Antonio Conte was so close to taking the Juventus job over the summer and now he comes face to face with his old teammate Ciro Ferrara.

When Conte took Bari to promotion from Serie B, he announced he would only be willing to leave if it meant sitting on the Bianconeri bench. Many reports suggested it was a done deal, but the club opted to keep Ferrara after his caretaker spell and Conte ended up quitting anyway in a row over transfer policy.

Now the former midfielder takes on his past and, possibly, his future. Conte wore the Juve shirt from 1991 to 2004, winning five Scudetti, four Italian Super Cups, a Coppa Italia, UEFA Cup, Champions League, European Super Cup, Intertoto Cup and Intercontinental Cup.

Atalanta had gone unbeaten with the new Coach in charge, but have hit a brick wall of two consecutive defeats against Livorno and Cagliari. “I had the feeling our problems were not over. We struggled with three matches in eight days.” That shouldn’t be an issue this time around, as it is Juventus who have had the packed schedule.

The Turin giants have been looking tired towards the end of their games and never was that clearer than in the last Serie A round. Leading 2-0 against Napoli, they collapsed by conceding three goals in 23 minutes for their first home defeat of the campaign.

That result left them a massive seven points adrift of leaders Inter and hit hard in terms of confidence. The midweek Champions League win at Maccabi Haifa at least means a slight boost ahead of this trip to Bergamo.

Amauri is suspended following his red card against Napoli, joined on the sidelines by the injured Vincenzo Iaquinta, Alessandro Del Piero, Hasan Salihamidzic, Claudio Marchisio, Jonathan Zebina and Momo Sissoko.

Sebastian Giovinco pulled out of the Maccabi match with a muscular twinge and Fabio Cannavaro was rested, while David Trezeguet is the only real option to start upfront. “The time for mistakes is over, we have no room for any more stumbles,” warned President Jean-Claude Blanc.

Atalanta are forced to do without Robert Acquafresca, Ferreira Pinto, Tomas Manfredini, Diego De Ascentis, Gyorgy Garics and Edgar Barreto – the latter out for three months after fracturing the metatarsal in his left foot. Cristiano Doni should start despite his row with Conte over a substitution, joined by Simone ‘il Tir’ Tiribocchi.

The last time these two teams met in Bergamo back in April 2008 it ended in a 4-0 drubbing with Del Piero bagging a hat-trick. Juventus are undefeated here in Serie A since March 2001.

Keep an eye on: David Trezeguet (Juventus) – His header had given Juve such high hopes against Napoli and took him to within a goal of Omar Sivori’s record 167 as top foreign marksman in the club’s history. Trez can seem to disappear from games, but lose him for that split second and he’s bound to score. football-italia.net

Last five in Serie A: Atalanta (D W W L L) Juventus (L D W W L)

myp2p.eu (match thread), atdhe.net (direct match link)

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

“If Blanc wanted to show faith in Ferrara, he didn’t use the right words,” Moggi writes in the Libero newspaper. “That sentence ‘there are no more bonuses’ meant exactly the opposite.”

“He vented his disappointment at the weakest target: the coach. That’s a familiar method for those who don’t know anything about football. If Juve have showed problems against Napoli, it is down to a transfer campaign that was much celebrated but not at all pondered.”

“[Marco] Marchionni and [Cristiano] Zanetti have reinforced Fiorentina in exchange for bread crumbs. And Felipe Melo arrived from Florence for €25 million, but he does not have a curriculum to play for a team that must win in Italy and abroad, especially when you already have [Christian] Poulsen and [Mohamed] Sissoko,” said Moggi.

“And don’t get me started on Tiago…”

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

#1- Sometimes it’s frustrating when you lose, when you’re the better team. Today was not one of those days. Palermo > Us
#2- Ferrara’s subs sucked. We had serious issues breaking down the impenetrable wall of pink, so we take off our two creative players and throw on another static forward?
#3- Amauri needs to be demoted to Primavera for a month or so. And he needs to shut up about the whole Nazionale deal.
#4- I hope none of our players play for their national teams, they shouldn’t be going anyways. Let’s see the Azzurri without Juventus players.
#5- We had zero tactics, other than occasionally long ball. No one could hold onto the ball, no one could pass, no one knew where the fuck we were going. Evidence? 62% possession, 16 shots, 0 on target. Yeah, 0 on target. That is absurd.
#6- Kjaer is a goddamn stud.
#7- Time for me to put to test the Shampoo Effect.

