Atalanta – Juventus: “I’ll trade you my Ciro for your Conte, maybe…”

By: roberto | November 7th, 2009

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!!!

Some Related Juventus Posts:

Category: Blanc, Coach, Competitions, Del Piero, Iaquinta, Management, Marchisio, Players, Previews & Reviews, Salihamidzic, Serie A, Sissoko, Team News

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gigo

TREEEEEEEEEEZ!
HolyMann

ofcourse that to :)
Sergio aka Romafan

Holymann: also hope Inter screw up a few times too. Not just Juve's consistency.
HolyMann

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

can anyone help translate??
HolyMann

Grazie Roma it is :).....now, all we have to do is stay consistent
Armando

I think the defense is our problem. The good news is, in the last 3 Serie A games, we've scored 12 goals, which is ridiculous. But the bad news is, if we concede 2 to Atalanta, how many are we gonna concede to Inter, the resurged Milan, or even Roma? I think we need to develop Ariaudo as a centerback, and we need a fullback. Personally i think Andreas Beck or Christian Maggio would be great, both are world class fullbacks playing for good teams, but NOT top teams, so i dont think their price would be inflated much, if at all. You have to remember, centerback-wise, Legro's getting pretty old, and Canna only has a one-year contract i believe, and is 35 or 36 anyways. Once theyre gone, who do we have? Just Chiellini and Ariaudo, so we better develop Ariaudo soon. When it comes to fullbacks, Grosso's getting old, Caceres will probably go back on loan, Zebina, Grygera, and Molinaro are good but not great, and then who would we have? De Ceglie, who really needs to work on his defending, and Brazzo. Brazzo's very good in my opinion and i would be fine with him starting, but he's not young anymore either and we really need depth in our fullbacks. Sell some players, such as Tiago and Poulsen, and buy some, such as Christian Maggio and/or Andreas Beck, and possibly an attacking midfielder cuz although Camo's our best player this season probably, he's still on the wrong side of 30. Personally i think Marko Marin is one of the brightest up and coming stars in the world, and then develop De Ceglie a bit more and Ariaudo, and we'd be almost unstoppable.
Dhaw

From the ref*
Dhaw

I don't come here often but god dammit, I am kinda taken back by the "Grazie Roma".

Well just do us a favor now. Beat those bastards good and I hope those fuckers get all the help from the red yet you guys beat them.

Good Luck.
agiamba

Grazie Roma...
Robee

WHy we are conceding so much ? Well basicly because our defence isn't solid. It's good, but not a wall like it should be... Don't forget we are conceding a lot while we have the best goalie ever...

Caceres is doing fine and he could even become the central defender that Papai spoke about:

Quote: If we get someone who is mobile, fast and reads the game well.
He will turn out fine by the end of the season. Too bad as it seems we are developing a wonderful player for Barca.

But hey, we have the first option, Papai. If we want him; he's ours ;).

Cannavaro is good, had a few magnificent games but doesn't play at the same level every week, which of course we can't expect of him...

Grosso is just not the same anymore, had a few good games, but more sloppy ones... So Criscito would really be a dream.

I'm setting my hopes on someone experienced in the center, a guide for our defence (not too old) for replacing Cannvaro and steering Chiellini, Caceres and even Criscito hopefully.

Sorry, but Ariaudo just won't do next year. I would lone him out.

And if you want another resaon... Jezus fuck, Poulsen sucks defensively... So I must disagree HolyMann.
gaetano

Roma are playing pretty good against inter! It's 1 nil at the half.
al

guys, sorry for the mess. my roommate was mocking around with my ID. to me, the article is ok.
Pablo

Al, I really don't see anything wrong with that article. We should also remember it's more like a Blog so it's really a personal opinion.

I'm glad Trezegol is with us and even if I'd like him to retire playing for Juve, I'm not sure if he is the kind of player qho can be a super sub... what the hell, let's keep him for a few more years (if he is willing to not start every game).
j

what's wrong with that article? it is something about "tap in merchant"?
al

from now on, i stop reading football-italia. this article is just ridiculous.

http://football-italia.net/blo...
idze

can enyone tell who is our top scorer this season? is it trez?
ooBia

i think we need to develop Ariaudo in CB and focus our mercato on a really good LB as Papai said.

on another note, the international break effectively started for us, would we have Marchisio/Iaquinta back after?
HolyMann

Nnahoj, dont misunderstand me, Diego is incredible, been doing the impossible for us this season and there's more to come, im sure....

all im saying, his free kicks/shots from the outside are not even close to being on target, and this is not taken from just one game...this is where my disappointment is pointed at, thats all
Papai

Alessio,I think the problem with our two quality full backs is the same - age.
Grosso is awesome for sixty minutes and then his workrate starts dipping. That is why we need and understudy for him ASAP. We need Criscito, or buy Santon although he is tainted with inter.
The right flank, on the other hand, needs continuity in the form of Caceres. The guy has hunger and has shown tremendous improvement over the season. He will turn out fine by the end of the season. Too bad as it seems we are developing a wonderful player for Barca.
For the CBs, i think we need a deputy for Cannavaro. If we get someone who is mobile, fast and reads the game well (Kjaer ?) we can actually shunt Chiellini to the LB when grosso tires out.

