VotD: ‘The Road Is Long…’

I know this is really boring and you are skipping to the next comment, but I just wanted to throw you a big thanks - you cleared up some things for me!

i agree with most of you here, i really like Melo. the only black dot is that his passes are way off, but again thats not his main job. a little focus would solve the problem, and support from the fans, and booing him off on the weekend did not help at all!

Alessio, I really think Melo is World Class.
See, the juve squad is lopsided, BUT it is not so bad that we lose 5 of our last 6 matches. Teams persist with a new coach in the hope that he can learn from his mistakes. Sadly, that is not apparent in Ciro. The whole deal of signing new players in the winter break is a little dodgy, since players are typically overpriced, and the top talent is not available anyway. A good coach can ensure a CL spot this season, and the team can be reinforced in the summer break. Although, if we can get a Ranochia or a Kjaer now, there is nothing like it. Also, if udinese are putting D'Ago again on the market......

Melo losing the ball is due to tactical reason did he do this at Brazil or Fiorentina? No because there was something different tactically. So yes they could change something.

Amauri is just plain shit no one or no thing can stop him from stinking it up. FUCK HIM!

And the injuries well we have the cover needed they cant be an excuse for Ciro sucking.

Yes because Hiddink or Laudrup will teach Melo how to pass, Amauri how to score, and heal Camoranesi, Buffon, Chiellini magically.

If Ciro goes i am all for getting Hiddink but if we cant i think Michael Laudrup is the way to go. Hes a former player, he likes to use and coach his youngsters and he plays good football.

Im just hoping the day will come when Ciro goes

what about Pasquale Marino?

i love the idea of candreva, he is a fantastic young player but where would he play in our team?

@darjan Melo tried to elbow balotelli in the chest but your classless balotelli tried to fake like it was to his face. Don t troll here now. Also we still beat you guys 2-1 so just be quiet already.

Robee i think camo has beEn there and has been relatively solid all season up until the last few games. Our medical staff should have notice his decline sooner and he should have been rested soone, that way he may have avoided this injury.

We played 3 games yjis season tjat showed ferraras stamp on us. Sampdorria, roma, and lazio. Thats all. I hate to say this but i think the team isfailing because it is too dependant on diego. I think the players really are confused about their jobs, and our defense is not great to sau the least. Like someone else said, without chiellini we fall apart at the back. Kjaer would be a dream signing. along with chiellini we would do incredible. We can live with grosso.caceres has proved his worth. We can use canna and legro as subs or when we are playing less offensive teams. It would be good to get someone in january but i think if we have to we should wait.

We should sell criscito or take him back immediately. Does anyone think we should still try to get dagostino? Or candreva? Also a classy striker would be our second best investment next to kjaer or ranoucchia.

Curious to see if we spend or sell during january. I just can t watch another loss. Its not the juventus that i grew up watching.

Yeah attempting to elbow an opposing player in the face is such a "classy" thing.

Come on Alessio... Melo is a classy player.

It's just multifactorial now:

- He's not been asked to do what he does best
- He's not surrounded like he should be
- He's been singled out by the coach, the press and the opposition
- With that defence behind him, almost every mistake he makes is a goal
- He's had different players next to him almost every game.
- He's not at the top of his game (but that can change fast)
- And so on.

I say we keep Melo 'till next season, give him the support he needs and with a coach that can make the team gel in a nice tactical formation. 'Cause Ciro really hasn't formed any tactical identity.

The least we can do for now is support him. Fucking Tiago has been screwing it up for over 2 years, has nothing to learn anymore and we're insulting Melo after just a few months in which the entire team played like shit ? Don't shove it all on his shoulders...
At least he was always there; for instance Sissoko has barely played this year and now he's off to the Africa Cup... Marchisio, Camoranesi and Tiago weren't there either the entire time... Only Poulsen was available for most of the time.

If Melo should be sold, then Ciro should be fired as well, 'cause he's equally guilty imo...

sell melo? one of the few WORLD CLASS players we have?

Really?

Read here, Roberto- http://juventus.theoffside.com...

There's a big difference between trequartista (Baggio, Diego, your classic no.10) and regista, like Andrea Pirlo. Pirlo sits deep and passes long precise balls. Diego and Baggio are responsible for final passes and scoring goals as well.

Good debates going on here, it seems people are divided into two camps. Those who think Ferrara is shit, and those who think Ferrara is working with shit. I fall into the latter. Felipe Melo in particular has a case of the Amauri-itis, and is making his 25mil pricetag look more ludicrous everyday.