Nedved wanted to be there to help encourage his former team-mates ahead of the Champions League showdown with Bayern Munich, which takes place in Germany on Wednesday.

‘Furia Ceca’ wasn’t in Turin just for some back slapping, though.

According to Tuttosport, he was there to rub shoulders with the club’s directors, whose offer of a coaching role is still open. The report suggests Nedved considered the proposal while on holiday during the summer, though there is no comment as to what his thinking is.

goal.com

 IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

“We also had more chances to score. I wanted a merciless football when it came to wanting to win. We wanted the three points and we had to face the match with humility as we did and we brought home the victory”.

Praise for three great protagonists: “Gigi played a great match but Marchisio and Iaquinta who also deserve to be praised”.

Exhaustion could be an important factor: “My team could be tired but sometimes perhaps we run a bit for nothing using important energies and sometimes we tend to run after the opponents and therefore must try to hold the ball more and start the action”.

“It is a positive thing that we scored in the first half especially in the first minutes which allowed us to control the match. We must make sure that we keep up the consistency even though we are happy with the three points. Now we must think of Genoa which is a team of very high level”.

juventus.com

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE

“I am happy with the two goals and the victory. We played a great match. It is thanks to the Juventus environment, to Ferrara, to my team mates, to the affection of the fans. It is thanks to all this that I managed to fit in well. The strength of Juve is this: the capability of players of great class to adapt to a scheme and to sacrifice themselves if necessary.” -Diego Ribas da Cunha

Just look at our tifosi back there behind those two Brazilians- I fucking love this club. Enjoy the photos everyone. Alessio’s gonna spit something out a little more comprehensive in a bit probably, but as I’m sure he can agree, some photos say it all.

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

RECENT ENCOUNTERS: The good news of course is that the last few years, despite Roma’s near-Scudetto in 07-08, we’ve kicked their asses. 2004 was the last time they’ve won a game against us, kicking our ass 4-0 in Rome, but Spalletti has never beaten Juve and the last few seasons read 2-2, 1-0, 2-0, 4-1, which bodes pretty well. Last encounter in Rome was against an injury-ravaged team and we thrashed them good, 4-1, with the highlight of the night being Nedved’s wonder volley from the edge of the box. Roma’s not so injury-ravaged this time though, so it’ll be a very different game.

You know what’s awesome about this video? I realized when searching YouTube that last spring’s 4-1 drubbing in Rome is the 2nd of the last 5-6 years or so.

RECENT FORM:
Juventus- Preseason games ignored, we labored hard against Chievo. The scoreline should have been bigger, but for an opener against a very resilient squad, I’ll take it.
Roma- The million-dollar question: Can they replicate their Europa League form in Serie A? The team fell to Genoa last week 3-2 in an exciting encounter, but have thrashed their opponents in the Europa League with two 7-1 results already. Those are pretty rubbish teams, but they did look different in those matches; more determined, more cohesive, etc.

FORMATIONS AND LINEUPS:
Juventus- 4-3-1-2: This may be the first time in 2 years it isn’t 4-4-2. Well, not true, we did experiment with 4-3-3 and even a 3-4-1-2 once. Out of the game are Sissoko and Zebina certainly, Salihamidzic likely to miss out and Felipe Melo and Diego are pushing for full fitness. Cannavaro-Chiellini look set to continue their partnership as Legrottaglie looks on forlorn from the bench, and given the substitute in the last game, De Ceglie preferred over Molinaro. Grygera will likely man the right-flank, though Caceres played well in a training match, scoring a long-range goal.

