PotD: The Blind Leading The Blind

mufid, also swap marchisio and tiago and swap tiago for camo. Camo has the most assists this season for Juve and can cover the right pretty well, despite his age. For the rest of the season i.e.

or wait, did he get injured long-term again vs. Bari? :(

mufid, just out of curiosity, how the fuck can you bench Trezegol right now?!

I agree with you Ivo, and it doesnt matter which striker we get they will always come up short becuase the get no/ very poor service from the midfield.

for the rest of the season
buffon

caceres chiellini legro grosso

marchisio sissoko(melo) tiago

diego

iaquenta giovinco

from December-May last season, and he scored one goal

Didn't he score 2 in December against Milan alone? He had 14 goals last season, so if he scored 1 from Jan-May, then that means he scored 13 under the same formation in the previous six months.

Point is, this guy needs feeders, self-confidence, and luck. And he has none of that right now. But as the video you posted earlier this season, we all know what "once was" and I just believe that can be that again. Or I want to believe. One of those two :)

4-4-2 diamond with the wingers actually playing as wingers with good crosses and through balls will work. Yes, he has had a few opportunities to score and he hasn’t.

I dunno man. We had Nedved and Camo in a 4-4-2 from December-May last season, and he scored one goal. They aren't the quickest of wingers, but they put in plenty of good crosses.

Today i read an article saying that Juve's problem is that there are 2 sets of players that cannot co exist. Physical - melo sissoko amauri & Technical - diego gio camo etc ... i never thought abt this but i agree completely. i dont this ferrara is guilty of anyting other than a few retarded subs like choosing to defend a 1-0 lead by taking off alex and putting on poulsen with 45 mins left to play against bayern. Melo is not a passer and the man hasnt had a break yet. hes been going since he joined fiorentina. diego needs some intelligence around him to perform, hes been involved in nearly all our goals dis season, you cant blame him if our strikers dont score. this is why i think that the best formation would be 4 3 2 1 ... first of all it is crucial that we sign Ranocchia and Bonucci from Bari, because Canna is old and Legro is shite. They are young and have a gr8 future ahead Juve need players like dat. Competition is needed for a place at left back sum1 young to compete for a place with grosso n slowly take over as grosso gets older. Maybe Krasic from Rubin or Kolarov from Lazio? A deep lying playmaker such as D'agostino or i think even Hamsik can play in this position. Then a striker who is capable of using both his feet and head. I think that missing out on Milito last year was a major loss. Maybe we could sign Dzeko or Chamakh- i think hes free. And another player i would consider signing is Lavezzi because i think hed link up well with Diego. They could play like this.

Buffon

Caceres - Rannochia/Canna - Chiellini -Grosso(or signing)

Marchisio - Melo/Sissoko - D'agostino/Hamsik

Diego - Gio/Alex

Dzeko/Chamakh/Lavezzi/ Iaquinta

this way Melo/Sissoko/ Poulsen wont cause so much worries when one is injured and will have time to rest. Diego, Gio, Camo, Alex are all capable of playing as 1 of the 2... and they will have some capable targets. True none of these players will come cheap but Juve need to spend BIG just ONCE then the players will start paying for themselves with success. and they could help raise more funds by offloading players like Amauri, Tiago, Molinaro, De Ceglie, Brazzo ... sorry this was so long... it was my first time ever commenting hehe

As tempting as that sounds alessio, I think he could work in a formation where he doesn't have to come deep to get the ball, or go all the way wide kissing the sideline.

4-4-2 diamond with the wingers actually playing as wingers with good crosses and through balls will work. Yes, he has had a few opportunities to score and he hasn't. Still, did you see what Torres missed in the first 15 mins of the Arsenal game? And yet, he is one of the best strikers in that league.

I think Amauri's problem is that he cannot rely on the midfield to set him up cuz our midfield is dysfunctional. He desperately needs a player like Gio on the flanks. And he needs to play with confidence, which he doesn't. He won't, and he shouldn't last much longer at Juve at this inefficient pace. I wanted him to be the next Drogba, but it looks like that won't be happening...

What formation can Amauri work in? 0-0-9-1?

Robee, how about Giuseppe Rossi? He won't play too deep to interfere with Diego's territory and he can spread the defense blindfolded. And if you spread the defense in Italy, you can even have Amauri score goals.

