Lazio 2 – Juventus 3: No Time To Nap, There’s Much To Be Done

By: roberto | December 17th, 2007

Despite being as talented as any goalkeeper who has come before him, El Grande Gigi unfortunately had no time for beauty sleep in the game against Lazio last Saturday. Coming fresh off of a dissapointing Champions League loss, the Biancocelesti peppered the Juventus goal with more shots than any other team we’ve played this season put together. That’s right, more shots than any team we’ve played thus far put together. No good. I know a win is a win, and three points are three points, but this one could have easily ended differently. Put it this way, if Buffon and Del Piero weren’t able to control other people’s thoughts, move object’s with their minds, or hover several feet above ground we wouldn’t have won.

Scary isn’t it? How good Buffon and Del Piero actually are. I mean Buffon’s one-handed save was one of dirtiest things I’ve seen this season. Then there was Ale’s little peach of a heel off of a 70 yard picture perfect ball from Zanetti. Yaaaa, no big deal. Who doesn’t know that one? Then to top it all off, Zanetti and Del Piero decide to do it twice. I lost my shit. If I was the ref I would have called an end to the game. “Fuck it”, I’d say. “There’s no point, Lazio you had your chances”. Of course, being that corrupt I’d never get work as a ref again, but I hear Pirelli’s hiring so I’ve got upper-middle management written all over me.

Lazio definitely gets some credit for their performance here. They really impressed me with the way they moved the ball around the pitch. At times they completely outclassed us, plain and simple. Their passes were quick, well connected, and thoughtful. Fortunately for Juventus, a handful of them (Rocchi most notably) were firing blanks as the Biancocelesti could have easily added two more goals to their tally.

“We did not put in a good performance.” (Ranieri)

No we did not. Our last two goals (you can forget about the first) came from counterattacks as by-products of Zanetti’s forethought NOT from the desired methodical creativity Juventus is capable of. We weren’t able to sustain our instances of possession due to the formidable amount of pressure Lazio applied. Therefore they dictated just about every aspect of that midfield.

A couple times I found myself having to remind, myself (?), of the scoreline. Truly a win with mixed emotions. What will we take away from this match you ask, aside from three points? Well, there’s much work to be done and lots of room to improve. Before this Sunday’s match against Siena, Tinkerbell will have some thinking to do as he was dissapointed with his club’s efforts. Whether it’s in the form of personnel changes, tactical adjustments or just plain ol’ suicides at practice, Ranieri will want to see a substantial improvement in his side’s style of play. Could mean more Tiago, could mean less Nocerino, who knows.

p.s. $500 bucks to anyone who finds that lock of Nedved’s hair they’ll cut off for his stitches! (ebay maybe?)

Highlights Serie A: Day 16 vs. Lazio

Inter 40
Roma 33
Juventus 32
Udinese 28
Fiorentina 25

Next Match Serie A: Day 17 Juventus v Siena
When: Sunday, December 23, 2007 3:00PM (local time)

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

Some Related Juventus Posts:

Category: Players, Team News

« Lazio vs Juventus: Preview, Plus Post-Game Post-Mortems | Home | Juventus’ Number 1 Transfer Target: Louis Thomas »

R.J.

Louis Thomas Buffon aka Jesus Christ the son of God.
sofia

GIGI IS A FATHER!!! to one Louis Thomas Buffon!!! congrats!!:)
Alessandro

If Juve scores the Palermo pair, wow. They might not catch Inter, but they will wrap up second
roberto

Not impressed eh Al? Neither am I. Actually sometimes I forget i'm in charge, then I check the offside site and get annoyed about Juventus' little reportings as well. Then I lift my leg, scratch my ass and go back to sleep.

And those three audience members are all my doing. You see, my audience is only one person, me. I'm just making these convo's up using other peoples names.