In midfield, Diego will certainly be slotting into the trequartista, provided he is healthy, and after a positive game against Chievo much will be expected of him. I’ve got a new phrase I’ll be using, and that’s the Melo effect. Simply, if a player is transferred into the squad and cost a lot of money or has a big name, he will start over the incumbent regardless of form. It sort of can be applied to Cannavaro, but Felipe Melo, if healthy, will almost certainly be starting, which makes no sense as his preseason form was pretty crap. Marchisio and Tiago will probably round it out, though if Melo is missing, Poulsen may get yet another chance to prove himself and hopefully get that reencounter with Totti we’ve all been waiting for.

In attack, Del Piero should be fit, but it remains to be seen if Ferrara will choose him. Trez still looks like he’ll be waiting for his chance, after a positive game last week I think Ciro will stick with Iaquinta-Amauri. Iaquinta had a few good chances though I think sometimes his decision-making was iffy, and Amauri looked in phenomenal form despite not getting on the scoresheet.

Predicted XI: Buffon; Grygera, Cannavaro, Chiellini, De Ceglie; Marchisio, Tiago, Poulsen; Diego; Amauri, Iaquinta

Roma- The Giallorossi have a few absentees, notably Doni, Andreolli, Vucinic, and Brighi. From the looks of their Europa League exploits, they haven’t really missed them. For better info, go read Chris’ take on it (expect a lot of comments about ladri, thieves, maybe a chateau d’if reference, and of course irrational hatred for Nedved) at the Roma Offside.

Predicted XI: Channel4 says this- 4-2-3-1: Artur; Motta, Mexes, Burdisso, Riise; De Rossi, Pizarro; Taddei, Menez, Guberti; Totti
Goal.com says this- 4-3-3: Artur; Motta, Mexes, Burdisso, Riise; Taddei, Pizarro, De Rossi; Totti, Vucinic, Menez.

Pick whichever you like.

A lovely picture yours truly took in Florence. That much I can agree with Viola fans.

KEY PLAYERS:
As much as I hate to admit it, Goal.com’s preview is right on this one. Diego for Juve, and Totti for Roma. Diego had a great first half where he was dribbling past half of Chievo and putting in great final passes, whereas Totti has scored a lot in the opening Europa League games. A lot.

KEY BATTLES:
Spalletti v. Juve- Juve- Spalletti has a pretty poor record against Juve with Roma, having never won in the 3 seasons he’s played the Bianconeri. I rate Spalletti pretty highly, but I don’t think they will win this weekend, a draw would be a good result for them. After Iaquinta’s brace last spring, Spalletti probably won’t be complaining about how Iaquinta doesn’t “score enough.”

Nazionale Capitano v. Romanista Capitano- Push- Funny how different the two are, Cannavaro is not really associated with a particular team in Italy, whereas obviously Totti is the symbol of Roma, of all-time. Both have started out the season on the right foot, and it will be a fascinating duel between them.

Roma-born-and-bred Midfield General v. Turin-born-and-bred Midfield General- Push- De Rossi has been in pretty poor form this season and he’ll have his work cut out to contain Diego, but that doesn’t free him of responsibility to roam the center-midfield. Some have called Marchisio the Turin answer to DDR, and while I don’t necessarily agree with the comparison, the duo will have an interesting battle.

Prediction: 2-1 to the Bianconeri. Totti, Marchisio, and Amauri to score. Roma’s offense has been good the preseason, and that simply means Juve’s defense which has been decent needs to stifle them. Roma’s defense has been pretty miserable and we should be able to exploit that well, but ultimately, I think we need to do our best on defense and the result will take care of itself. Let’s beat these whiny inferior bastards.

Other previews:
Goal.com (EN)
Football Italia
Football Italiano- Juve preview
Football Italiano- The Roma side
And for sheer entertainment, Chris’ preview/review of the 2-2 draw in Rome from our return to Serie A.