You are right, Pirlo/Baggio are obviously both much different players than Diego. I was referring more to the pass-first, playmaker mentality. Although I would argue that Baggio was a regista, but that is for a different day. Pirlo-Ronaldinho only work so well because they have a top-5 scoring talent in Pato, and Boriello who also can score. Right now the burden is too much on Diego, since our strikers are such crap. I think you would see much more of a "regista" if he played behind iaquinta/rossi.

"Kjaer would be great, but he’s not for sale, or just too expensive. Rossi is about the same"

This is the exact mentality that has kept us down the past 7 years. Think of a team like Madrid, Barca, Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal. NO player is too expensive or not for sale. We need to target some REAL talent, and stop trying to get secondary talents and making them into something that they aren't. You think if Madrid really wanted someone like Kjaer or Rossi they would have that attitude. I have said before, I think 10M and Amauri could get us Rossi, and 7M and DeCeglie could get us Kjaer.

Kjaer is a natural CB, so of course... Kjaer would be great, but he's not for sale, or just too expensive. Rossi is about the same, we just need to put faith in Giovinco and play the 4-3-2-1.

But Diego was not signed as a Regista, more as a fantasista...
Pirlo doesn't play in front of 3 midfielders, he plays next to them and most of the time behind them... That's the player we need, just to feed Diego. And Baggio was a striker, just like Del Piero.

Diego is our Ronaldinho, but we don't get the balls to him because we don't have a Pirlo, simply said...

I agree on the starting 11, but in soccer which is a hard contact sport, it is really impossible to play a season with 11 and every stand-in makes the level drop significantly... That's why Juve is not a scudetto-made team right now.

Everyone says we need a regista, but we signed Diego for EXACTLY that this summer??? I think too much pressure is on Diego to make everything happen, plus go back and cover. A TRUE regista (Baggio, Pirlo, etc..) plays behind two strikers that are actually capable of finishing, and three possessing/hard-nosed midfielders behind him.

We need a strong & fast replacement for Cannavaro, and TWO new strikers up top. My reccomendation for the winter/offseason would be Kjaer (can he play CB??) and Giuseppe Rossi. Both very attainable, and instant impact. Kjaer seems big and smart enough to play CB next to Chiellini.

Also, can we plase spend somde damn money on a freaking training staff???? There is no doubt that if we could play with Buffon/Caceres Chiellini Canna Grosso/Melo Sissoko Marchisio/Diego/Iaquinta Trez as our consistent lineup in big games, we would be in MUCH better position than right now.

To make an American comparison, the Phoenix Suns spend by far the most $$$ every year on training staff in the NBA, and they consistently have the fewest injuries in the league even with an older team. Look at that lineup above, and you really think that Ferrara couldn't have kept THAT squad in champs league and competing for scudetto?

Uhu, I see. But I really think there are teams interested in De Ceglie, especially Napoli... If we throw some cash in the deal we should be able to get Santacroche, I guess...

we should not sell melo

i agree Robee, and im not saying i would sell Melo, there are several obvious names that should leave the team and Melo isnt one of them.....

all im saying, is that after what has happened in summer, i wouldnt be surprised if he does get sold, and it wouldnt be ALLL that bad if we manage to get a good price....because then we would have money for a regista

AGAIN, im not with selling him!!!!! Poulsen and Tiago dont amount to 5% of what Melo is capable of

And yes, by that I mean Ciro can turn the tide if he gets a world-class defender.

It's better to wait 'till the end of the season and get a top level instead of taking a second choice now. By that we won't be ruining Ciro's further career as well.

A player like Zapata, Subotic or Santacroche would do miracles for Juventus right now. That's all we need in the winter mercato IMO. A Regista would be too expensive everywhere, because they know we desperately are seeking one...

And if you want to make funds HolyMann, did the name De Ceglie ever raise ? If anyone is to be sold it should be him (for his own cause) together with Legrottaglie and Zebina. Tiago and Poulsen will move in the summer, I think even they know the story is over for them, unless anything special happens the second half of the competition.

sell melo? one of the few WORLD CLASS players we have?
the only thing that is needed right now is Guus Hiddink, followed by Gasperini or Conte.

A fast CB and a midfield director wont be bad either

dont get me wrong, im not saying Melo isnt a good player, he's a great player.....but not one that was needed. if they werent able to sell Poulsen then, i dont see it changing now, and i dont know if Sissoko would leave either (also would like to keep him)....but if money is needed, and Melo got sold to buy a regista, its not the end of the world for Juve....

once again, i agree that he's not in his position and im not saying sell him becuase of his bad performances, im saying sell him because we didnt need him to start with, not another DM

if i were to choose, i would definitely keep Melo and Sissoko and offload Poulsen....but i dont see that happening, just like Zanetti was a scape goat, Melo might turn out to be one too....Him and Ferrara arent exactly on the best of terms either....and Sam, it isnt plain stupidity.....its plain logic!!