I think Amauri is a very good player, he is just not in the right state of mind and doesn't fit in well with Juves formation right now. Not like anyone really is.

I think once Hiddink takes over Amauri will play much better, especially if given the confidence by the new coach. And if he doesn't? SELL HIS ASS :)

I know alessio, but that was also because Ranieri fucked it all up by playing two deep strikers... If Amauri is the deepest striker, he is way better than now (even though I prefer Trezegol anytime).
His performances of last year where the team was on a roll, can not be ignored... But I would sell him anyway, he's not our future and we need a mobile and creative striker to support Iaquinta or Trezeguet.

Teo Teocoli is hilarious when he does his skits and Ranieri is a class act although he didn't do much last season at Juve. Claudio said what we all know though, time is needed. Not as much for Amauri(who has had all the time and opportunities in the world this season) but for Felipe and Diego. Once they get going they will reach the high levels they are capable of. It will take some pressure off of Ciro and the rest of the squad as well.

Ranieri talking about Juve on Domenica Sportiva last night.

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

Add up that Amauri is world-class when he has some good crosses coming in and the calculations are made

He went 6 months under Ranieri (spring '09) with 1 goal, playing the 4-4-2 the whole game. There's been crosses since, he just sucks unbelievably right now.

As for the Golden Trash Can, Huntelaar definitely should have won it, but the last two weeks (Melo awful, Huntelaar had a nice 10 minute cameo against the worst team in the league) made people forget. Whatever, he sucks right now and maybe it'll motivate him.

Alex w, I can follow you for a certain way, I have thougt about returning to the 4-4-2 myself, because Camoranesi is gold on the wind, Giovinco can be too and we have like a dozen of central players... Add up that Amauri is world-class when he has some good crosses coming in and the calculations are made... But you do have some arguments that are twisted!

Poulsen sucked last year in the 4-4-2, Tiago did as well and no they will never work in it, because they are just too weak defensively and not effective enough in going forward.

Marchisio is a stud in the center and he can cover one of the positions, but the other one should either be Melo or Sissoko. Really this formations needs 2 strong center midfielders: think of Emerson-Vieira back in the days...

And then think a little further: this formation only worked because Nedved was like the best player in the world back then and Camoranesi at the top of his game... Giovinco and still Camo can possibly do the same job, but not every week, far from... And no, we don't have anyone that can replace them there. Neither Iaquinta, nor Marchisio can... That would seriously be fuckin them up...

It never worked with two strikers who can't create anything themselves because all the creativity comes from the flanks, so why don't you let Giovinco and Diego play as a low positioned second striker ? That would do the trick, I guess.

But I'm concluding our squad is like some fifa football manager game, that was badly played by Secco... Really our players don't match at all.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/10...

Yeah okay Zampa. More like I have no problem defending my brilliant piece of business where I convinced the idiot known as Alessio Secco that an average striker is worth 22.5 million.

best XI definitely has him, in the 4231 that you guys really want to work. but over a whole season? read my post, i think depth and consistent tactics would make the difference for juve, and you guys have such a glut of talent on the roster that you can make many systems work. my idea is that you should pick the one that wins out over a season, not just in one imaginary game where you don't have to worry about injury/fatigue.

Alex w our BEST team dosent include Diego yeahh okayyy?!?!

fiorentina fan here in peace:
okay so i've read a lot of the comments on this offside, but not all of them. i haven't heard anyone mention a possible starting lineup that doesn't include diego, but in my head, juve's best TEAM would not include him.

gigi
caceres chiellini canna grosso
camo poulsen marchisio giovinco
trez adp/iaquinta

my reasons being (1) that you guys don't have the depth to field the 4231 if certain people get injured, (2) diego fits only with good support on his line to draw markers off him. he gets this in the 4231, but the only way he gets this in the 4312 is with talented fullbacks that push up, which you don't have. (3) melo doesn't work without multiple easy outlets. he gets this in the 4231, which brazil and fiorentina play. watching him all last year for both the viola and brazil, he can dribble a bit and cause havoc by being where he's not supposed to be (for good or bad) but he most certainly cannot pass. (4) poulsen is underrated and is not really an out and out DM. he works great for denmark when given the freedom to go box to box... and