To be honest though, its not a paid position. You hear me Martha?
Alessandro

What is the big New Years surprise, Roberto? You quit and someone takes over that actually posts once in awhile? Or a writer that has an audience bigger than say, three people? Forza Juve!!!!!!
R.J.

sofia, do you wear glasses? i picture you as the emo type.
sofia

ahhaahhaahhaha damn that sounds exciting!!

zlatan is a bitch and cannot perform during "big" games (ie. Juve or Milan)
R.J.

stay tuned next week when we find out that martha and sofia are moving to san francisco where no one will challenge their lifestyle. they will then start their own wedding planning group called "Brides only"

zlatan has gotta go
sofia

buon natale e felice aanno nuovo!!

forza la juve per sempre!!

thats about as much italian i know other than swear words haha...anyways good showing against siena..the boys get a couple of extra days off because of the win. (they made a deal with ranieri...) dont worry roberto i understand the xmas thing...
Chen Ke

hey guys merry christmas and happy new year! Forza Juve!
Alessio

Regarding Tiago....c'mon guys, you can't blame him for being frusterated. This guy has played for Benfica, Chelsea, and Lyon, 3 of the top elite in Europe, and moved to Juve this summer expecting a Starting XI spot. I don't know if Ranieri doesn't like his style of play (like Capello he likes two holding midfielders, but instead of Emerson/Vieira we have Zanetti/Nocerino) or if he's not in good match fitness, or if he's not geared towards Italian-style football...but you can't blame him for being irritated about not playing at all. If Ranieri doesn't start playing him with consistency...sell him. We are wasting enormous 26-year old talent with him on the bench.
roberto

Hey Guys, Just wanted to say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you Juventus fans out there. Sofia R.J. Martha Mike Alessio Chen Ke -- the list goes on and on...

All the best to you and your families!

p.s. sorry for the lack of effort in posting, Christmas gift shopping and eggnog with too much rum... you know how it is. Tonight I plan on doing absolutely nothing, so should you. But before the new year I have something special in store for the site tho.

CHEERS TO ALL! DRINK A LOT AND EAT JUST AS MUCH!

AND ALWAYS, FORZA JUVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chen Ke

Call me Tiago!
roberto

where am I?
R.J.

cylon?
sofia

ok please i would never even think about dating R.J nevermind marrying the guy. that is wrong on so many levels. wow i went from being a whore to being a virgin, R.J please decide which one it is because i'm getting mighty confused.

Mike the first episode will be airing at 2pm EST on monday - PPV
Mike

I'm not sure when this forum turned into a soap opera, but FYI I'm officially hooked.

...Can't wait for the episode where Rob gets amnesia and RJ finds out that Sofia, mother of his twins, is actually a cylon.
R.J.

roberto, i tell ya, i dont see it happening. i need an experienced girl, and if i were to guess, i would say sofia is a virgin. I'm passed the stage where taking V-Cards is cool, however it was fun as hell in high school and college.
roberto

so R.J., have you guys set a date yet or what? I heard weddings in the spring are to die for... hahah
R.J.

Forza Chicago!
R.J.

thanks for the kind words roberto, and if it wasn't for sofia i might actually respect canadians.
roberto

LOL, without you two there'd be a depressing void in my life. Siena preview by tomo.

FORZA JUVE
sofia

haha im not high! just happy :)

i actually can see your scenario taking place, so thank you for enlightening me :)
R.J.

ADP would NEVER say that...only a total douche bag would say something gay like that. Neither would he kick Tiago in the balls...are you high sofia?

How would it go down? Prepare to be enlightened.

ADP would arrange for some of his fellow squad members to a pub one day after practice. After buying a couple rounds for the boys, he would then approach Tiago in a seemingly pleasant and affable manner. ADP would proceed to lead Tiago away from the main group and subsequently rip his fucking asshole apart, but all the while maintaining his composure as to not make a scene. ADP would then walk away like nothing had happened leaving Tiago absolutely frozen in fear.
sofia

hhaha R.J i actually agree with you on the part about Tiago. ADP should be like YO BITCH!! WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?? and then kick him in the balls just because its funny and then tell him to find another team because pork chops shouldnt be in italy haha...
R.J.

I give credit where it is due. I hate Nocerino because he sucks. Fuck Tiago too, who the fuck does he think he is? ADP needs to pimp smack him Palladino style.
sofia

Martha, we all know it will be Juve there to catch top spot when Inter fuck it up :D

R.J the only reason you hate Nocerino is because I like him. WOW!!! i can't belive you were actually PRAISING ADP!!!!! holy shit I think the world is ending....

FUCK Tiago he told the press he wanted to leave Juve and is now apologizing for it well fuck him, LEAVE PLEASE!! i dont want people on Juve that don't want to be there

PS: BUON NATALE!!!
roberto

Alessio, my words (albeit short) were "could mean more Tiago, could mean less Nocerino" was my attempt at suggesting to what I think you are alluding too.