That rumor is obviously bull crap, and HolyMann you cant be possible serious? If you have ever seen him play you will know he is defiantly worth keeping. And if we sell him we will defiantly make a loss, just plain stupidity.

Selling Melo so impulsively would be a big, big mistake, and invoking the name of Arsenal only makes me think of how quickly we offloaded Thierry Henry... and we all know how he turned out in the end. Play him in his correct position, with the right man management, and he will regain his confidence and reward our faith.

The other terrifying news story football-italia.net have right now is Juve possibly replacing Ferrara with Nedved! Isn't one of our biggest existing problems that we put in a fan favourite ex-player with limited managerial experience? So why put in another with even LESS backroom experience?

Potentially baffling decisions being made by a (currently) incompetent club.

HolyMann ? Are you serious ? Melo really is a beast and if we are to play the 4-2-3-1 as many suggest towards the future, we have to keep him. He is an unbelievable player and the only reason he is underperforming is because he is used completely incorrectly.

Everyone knows we need a regista, so buying one now would raise the price. I say let the team be, except if a great opportunity opens up. Although a central defender would be great.

We can use De Ceglie as bait for Santachroche/Zapata for instance and sent Ariaudo on loan if we're not going to use him anyway...

Melo is a monster it's managment fault they did not purchase a regista forcing Ciro to play him as one! His best position is beside someone like d'agostino or ladesma. Clearly there are motivational issues on hand but again it's Ciro's fault for not properly addressing them. All I'm saying is Hiddink!

http://www.football-italia.net...

i personally hope this is true....if we manage to seel him for a reasonable price, maybe we can buy a regista...

Glad Bettega is back...I really do hope he can bring his wealth of experience to bear and steady our ship. Ciro gets a stay of execution largely because there's not much else out there at the moment in terms of options, lucky fella! I hope for the sake of his reputation and his legacy he can turn things around.
I also hope the new year will bring about a positive change in fortunes for Melo, Diego, Giovinco and other underperformers.
Merry Christmas all and may the force be with us

let's have a vote on whether we keep ferrara for another season or sack him and hire guus or others available now

Isint it stupid to fire a coach AFTER the break! I mean a new coach is a decent time for the break he can actualyl work with them for a few weeks i have no idea what the plan is.

True Robee, but I saw a beautiful football when Russia dismantled Holland 1-3 at Euro 2008.

From what I read from football-italia, Ferrara is given ultimatum: that the next 2 matches would determine his future.

Shall he go, Gasperini wont be able to take the helm. In that case, Guus may be the best.

http://www.calciomercato.com/i...

The Messiah has spoken, and once again he's right about pretty much everything. Also, I would love to see Pietro Leonardi replace Alessio Secco.

Hiddink is far from a sure coach... I don't know if you know but that's really a shitty coach... Everyone admires his tactical games, but in Italy it would just be called catenaccio once more... His raid with South Korea was disgusting with the ref at his side... Last year he played some of the ugliest football I have seen in my life against Barcelona and luckily he got kicked out... And now he didn't even manage to qualify for the world cup with a talented squad like Russia... Really, fuck Hiddink, I want Gasperini.

Bettega is back !! Yes !!! Someone who actually knows how to run things !!!

I agree with the majority of the posts here regarding both new blood in the management departmant as well as the bad signings we have made. However I feel that in the Bianconeri spirit it is unwise to fire a juve legend like ciro at the drop of a hat, obviously we have not gotten the results we expect but the season is still young, and this can be salvaged. I say we get rid of Amauri (lets hope mancini wants to spend some of that money in man city), and go for a striker with a bit more pace and mobility for example Giuseppi Rossi or a Ivaca Olic of Munich type. Some one to compliment the target men we have. - i personally see giovinco as more of a winger or laying behind the forward(s), where he can beat players and not take the physical battles that strikers throw themselves into.

first for Joe our management and coaches are speaking two different languages, secondly there is no reason we should ever sell chiellini for anything less than what ronaldo sold for, this might seem crazy but you just can't replace a player like chiellini hes still young and arguably among the very best center backs in the game. how can anyone say that Hiddink isn't a sure thing? he has done far more in situations where he had far less so i think he would be ideal for us.

Newbie here, wanted to know in the case of Juventus, how much cooperation there is between coaching and management when getting players. Did Ciro have much influence in choosing the players they got over the off-season?

Thanks..

Hahaaaah Armando you and your Bundesliga, its a great league dont get me worng, and felix Magath is wayy of bounds as he only just moved to shalke