(5) this system gives you time to work on tactical identity because you have the depth to interchange parts without interchanging how everybody works together. melo and sissoko can sub for marchisio and poulsen (but not both at the same time). adp and iaquinta can split time up top. iaquinta can cover for camo (i think), amauri can cover for trez, marchisio can cover for giovinco on the wing, caceres can cover as a CB, and your other shitty fullbacks can cover grosso and caceres. legro should never play unless with chiellini.

this is a very attacking lineup, but as a fiorentina fan, i would DREAD having this juve in serie a, because i know it would almost never have a period of weakness due to injury. unfortunately, theres no room for expensive trophy signing diego, and very little for melo, but thats secco's fault for buying them without having the other players they need to do well.

sorry for the long post but i don't frequent these parts enough to have an extended conversation with you guys, so i thought i'd try and get it all out in one go

That's unfairly harsh on Melo, who has struggled at times (and especially lately), but has also put in quite a few decent performances. It can't be easy when your manager and team except you to the lion's share of midfield work, especially when the formation (and your role) changes seemingly every other week.

haha yeahh

http://www.goal.com/en/news/10...

wtf!

no way melo gets the bin

Yeah thats just crap utter crap

wow that was harsh, melo start off well...

and people say our players cant win anything

http://www.goal.com/en/news/10...

Hiddink to Juve? I really hope so. as much as i wish a curse upon your house, i think hiddink would be great for italian football

http://patsfootballpage.blogsp...

i really like that picture because it so apltly captures what's happening to us ATM...blanc n secco have done as well as they could've considering they are both learning-on-th-job...the frenchman has an MBA(harvard i think!)and managerial experience,but nothing from the footballing world how much more a pressure-cooker environment like the one at Juve. Secco on the other hand was a press officer catapulted into the hot-seat that is the job of a sporting director; again like blanc, he had no prior expereince in that regard(tho he was always in the background in both the lippi and capello eras);how much more at a pressure-cooker environment like the one at Juve.
Errors of judgment are to be expected from such a combination which is y i feel the vital apppointment needed at the club now is that of an astute general manager. Blanc can keep his job as chairman and secco can continue to handle transfers, but btweeen them they NEED someone to advise and mentor them while they acquire the neccessary experience.

It's on Mediaset, it's kind of the gold standard for pointless debating about the polemiche of the day.

Controcampo.... Don't know that one. What channel is it on?

Bobby McMahon on Fox Soccer knows his stuff. I actually like him. Yes, he butchers the Italian names, but he's a Scotsman, what do u expect ;)

Controcampo is better than domenica sportiva...but both focus way too much on the moviola, of course.

Mike, he was just a guest, he's been on a few times. ESPN now carries EPL and La Liga live, which is a huge step, first time European league football has been on general cable. It'd be nice if Serie A got along soon.

ya i know
foxsprts world is ok but the anouncers dont know shit all abotu soccer and should be anouncing baseball
i mean they cant even pronounce italian names or any
amawari, inakinta to name a few
but ya it is a shame that epl they cover epl more than serie a when italians are the biggest ethnic european group in north america
anyways tln just pissed me off today:P

Ale,

Was he one of the regulars or just a guest?

Yeah DS is excessive, I agree. I think last weeks Juve-inter coverage was an hour itself.

It's a shame in Canada (and US) the hardcore European coverage is EPL, some la Liga and passing mention of Serie A

dont worry about it:P
but domenica sportiva its like they just talk about the same one play for like 20mins
u know
on wether the player was offside or not and if they would count it has a goal or they debate on whether it foul should of been a yellow or red for like 15mins and they all argue about it

kinda funny but still i dont care about it cuz it wont change the outcome of the match anywyas

Soccer fanatics is mediocre...but better than nothing. One of the other admins on the Facebook group I created has been on that show a few times, and pretty much schooled everyone else.

I agree. If I didn't live in Vancouver I would go to the studio and demand to be put on the air. LOL

Meant to say "you and I could analyze Serie A better"

ya me too
but fuck they should at least like hire competant ppl fukin tln is cheap

@Michelangelo

I PVR Soccer Fanatics every week. And you're right, they are awful. I'm you and I could analyza Serie A, and we wouldn't be half as awkward. The chick host, Gina Bucci, us by fat the worst of the bunch and the guy who is a Milan fan needs a punch in the head.

Needless to say, I'm probably done watching that show. Stick to Domenica Sportiva on RAI