “I’d sign immediately!”

So you are ready to stay, even if Buffon does?
- “The truth is I feel rather tied to this club, to this project. I was one of the first signings, I arrived here because of those planning this project. In a certain sense, Agnelli and Marotta also risked with me, and now I like the idea of repaying their faith in me. I really like the idea of being here when Juve returns to winning, and that will happen soon. Those who think that this project is a very long term one is wrong, next year we will be among those that count. The base is solid, now we need an injection of experience to this group, people who will make our quality rise, to that of a winning mentality.”

How’s your relationship with the fans?
- “Very beautiful. I can truly tell you that the most beautiful moment I’ve ever experienced on the bench was here, against Bari, the day Buffon returned as starter. The whole stadio was swept with songs of love and applause for me. Those are the type of things that stay with you, that tie you stronger to an environment.”

Pazzini to Inter, Cassano to Milan, and you to Juve: All of Samp has emigrated to the “paradise of calcio”, what does that make you think?
- “That evidently Marotta and his team understand a lot about calcio. Another guarantee for Juve.”

Meanwhile, the Champion’s League is again with your reach.
- “No declarations, in the past, that only ended badly. We’ll live by the matchday, sweat blood in every match, and later count the balance. This should be our objective. From here, I want to see seven Juve’s like that in Rome, a compact and concentrated team. One that follows Delneri’s instructions, a coach who is very important still to us in the locker room, who knew how to transmit us serenity even in the most difficult moments. [Rumors unconfirmed that after the Parma shelacking, Delneri walked into the locker room and screamed SERENITY NOW!!] AT Juve no one has ever raised their voice, we’ve never been vulgar to one another, and a big part of that merit surely goes to the coach.”

Speaking about Roma, who don’t want to see you again. You, a Roman and a Romanista.
- “What should I have done? Not make saves to give Roma a favor? Last year there was controversy between Totti and I because I saved everything; they were playing for the Scudetto and were angry, but my Samp was still chasing a historic Champion’s League qualification. It’s crazy, these things only happen in Italy. Like Rossi of Bari, who had some problems at Parma…” [referring to the fact that Italian teams often expect those with no objectives to roll over for them. Of course, Samp did have an objective still]

The jeers from the Olimpico?
- “They only encouraged me.”

Are you disappointed by Totti, who insulted you even more in the first leg of this championship last fall?
- “To be disappointed by someone, you have to have had respect for them in the first place…”
[OH SNAP]

What do you say about the Nazionale?
- “It’s a finished dream.”

Regrets?
- “Maybe I deserved to go to the World Cup in South Africa. Now it’s harder to get into the team, Prandelli has opened a new cycle, even if according to me, though starting from a young group, you don’t need to exclude “the old men.” The qualification games are played now- why refuse those who are playing well now, even if they are a bit long in the years?”

Hell of a way to wish someone luck, no?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Recently, as the media has correctly noted, Juventus’ board of directors and Exor leadership have reinforced their support in Delneri during this tumultuous period. Going back to 2010 when Luigi signed a two-year contract, of which the details weren’t disclosed, one could reasonably assume that it contained certain objectives the same way many player contracts are structured. Thus, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine that the very same ‘support’ recently provided by the upper brass will be under review at the end of his first season in charge.

“The thought of being sacked hasn’t crossed my mind, and it won’t, even if we lose to Cesena. I’ll get us through this tough period. We know that we can’t slip up and my hope is that the team goes out tomorrow with the right mentality and will to win. I’m close to Andrea Agnelli and just yesterday we lunched together. My chances of being confirmed in the job for next year? It depends on results. I have great respect for this club and believe that it will regain its esteemed status. My future? I’m not sure about that, but I have the strength and the will to carry on and get us to where we all want to be. I am content right now”. -Delneri

Speaking of results, they certainly haven’t happened for Delneri yet as Juventus is sitting in the same position we finished last season. With regards to overall points, and only nine games remaining, Delneri has to find at least thirteen points if he wishes to quantifiably say that the Bianconeri have improved under his leadership compared to last year; albeit by the slimmest of margins. Of course, that might be easier said than done since in the last twelve games we’ve managed eleven points for a dismal record of three wins, two draws, and seven losses.

Undoubtedly there are many people who support Delneri, and wish to see him continue his work within the confines of the newly constructed Stadio delle Alpi. For one, he (and Marotta) inherited a ton of shit from the previous management. Secondly, the process of forming a cohesive unit takes time and with so many new faces this year perhaps it was a little presumptuous to assume an improvement so soon. But was the preseason objective of fourth place such a lofty goal, even with the injuries this team suffered? Seeing as we’re currently three places shy of the prospect of European revenue next year, it certainly looks that way. But things should have been different this time around.

Football is often unpredictable, however four weeks ago, it should have been much less so. After a hard-fought victory at home against Inter, Delneri fielded the exact same line-up against relegation side Lecce to dramatically different results. In what could have been the perfect springboard fixture to turn Juventus’ fortunes around, the Bianconeri looked as lost as ever. Was it Delneri’s mental miscalculation or growing pains stemming from last year’s campaign? The fact of the matter is, with so many new players brought in last summer by the new regime, the argument of 2009-2010 mental landmines holds less water.

Keeping Delneri on until the end of this season makes sense for a couple reasons. For one, Juventus fans, and even the players perhaps, have already accepted the likelihood of no European football next year so his sometimes irrational substitutions can do no more harm. Secondly, the coaches currently looking for employment aren’t much better. However, come June, Agnelli would do well to try and secure the services of a world-class manager that can align himself with the foundations of this team already set in place, but more importantly, provide that extra leap in quality regarding the team’s psychology.

