PotD: Our Starting XI for the Next Few Weeks?

sorry drew...it basically says that diego worked out in the gym and in what would be his place on the pitch, zacc tried giovinco...and if diego doesn't recover in time for this weekends game, giovinco might be the guy that replaces him in the starting line up....

sorry drew...it basically says that diego worked out in the gym and in what would be his place on the pitch, zacc tried giovinco...and if diego doesn't recover in time for this weekends game, giovinco might be the guy that replaces him in the starting line up....

I think the 3-4-1-2 can work. The only thing that concerns me is the lack of depth at CB. Once Brazzo or Camo are available they can play RM/RWB, then Caceres can play CB when needed. So it could work.

The more I think about it though, the more I think Gentile wouldn't have been a bad option instead of Zaccheroni. Zaccheroni will get the job done for now...and he should bring in some new tactics, but Gentile wouldn't have been as similar to Ciro as we think. He's a Juventino without much experience like Ciro, but Gentile has shown with the U21s that he knows how to build a strong defense.

He also has a very strong character. And to many of the players he would have been a bigger authority figure than Ferrara. One thing about Ferrara is that I think too many of the players still viewed him as a friend or equal, when really he was their superior. He was close to the players which is good in normal circumstances, but during a crisis the team needs a strong leader. Ferrara couldn't really provide that I don't think...and we sure as hell know the directors couldn't provide that either.

Because Gentile is older and a lot of the current players looked up to him in his playing days, he would have been a bigger authority figure and someone the players would NOT want to argue with. And I don't really think the team's problems were tactical. Their main problem was losing focus during the game and conceding late on. Can Zaccheroni help improve this? He has the experience, but I think the players would have looked up to and respected Gentile more.

3 defenders? that's interesting.. but too risky because we dont have another CB if someone gets injured..

I am cautiously optimistic about this. I've always had a soft spot for three-back sets, it's how I feel some very beautiful soccer can be played. I think the biggest payoff might be that with three CBs in the game, Juve might give up fewer stupid set-piece goals and rebounds and whatnot... more hard men to clog up the goalmouth on all that close-combat action in the box.

Actually, somehow i can bet on this tactic,except one line-ATTACK! ADP is far away from the top player, Amauri also so who will score???THAT'S THE POINT - WHEN TREZ IS HERE MAY BE, BUT WITH THESE 2 NO WAY!I can work somehow with paoluci and Gio as a pair upfront.yes, way too young pair but far speeder than other one!so, we can try some games with that i really believe that it can be working.As for defence i want finally someone to try it with CASSERES as a CB.this guy is gonna be fine-i really believe in this!

I don't think the 3-4-1-2 is a horrible idea. For those thinking our defense will get slaughtered, one would expect 3 CBs means at least 2 of them will be hanging out back on set pieces or counterattacks, rather than the CB+fullback that previously did it. The fullbacks-as-wingers isn't a bad idea, it takes defensive pressure off of them and gives them more freedom.

The fullback-wingers WILL not work if it is players like Grosso or Grygera there. PDC+Caceres will work because they are young, have a lot of stamina, and are good offensively. Grygera doesn't do much up front, and Grosso is too slow/tired to play 90minutes there.

I do agree this puts our CB positions lack of depth under the microscope. Legro, Canna, and Chiellini have been the few to avoid the injury plague we have, fingers crossed it continues.

That's just too simplified again... full-backs step forward very often when defending, and our midfielders were waiting upfront too many times.
So compared to our other formations we won't have 'less' midfielders and certainly not defensive ones. Again I think it's actually more solid, but I do have another concern with this formation...

With the typical wide plays of Caceres and De Ceglie we'll probably be throwing in a lot of crosses and if Amauri doesn't connect (let alone actually score one of them), who will ?
Our center axis is even worse than before in this and I'm not worried about conceding, but it's a riddle how we'll ever make a goal to me... Some good old powerplay it is.