The second which surprised me a bit, was not only starting Brazzo at left-back this weekend, where he performed admirably, but subbing De Ceglie over Molinaro on at half-time when Salihamidzic came off with an injury. Molinaro’s position at left-back has been more or less secure over the last two seasons, although I would argue it is as much to Ranieri’s preference for him as much as De Ceglie’s injuries. Had PDC been able to remain uninjured for a few months on end, he could have given him competition. I was one of Molinaro’s biggest critics in 2007-2008, though last season he sort of changed my mind. He is a decent fullback, defensively sound but offensively contributes little. Is he ideal? Certainly not, but he can manage for the time being.

Over the last week, reports have been swirling that Ferrara is indeed not satisfied with the fullbacks at his disposal. This summer it appeared he was unimpressed with De Ceglie and would push him to Napoli, their interest cooled off after his injury at the U-21 euros, or De Ceglie managed to convince Ferrara of his worth. (Given his sub over Molinaro against Chievo, possibly both) Zebina may be injured for a few months, who managed to slowly work himself back in the squad, and it seems pretty apparent that Grygera is not highly appraised by Ciro. Caceres performed well at right-back in preseason, but he seems more of a defensive right-back like Mellberg than an attacking one, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Cobolli Gigli’s comments yesterday that Juve was still considering making moves in the mercato confirms the above suspicion that Ferrara would like changes. Grosso has been re-linked back to Juve after not playing in the Europa League qualifiers for Lyon in effort to not be cup-tied, supposedly Juve wants to pay 1million euro whereas Lyon are looking for about 2.5million. Grosso would be a decent signing, he has never really done it at the highest level for club, but Inter he was only there for a season, and French football is a wacky thing in its own way. At Palermo, well, he made his way into the Nazionale. He’s aging, but I think at the club level it will be less exposed than for the Nazionale where matches are individually played at a higher intensity. A decent signing, but I am not terribly concerned with our left-back position.

The other player heavily linked is Brazilian right-back Rafinha, of Schalke for a fee of about 8million euro. As with Diego, I cannot speak personally about him as my knowledge of the Bundesliga is, well, whatever close to zero would be. You all know well about my disdain for South American footballers, but I would be satisfied with this signing.

Simply put, he passes all of my desired checks for a fullback. Is he young? Yes. Is he experienced? Yes. Is he offensively potent as well as defensively sound? According to reports on him, he is a good attacker, whereas his defense could still be refined a bit. We’ll say yes. Is he relatively cheap? Given his age, his experience, and the club he’s coming from, I would say 8mil is a very fair price. With De Silvestri definitively off the market, Juve may decide to go for one of these fullbacks, or given Grosso’s price, perhaps both.

BUT- Should they arrive, we certainly need to offload some fullbacks. We already have 3 per flank- Molinaro, De Ceglie, Brazzo, and Zebina, Grygera, and Caceres. First on my chopping block would be Zebina. Ignoring my personal disdain for him for a moment, Zebina is particularly injury-plagued, has the highest salary of the fullbacks, is old, and I don’t think that much of an improvement over the others. Molinaro and Grygera are competent reserves, should Ferrara choose to do so, with a mid-range salary, dedication, and young enough that they can serve us well for a while. Brazzo’s contract expires next summer, and I have no idea if the team has any inclination to renew it, I would imagine not. Should either of them arrive, I would imagine Ariaudo would go out on loan, because Caceres is perfectly capable at center-back. Should a right-back arrive, I think he would be shifted in position.

Am I thrilled with our current group of fullbacks? No, but a team is never as perfect as you want it. I think they are “good enough,” but should the management choose to go into the mercato, I would certainly have no complaints.

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

Friendly v. Villarreal:
As stated in the comments in the last post, tomorrow there will be a friendly in Salerno against Villarreal, most famously known in the boot as the team of Giuseppe Rossi. (Also for fellow yanks for Jozy Altidore, but he never plays) It’s at 2030CET, so 230EST and 1930GMT, other readers, you probably already know, it’s the same time as Serie A primetime games. This should be a good game and another chance for Ferrara to rotate players and see who is gelling and who needs to change their game. It doesn’t feel quite like last season when all of the players were complaining about friendly overload, but we’re not in the CL qualifying, or maybe the management heard their grievances.