However, if I were you I wouldn't make any Camoranesi comparisons just yet.
Alessio

Del Piero showed absolutely class, and Buffon was amazing, Zanetti showed rare vision. Tiago, you failed to mention, not only challenged physically for the ball, but he really added the dimension of creativity we are missing, especially without Camoranesi. I hope he gets more playing time, he really adds another level to our game. Our defense did ok, but Molinaro and cHiellini were caught sleeping on the game.

We didn't have a great game, but Lazio was playing their best they have all year...Rocchi was working his ass off, and the fact that we won still says something.
roberto

Lol, how could I forget that lack of concentration... Brilliant!
Martha

(FWIW, Roberto, I love the bitching about wins. You make me feel less Scooge-like for complaining about Inter all the time.)

Also: Ranieri is a pimp, pure and simple, I'm just sorry you people got him.

Inter are going to swoon in the second half, it's just a question of who's there ready to make a challenge. Given how well they've coped with horrific injury problems, I'm not sure it'll be an issue of being spread too thin (thanks to CL play), but they're going to stop concentrating at some point, I'm sure of it. Whether Juve or Roma will be close enough to do anything about it is the big question. (Drawing in the big matches isn't going to be enough, obviously.)
roberto

R.J. good point. Wow wait a minute, did we just give ADP props?
R.J.

roberto, i was more referring to the 3 posts before and not to your article. feel free to rip away though, no worries. nocerino fucking sucks, dumb motherfucker boots the worst crosses i've ever seen. del piero was amazing with those two lefty finishes from practically the same spot. on the second one the keep goes to take away the far post, but del piero knew this and ripped it right over him...brilliant!
roberto

I like to think of it as constructive criticism. Only three out of eleven (Buffon, Del Piero and Zanetti) saved this report from being a complete and utter ripping into R.J.
roberto

M, Sofia, I'm glad you both liked the report- as much as it's message didn't do wonders for instilling a lot of happiness. However, to quickly answer your question M (Whether Juventus is really a title contender this season) I genuinely believe we are. You see, with Juventus not having any European responsibilities this year I think we're more then capable given the roster we have now to keep pace with Inter. We've proved it in our fixtures against Roma, Fiorentina, Milan, and Inter (Udinese was a mess but w/e).

If the season ended next week, obviously being eight back off of the lead we wouldn't contend for jack in the Serie A race. But, with 22 rounds left, Inter and Roma's CL intentions, and the historical trends that reflect a domestic league slip (i.e. Milan 06-07, Liverpool 04-05) caused by the large physical strain, Juventus of course has a shot at the scudetto.

Forget the January transfer window, forget the thrashing of Palermo, those derby draws or our dismal defeats. I believe Ranieri's instilling a level of consistencey that will see us challenge for the top spot come May next year.

That's about as semi-rational as I can get hahaha
R.J.

a win is a win, when they play like shit and lose you can complain.
sofia

great job roberto (quicker this time too :) )i hope we can continue to win but in better style. hopefully del piero will start more often, tiago will continue to play his best position of left bench and giovinco will be back home in january for almiron (ohh please reports, be true for once!). we will catch inter. i will get moggi to make sure of that. i mean seeing as he is already in trouble with the law whats another few games he can rig this season. all i need him to do is make sure inter lose a few games. so moggi if your listening....

roberto excellent Pirelli slip there that was classic!!!!!
Jina

well I gotta say I'm happy we got the 3 points away since our away form hasn't been that great this season. but since I didn't get to see the game I can't say whether we weren't playing well or if Lazio were trying to prove that they can play. maybe both. I just thank the football gods for the fact that A) Juve signed Gigi back in the day and B) have managed to hold on to him. he has been the savior of Juve many a time this season, especially when our defense falls asleep. I just wish our backline didn't have the confidence knowing Gigi is back there, then they might actually work harder. all in all a win is a win and now we are a point behind Roma and 8 behind Inter. not bad for a team who was playing in Serie B last season.
Martha

Great report, Roberto. I can't decide if Lazio have really turned a corner (my hope), or if this is their last gasp before some sort of epic collapse. (Not that you care, I realize.)

I think I've seen Juve play four times this season -- the shit opener, this one, the Derby d'Itlia, and the thrashing of Palermo. Which one are they really, in your loving but semi-rational opinion. Really title contenders?