So it definitely ain't optimal, and Zaccheroni should understand that this can only be a temporary option. In 2 weeks time we'll be having everybody back, so let's see him work with that.

"4) With one extra midfielder to support him, Felipe Melo should be able to position himself much better and keep his mistakes down to a minimum."

When defending, the wing-backs will probably go back to being full-backs, so in fact you might say there'll be one less midfielder!

i think it's risky with 3 defender, caught on the break, and its either 3 or lesser vs X attackers, goal opportunity either way

read it here gaetano...

http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/...

If I were you guys, I would worry a lot about that 3-man backline (Chiellini can only be in one place at a time, you know), but any formation in which Grosso doesn't play has to be considered a positive step.

Could easily be a disaster for you guys, but at least it's ballsy. Curious to see how it works.

Marco p and robee right on.


It is worth trying and like robee stated, our rb's and lb's will not be caught out of position.  Also, this game should be amauris last chance to do something. Seeing trez score his goals this season just shows how inferior amauri is compared to him. If we continue this path, we will be wasting other talent. Also, we are sorely missing iaquinta.

Dave, where did you hear this information? I would like seba to start this week . It may keep diego on his  toes and also give him the necessary rest.

Why are grande mou and the troll bombing our site these dAys? You guys should worry about losing to fiorentina today and both milan and roma catching you for the scuddetto. Your rants offer us nothing and show your insecurity.  Please just fuck off.

Marco, I would love to be optimistic but here is what I thought of immediately after reading your points:

1) Legrottaglie gets to play

Yup, but also, Cannavaro gets to play. While Legro plays better with someone good next to him, he plays a thousand times worse (or one would argue as if by himself) with a worse defender next to him on the other side. Shit.

2) Grosso could return being useful

For attack, maybe. For defence? He will slack off that much more, and his pace/stamina is a 9 at most.

3) Caceres can double up both as right mid but more importantly, as right center-back.

Can Grygera do the same? Even Zebina is better at attacking as a wing back than him. And when Camo gets back, I would just attack us from the left side if I was the other team's coach.

4) With one extra midfielder to support him, Felipe Melo should be able to position himself much better and keep his mistakes down to a minimum.

Amen to that brotha.

5) More midfielders = more offensive players the opponent has to mark when Juve have the ball.

Yup, as long as we don't continue playing the 30% possession game like we have been.

Penetrate vertically

Somehow, you used this in a football connotation and for that, my friend, you get the comment of the week. :)

sorry drew...it basically says that diego worked out in the gym and in what would be his place on the pitch, zacc tried giovinco...and if diego doesn't recover in time for this weekends game, giovinco might be the guy that replaces him in the starting line up....

Dave, in english please. my 2 years of italian have left me.

Marco, I think you're missing the entire point of this formation... The 3 central defenders are just meant to make us STRONGER DEFENSIVELY... Since our 2 backs were constantly wingers, we were vulnerable to counter-attacks as we were practically playing with only two defenders.

And your concentrated vision on the problems (and the brazilian trio) is way too narrow, since you mention the entire centre of our team... And it's not that they were playing well, but they got too much over their heads (especially when mentioning Diego), while it was the entire team that underachieved. (Except for Amauri, he actually was utterly shit in every single game he played).

A christmas tree formation would've been my favourite in the beginning of the season, but now we need something else, since Paolucci and Immobile are not going to turn the tide and it would be a miracle if Amauri did. If something shouldn't change now, it's the fact that we need 2 strikers upfront.

So I'd like everyone here to have some patience and stop being negative about the future. We can miss that like a bad headache. Support the team and continue hoping with the rest is, if that makes any sense.

The worst news we had in weeks, was the setback of Iaquinta for sure imo. His return can have an immense impact for this squad and with Chiellini and Sissoko we'll be having a reliable center for the first in god-knows-how-long.