Sissoko will not be in appearance, but his recovery from his foot injury is going well. The club doctors have examined him, and while they refuse to give a return estimate, they are confident he will not need surgery. The club went through a double-training session today in preparation, Caceres trained with the team though the transfer is not official yet, having been given permission by Barcelona. The official squad has been released for the friendly- Diego, Buffon, Poulsen, Sissoko, and Almiron will not be taking part.

Juventus is Profitable:
The new Triade of Gigli, Blanc, and Secco have taken some fire (rightfully so in some cases) for their management of the club since taking over, I have been generally satisfied. Given the extreme economic duress and difficulty in acquiring capital, the club is doing splendidly. There are teams like Roma, Milan, and Manchester United that have been forced to sell their star players to pay off some of their debt burden. There are also clubs like Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea (notice a pattern here?) whos’ staggering debt in times of a credit crunch has stalled or eliminated their transfer plans. Then there is the other side, Real is again spending recklessly, taking out hundreds of millions of dollars in loans from Spanish banks.

Juve is a part of neither group. Despite a heavy spending mercato, (35mil) all of this was within the Juventus transfer budget and not financed by debt. Given the club spent approximately the same over the last two summers, it seems clear with the published financial statements that Juventus Football Club, SpA, is on quite solid footing financially. While the club may not choose to spend that much in future mercatos (it may), that does not mean we don’t have the money. This is the legacy of this triade, and it is one many might ignore, though it is fundamental: transforming Juventus into a self-sustaining club, that can finance its purchases without going hundreds of millions into debt. and still pay salaries to attract the best and brightest in the world. The new stadium is a key part of this plan that will increase revenue significantly.

The reason this is brought up is because the 2nd quarter of the business world has concluded, and Juve has issued its’ bi-annual financial statements. The club has posted a profit of €6.6 million this year, which is a huge positive sign as last year the club at this time had a loss of €20.8 million. The balance sheet of the club is generally on the upswing, and with the new stadium and positive adventures in the Champion’s League and Serie A, will continue to rise.

The figures approved by the board – declared Juventus general manager Jean-Claude Blanc at the end of the meeting – confirm the quality of the work done, on all levels, and represent a solid base for next year, for which we have formulated a foreseen sustainable break even. These figures consolidate the idea of sustainable football: an objective which is practical thanks to a careful management and the dedication and professionalism of all the employees and collaborators of the club

Cobolli echoed Blanc’s comments and agreed that departures were likely-

In a year when clubs like Milan and Roma are forced to sell their stars to raise funds, it is particularly significant that the Bianconeri are making money.They reinvested it by signing Diego, Felipe Melo, Martin Caceres and Fabio Cannavaro to build an impressive side.

“We ended the fiscal year with £5m profit, an 18 per cent increase compared to last season,” said the patron after today’s board meeting. Juve have once again become competitive in the economic environment. We are extremely [financially] solid. The team is stronger than last season and above all we have reinforced significantly in every area of the squad.” In attack we have also rediscovered the motivation and fitness of David Trezeguet, turning us into a truly competitive outfit. Are we stronger than Inter? I am not interested in them. We will see on the pitch who is the better team.”

Legrottaglie: «Humility must be our strength»l-

«Since I joined Juventus, there has always been talk of scudetto because at Juventus you always play to win. I however, prefer to let the pitch speak. We must not take notice of criticism, both positive or negative. Our strength must be humility. We know we have a strong team, but without humility, group cohesion, the victories are not obtained».