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

Like Cassani and Balzaretti, it’s a shame Lorenzo isn’t a bianconero!

It’s Not All Black & White

The 2010-11 season brought much expectation for the bianconeri faithful. The overwhelming belief was that this would be the year that Juventus returned to greatness – back amongst the Serie A elite where they have always been throughout much of their glorious history. Yet, with only nine games remaining, the Old Lady find themselves in seventh place, but more importantly eleven points adrift of fourth place. Barring a miraculous turnaround, Juventus will once again miss out on the Champions League causing much consternation and discord among the fan base. Such is the disappointment that many fans are already calling for the head of first year coach Gigi Delneri. But, is sacking the coach really the answer? The issue is not just simply black and white.

Since returning to the top flight in 2007, Juventus has finished in 3rd, 2nd and 7th place respectively while currently sitting in 7th place this year as well. After achieving real success in the two years that followed promotion, many wonder why Juventus hasn’t been able to get over the hump and legitimately challenge for the scudetto. The underlying answer can be found in the way the club was mismanaged during the Secco years, which was initially masked by the great finishes in 2007 and 2008. With the club mired in mediocrity this season, the new management at Juventus is taking the brunt of the criticism for the poor results.

And yet, even though the season started off promising, it was always going to be a difficult affair for the dynamic duo of Beppe Marotta and Gigi Delneri – fresh off their incredible run with Sampdoria a year earlier.. The fact of the matter is that for a club that expects and demands immediate results, patience is not an option. However, it should be. The successes of the past were rooted in years of hard work and consistency, not frequent turnover.

One of the chiefest of problems has been the Juventus transfer policy over the past few seasons. Marotta did not have much time to virtually start from scratch with what his predecessor left him. Juventus had one offseason to try and bring in quality players – not just quality in name, but up to the standard that Juve demands. Not only that, but the club also had to offload players who were not up to par. It was a tall task and one that had its shortcomings. The bianconeri brought in some potentially great players (Aquilani, Krasic, Quagliarella) while also signing ones who do not live up to the gold standard (Martinez, Rinaudo, Motta, Traore). They sent some of the waste from years’ past away (Zebina, Molinaro, Poulsen) while allowing some true talent to escape them (Caceres, Diego, Trezeguet).

As with any transition, it takes time for achievements to be seen. Delneri came in with plenty of pressure on his shoulders to reverse a negative trend in a short amount of time. The season has had plenty of highs and lows but with the recent revelation that his side will most likely not make the Champions League, disappointment has reigned supreme. Surely, Delneri has a part in the blame for the club’s plight, but he is far from the sole point of reference nor even its main one.

Sacking Delneri at this point would be foolish. First, it serves no purpose as the club is not risking anything by keeping him on board. Second, as the past dismissals/resignations of Ranieri and Ferrara have proven, there is little to gain by bringing in a caretaker. Third, Juventus has a history of sticking by their coaching appointments until the end. It wasn’t until recently that this trend of sacking coaches became popular in the bianconeri camp. The Juve mentality is one that has stood as an example to the rest of the league – you fight through each game and you do so until the end.

Perhaps it may be absurd to entertain such a notion, but I believe that Marotta and Delneri should not only stay on until the end of the season, but also be given an opportunity to regroup and further establish a team under their guidance going into the 2011-12 season. Why on earth would anyone even think that to be a good idea? Well, there’s a perfect case-study in Serie A that shows what happens when a team resorts to restarting season after season.

Take my beloved Palermo. Here is a club that is bursting with potential – and has been for the last few years now. The Sicilians found themselves on the cusp of uncharted territory in its history with qualification to the Champions League. The team finally had a coach who produced tremendous results, while being in complete harmony (and friendship) with the DS. Everything was coming together and a true project seemed to be in place. But the pieces started to fall apart slowly but surely during this season.

The beginning of the end came with the DS resigning over “differences” with the president. Several months later, after a poor run of results, the president demolished his own project by sacking the club’s greatest coach in its Serie A history. The new caretaker who was brought in has not done anything to make the situation any better and in reality, has made the club play worse. The end of the season threatens to set the club back significantly with several key pieces likely to be sold off. Once again, Palermo will have to rebuild. It’s a vicious cycle that has prevented Palermo from making that final step to legitimacy amongst the Serie A elite; but with Zamparini calling the shots, it is something that is practically inevitable.

The beauty for Juventus is that they don’t have to worry about a situation like the one mentioned above. While the Old Lady expects titles, it can also rest assured that the ability to establish a plan will not be ruined year in and year out. It takes time to create a winner. The glorious years under Lippi and Capello did not come about because of a single offseason. There was a project in place and a plan to follow. While Marotta and Delneri find themselves in an unparalleled time in the club’s history due to a myriad of factors, the duo deserve the faith of the fan base in order to rewire the club back to its glory days.

Even the casual observer can see that this year’s Juventus have shown positives not seen in the club over the past few years. There is certainly progress being made and one would think that should the current management be allowed to continue on, it wouldn’t be long until real success returns. Above all, continuity is crucial to Juventus. The fans expect it, the players know it and the club demands it. This Juventus is slowly turning the tide befallen them since Calciopoli and a return to greatness may be just around the corner. Only time will tell…if it is allowed to be given.

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

LE PAGELLE:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Things I Think I Think:

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

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

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

The Focal Point

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

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

All Cesena’s base are not belong to us

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

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

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

Official Note from Juventus:

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

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

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

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

I’m going to miss this…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!