Anche Diego oggi è rimasto in palestra mentre in campo al suo posto Zaccheroni ha provato Giovinco. E proprio Giovinco potrebbe giocare titolare a sorpresa contro il Livorno, nel caso in cui Diego non dovesse recuperare.

also, we've been getting royally burned on the counter attack all season. This formation makes us far more vulnerable then we've been before. As indicated above legro and cannavaro are way too slow to help us in this department. And chiellini wanders the park from time to time, leaving us bare at the back. I don't see how anything positive can come from this.

where's giovinco? I was certain he'll be back this week.
Honestly you can't take the same pile of crap we've gone with the last 2 months mould it into a 3-4-1-2 and expect any results. Zac is failing already to recognize the problem spots of this team: Amauri, Melo, Central Defence, and too much reliance on diego. I would run a christmas tree formation with Giovinco and Diego running behind a prima punta - ideally anyone but Amauri. I'd aim to use immobile and paolucci.

why there is so much negativity, is that following the arrival of a new coach, Juventus still manager to look poor, even against a very poor opposition. If any of you watch La Dominica Sportiva, even the soccer brass called out the fact that Juventus looked poorer than they did with ferrara. Now it's only been one game yes, but there should have been a physiological boost created to help juve beat lazio.

Anyway let's see what this week has in store, I'm just saying, go with some fresher faces, the brazilian trio hasn't done anything, it's time to start trusting home grown talents.

Why is everybody being so negative ?

With Candreva and Melo the only midfielders fit to support Diego... It is almost our only option. We'll see what it gives and if it foesn't work it'll almost certainly be TEMPORARY.

It is IMPOSSIBLE for us to field a decent 4-3-1-2 this weekend, so we might as well give this a try.
I'm with Marco P. on this one, especially with his #3. It's obvious to me we shouldn't field Legro and Canna next to each other, since they're about the slowest playes in the entire serie A, but if we switch Caceres to the RCB and recuperate Camo or Marchisio on the right wing, it's actually quite solid.

Although I would like to add that this is NEVER going to form our FUTURE, but to turn the tide this season, it might actually do well, until we recuperate some important players.

an unorthodox formation may turn the season around!

my problem with any formation involving 3 at the back is that we do not have a roster deep enough for it....going with the 3-4-1-2 for instance, we'd have canna, legro and chiellini on the pitch at the same time...what happens if one of them is red-carded or injured?what CB options do we have on our bench?grygera n caceres can both play there but neither of the duo are specialist CB's...
while i like d idea of caceres n deceglie flying down both wings with grygera n grosso as back-up if need be...i worry abt all our 3 options at Cb on the pitch at once

For many reasons, Zac's 3-4-1-2 formation gets my official stamp of approval.

1) Legrottaglie gets to play. Many Juventini were disappointed at the Canna move this Summer, although mostly quoted reasons (the post-Calciopoli "traitor" factor, Fabio's lame performances at Madrid) different than my own. For me it was primarily a lack of respect towards Legrottaglie, who up until then had well earned his paycheck and starting 11 spot in the heart of Juve's defense. This has been mentioned many times before, but for the sake of continuity let me repeat it: Legro plays very well when paired up with a stronger center-back (i.e. Chiellini). I want to be optimistic here and postulate that having both Canna + Legro on the field will be mutually beneficial for both, assuming Giorgio is also present. It would certainly be much better than a 4-man backline whose wing-backs are constantly out of position.
2) Grosso could return being useful. God knows he just doesn't cut it as full-back, but his offensive contributions and runs forward are often lethal, when they take place. If he starts in a left-mid role he will have much less work to do defensively, and can thus focus on what he does best.
3) Caceres can double up both as right mid but more importantly, as right center-back. Remember that central defense was his original position in South America and Barcelona. Right mid is a stop-gap until Camoranesi returns.
4) With one extra midfielder to support him, Felipe Melo should be able to position himself much better and keep his mistakes down to a minimum. Hopefully enabling him to find his confidence back once and for all, and make himself worth of his Summer price-tag.
5) More midfielders = more offensive players the opponent has to mark when Juve have the ball. One would hope this will finally enable Diego to penetrate vertically in the central part of the field, instead of always carrying the ball wide with long runs, little dribbles, and generally going nowhere.