Nicola Legrottaglie is as balanced as always. Juventus is being praised, but the defender does not want to give too much weight to Summer opinions. He maintains the same attitude even when people speak of Cannavaro in the starting line-up together with Chiellini: «In the last few years Giorgio and myself have been one of the best central defence duos in the championship and I cannot denying having felt a bit taken aback by remarks that Juventus signed Cannavaro to replace me. Now, however, I want to make an ulterior stimulus out of these declarations. Every single thing that happens in our life has a reason and Cannavaro’s arrival must be a reason to make me sweat and work even more. I have great respect for Cannavaro and am happy to play with him. Fabio can give us a great helping hand with all his experience and class and at the same time he will motivate me to do even better. I do not want to lose all I have done in the last two years: I returned to the national team and I want to go to the world cup, but this objective can only be achieved by doing well with Juventus».For Nicola the internal competition is not only a stimulus to improve as footballer, but also as a person: «I must be sincere: when I received the news of Cannavaro’s signing my first thought was that I risked playing less and hence not making it to the world cup. Then, however, I thought that even last year we all played a lot. With all the injuries and suspensions you need three central defenders, and so I cheered up and saw things from another angle. I want to remain at Juventus for as long as it is possible because to me itis like a family and would like to end my career here. For me it will also be a character exam: I want to respect the coach’s decisions, whatever they may be, and give my very best when I am called to the cause. For me a group is built even in this manner: a team manages to win when it has these values inside it. If one always thought of himself it would be hard to win. I want to transmit this sign and be an example to the team».

Discourse shifts to the duel with Inter: «I don’t know if we are at par. Each year there are attempts to compare the two teams on paper, but reality on the field is different. We will have to wait for the last four match days to know if we can win the scudetto. Ibrahimovic’s departure? He knows how to change a team, making it make a leap in quality, when he feels like it. I think he is the strongest attacker around. If he decides not to let you see the ball during a match, there is nothing you can do about it. Therefore it is better to meet him in the Champions League rather then in the championship».

Without comparing duels from a distance, the feeling is however that Juventus have been strengthened tremendously: «In these two years we had great championships. To be even more competitive, the club has enriched the squad with players of great quality, people of great talent like Cannavaro, Felipe Melo and Diego. If we mix this with humility and the will to sacrifice oneself we should be satisfied. The Brazilians also brought cheerfulness and this is positive. They gave a great impression on the field. Diego only played against the Koreans and we still have to see the best of his qualities. Melo can be felt in front of the defence. We even changed formation and having a low midfield helps us a lot».

To Legrottaglie, the arrival of Felipe Melo, who is also an “Athlete of Christ” is an ulterior motive for joy: «It is nice to know that there is another player in my same team whom I can call my brother and who believes in my same values. My dream is to see the whole team share my views». The work this month has been intense but soon it will yield its fruit: «There are two weeks left until the start of the championship. We are still not at the top, because we are working on strength but we will ready by the start. The physical condition will have to be kept until the end. Last year, up to February we played a great championship, than we declined and did not manage to keep up the pace. We must try not to have those pauses which forbid you from reaching your objectives anymore».

You all know how much I like Nicola. Bravo, Legro. I for one will be cheering you all season and hope Ferrara sees the wisdom in playing you over Cannavaro.

I don’t get it either. Also, Caceres is one ugly motherfucker.

Transfer News-
Caceres has not officially signed with the club, as CalcioMercato says Barcelona and Juventus are disputing who will have to compensate his former club for his youth trainee days. Despite this, he has been training with the club with Barca’s permission and will sign on loan anyday soon.

With the team solely focused now on departures, having conducted a successful transfer campaign, it remains to be seen who will leave the club. Though strongly tipped to leave this summer, it appears Zebina and Tiago have found favor with Ferrara and will be important parts of the team this season. The main target to offload has been named Poulsen. With the arrival of Diego and Melo, he is surplus to requirements and has been told so by Ferrara. I don’t think Poulsen got a fair shake at the club and would love for him to prove himself, but if we can offload him for 7-8mil, we might as well. Also rumored to be on the way out (though on loan, as we cannot find a buyer, it seems we’ll just have to loan him out till the contract expires) is Almiron, most recently to newly-promoted AS Bari who are struggling with an ownership saga. Speaking of which….

AS Bari Ownership saga resolved:
Newly promoted Bari have announced a deal to sell the club to Texan businessman Timothy L Barton has been reached. Mr Mora confirms that the business interested in this transaction is Texas-based JMJ Holdings, led by Timothy L Barton. According to the official JMJ Holdings website, the company works in real estate developments and is “engaged in the acquisition, development, management and advisement of luxury assets around the world.”

Despite my mother being Texan, forgive me while I go throw up.