So in the coming mercato, one really good LB or a really good CB ought to do the trick. One player, but he should be really class. I dont think we need a RB because Caceres has potential and we have grygera as sub, which is enough depth in my mind.
agiamba

Both of the goals came from the flanks, Caceres and Grosso both beaten.

Diego played great, but his free kicks were off as HolyMann said, his goal was subtly brilliant though.

I was just thinking about while we've been playing well, why we're conceding a lot. Is it the defense? The formation? Maybe, I was thinking maybe it's the fact we're not a team yet. Rule is generally 2 new members of the Starting XI, 3 max, for your mercato. We've got 4-5, and a new formation and coach.
j

nice we won 5-2, but still disappointed we concede two goals, the defence need to shore up, is our full backs the problem, i think one of the goals and a few attempts were from the flanks too. anyway congratulations to trez for equalling the record, looks like his form is back, that left leg volley was great, trez-esque style! maybe he would stay...

dont be complacent though you still let us down against bologna and napoli, and i'll cheer on roma today.

forza juventus!
Nnahoj

I don't understand how anyone could be disappointed with Diego's performance. He was all over the park, showing skills, winning freekicks and hustling for the ball. On top of that, he scored! So how could one be disappointed? What more do you want???
Papai

Diego has been carrying our team this season. its difficult to find a new recruit taking that much workload, especially someone whom i believe to be the best technical fantasista in the planet.
HolyMann

and one more thing, 3 goals disallowed because players were offside (and rightfully soo).

they really need to work on this
HolyMann

This is the correct mentality i've been waiting from Juve, every time Atalanta scored one, we gave ourselves more cushion and did not fall asleep.

i was actually quite happy with how Gio performed, did not make any miracles happen, but his body work has improved, was shoving and pushing the whole time and gave Juve several free kicks from nice spots.

i was actually a bit disappointed with Diego, his shots/free kicks (when shooting directly at goal) are really off target.

Poulsen is becoming a good sub to have, he may not contribute hugely, but is doing a sound defensive job.

Caceres is winning me over slowly, there's alot of room for him to improve.

and you cant but smile when Camoranesi plays like he does...genious
zaki

guys, cheers for the victory. but remember, we have to be careful. inter don't play they match last time we win with 5 goals, we suffered a defeat. we still have to maintain concentration after this match. we have to keep winning until match against inter then beat them.

until then, let's enjoy this victory !!!
FORZA JUVE !!!
Sam

Was anyone else impresse by Tiberio Guerente? Hes passing was very impressive, and hes killer ball was magnificent!
Marco

The team looked comfortable holding onto the balls. The possession for the most part was crisp and it was sparyed all around the pitch. Congrats to Trez, but beside his shot was offside every attempt. Deigo pulled the strings very nicely, has to be patient, he is clearly still molding himself into the team. Gio did ok. In the early going his touch was to heavy, and that cause possession to swing, made a few threating runs, and targeted well. Melo was a beast again. I thought he played very solid, starting to look more comfortable pushing up and commanding the ball. Took his goal with class. Overall teh defense lacked speed, the rain didnt help much. I wil take the three points and a few days rest. I hope Roma come out swinging.
agiamba

SKY Highlights-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Sam

"Other than ADP, of course."

Yeh but ADP isin't really a poacher is he?
hant00

"3 out of the top 4 score!"
on the other hand, gio was meh. also, glad that ferrara chose immobile over tiago.
roberto

What a nice goal diego.

This win is going to go far in helping out with our game once we're in the lead. Bravi Ragazzi, let's build upwards from here!
agiamba

And i hope trez get another record on his books, if he gets the record for all time scorer he deserves it, hes been faithful and the best poacher in this world for as long as i can remember!

Other than ADP, of course. :)
Georg

that fuckhead of a refree give yellow to trez, didn't he realize the emotional value of this goal, goddammit??

5 goals away very nice,... also congrats to atalanta, 3 opportunities, finished of 2 in a great way
Papai

what a game! Caceres is developing beautifully. But we desperately need a quality mobile CB to partner Chiellini. And start developing a new LB to take grosso's place. We are leaking too many goals.
Nnahoj

At times too close for comfort, but wow! What a performance by our attacking players! 3 out of the top 4 score! That's 12 goals in our last 3 games! That's probably as much as we scored in the 9 games prior to that! If we get our defence in order, I think we have a real title contender on our hands!
al

football-italia has the review ready. really fast!

http://football-italia.net/sa0...
Sam

"p.s. do whatever you want Immobile, i already like you"

I agree there, i was a little impressed from what i just saw.

And i hope trez get another record on his books, if he gets the record for all time scorer he deserves it, hes been faithful and the best poacher in this world for as long as i can remember!
Sambit

Great game!
Calisi

hahaha giorgio didn't like ciro stepping in front of him for that header