For all of the above, I am ready to drop my cynic hat. Let's wait Saturday and see what happens. Confidence high and fingers crossed.

Players make formations good, not the other way around. If Juve can't win with a 4-3-1-2, then not much will change with a 3-4-1-2. For the sake of Juve and my sulking best friend, I hope I'm wrong...

Hahah, really hope we dont play that, and if we do dont think De Ceglie and Caceras will play as wingers but as wingbacks, Caceras isint a midfielder.

Really could be suicidal seeing as though our defence already sucks.What happens if one of our back 3 get injured? Please dont tell me Zebina will be coming in. Damn Ariaudo would be useful.

I'm not sure I believe in this. Hopefully Gigi says his prayers.

Silver lining: Looks like Ferrara got a golden tapir a few weeks ago while Bettega got one last week.

I love those things. It is almost worth embarrassing myself publicly in Italy to get one. If only I were famous...

i agree with Adam on this....but usually how long does a team and players need to settle in such formation, i would assume quite alot of time, and thats something we dont have if we are to qualify for the champions league...

we really need a formation that will allow us to grind out results....if we are to play with this formation, i hope at least this new change will give a new attitude for the players, maybe this is the medicine to increase their motivation?

and Jorid, just ignore them, answering the ignorant will only fuel them for more replies

The good thing about the 3-4-1-2 and 3-4-3 is that when defending the two wide midfielders essentially become full backs when defending, so it really turns into a 5-2-1-2 when defending and a 3-2-3-2 when attacking. The problem is that we need really, really fast wide midfielders with even better stamina. With the right players and tactics this formation would be lethal.

As a core Juventino i used to learn how to never give up... but, this Juve... this Juve is awful...
I like to read this blog and the Carlo Carganese on Goal.com, adn here's a post that made me even more sorrow:
http://www.goal.com/en/news/17...

If there's a God out there, how could he let this 3-4-1-2 or 3-4-3 ever exist at Juventus? It is ridiculous, we don't even have players suited for it.

P.S. Hope that Buffon will not get complacent and will not leave us in the summer, because as things stands, everyone may lose hope at one point.

Ale/Roberto: I have 1 suggestion. I say you delete posts that make no sense. I don't think most readers here have a problem chatting and having an actual "conversation/discussion" per se, with the fan of another team who can string together a few words and say something meaningful(even though he's delusional 99% of the time, I don't mind MAD's posts, because I can understand the points he's trying to get across), but what the fuck does bullshit such as the one above me or the shit Sammy or The Troll type even mean? Their rants are usually piles of idiotic phrases thrown together with no real meaning.

Old washed up SS with a inept , stationary forward supported by a one trick pony running around like a headless chicken , backed by central midfield which cant pass for shit and protected by old crappy back line coached by a guy without a job for 3 years until hired by cheating scums as pathetic as him.

speechless . guess serie A has been put on notice - Juve ready willing and able to serve you as your bitch

thats all ...

and 75 million Euros smiling nonchalantly
:)) priceless!

I am not so negative about the formation. Cannavaro with Legro could be better than without him.

Sucks for Iaquinta.....we really need him

The idea is so bad, it might actually work. How about Trez, when is he coming back guys? Gio?

That formation is suicidal IMO. I hope that Zaccheroni proves me wrong, but having Canna's dumbass in the heart of our defense is frightening.
I think I found a wallpaper made by JCB and Secco during the summer. Notice the 30 on the Scudetto(WTF?) and 75 million Euros smiling nonchalantly.
http://www.oleole.com/media/ma...