Zac: “They hold each other’s hands.”

The lads believe in his footballing mantra. Their confidence is rising and the momentum is building.  This weekend, going against in-form Bologna, the Zac puts his small unbeaten streak on the line once again. Certainly if he hopes to lengthen it, he’ll need the same type of leadership from his captain Alex Del Piero. Did someone just say South Africa? Well to be fair, two games aren’t going to cut it. But he can certainly make Lippi’s job a little harder, just like Zaccheroni can come next season if he keeps this up. The Zac’s pre-Bologna comments after the jump, plus the video of the day.

We are about to face a team which is fresh from three away matches during which they won against Bari, Fiorentina and Livorno, drew with Chievo and Verona and at home with Milan.

He [Bologna's head coach, Franco Colomba] joined when the season had already begun and was very clever to immediately undertsand the players he has. Without too much pomp he managed to take advantage as best he could of the available players, immediately focusing on the objective and obtaining the disposition of the team and results. I just arrived and haven’t yet given a culture to this team. It has not yet been made more solid. Colomba had more time at his disposal to give his players equilibrium and work for results. I am still trying to do so.

The victory against Ajax is linked more to compactness of the team then to tactical chemistry. I work on equilibriums and then the players must interpret the individual moments. Even though I have recently got to know the boys, I believe I can say that they don’t think they have solved all the problems. The characteristic I liked most of this team is compactness. They hold each other’s hands, play like a team and not as single players but we haven’t yet done anything: we have had a breath of fresh air and got back into the group. I will be careful that this concept is clear.

I do not dream. I give myself priorities: the first is to have the best Amauri, Del Piero, Trezeguet, Camoranesi, Grygera, etc… managing to bring the right form from all the players I have available to be able to make the best choices. I do not like to field players who are out of form.

Trezeguet is not yet ready for the full 90 minutes but he can play part of the match. Having been at a stop for a long time he has still way to go. Sissoko must recover the best condition: not that his performance is not satisfactory but we are used to getting much more from him. I think this moment is the consequence of various injuries which he had to deal with. Marchisio as winger with a 3-strong defence? He has the characteristics to play in this position but he must think everytime he is about to move because he is not used to playing in that way and I tend to avoid such situations. I am here to facilitate the role of the players and not to complicate it. Melo? He has great qualities and I am working for him to develop them and maintain them not only in one match but in all of them.

He [Di Vaio] is the best striker of the team and therefore with him absent Bologna will be losing out a great deal even though the forward line is probably the best of their departments, in fact they are the team with the highest goal average in comparison to the number of goal opportunities created.

Our problem is the daughter of the result. I do not like to make comparisons but we often see foreign football on television, particularly English and Spanish. In the first they ask for great generosity while in the second they praise the players if they play good football. In our country, if we win 1-0 with one shot on goal and 8 posts hit by the opponents, we are happy. It is our culture, starting from the nurseries and we must live with it.

What do you get when you combine Bruce Springsteen with an in-depth look at Juventus’ training centre in Vinovo? Cinematic genius. In today’s VOTD, Gazzetta tours the facilities around the centre and also sheds some light on a man with the coolest job in the world.

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

Some Related Juventus Posts:

• Udinese Beat Milan, Gap At Four
• Champions League: Chelski vs Bianconeri
• Coaching Staff Info + Pics and Video of Ferrara’s First/Second Training Session
• Photo of the Day: ‘Something Stinks All Right’
• Previews: The Battle of the Bianconeri, ADN v. ADP

Category: Amauri, Coach, Competitions, Del Piero, Grygera, Melo, Players, Previews & Reviews, Serie A, Sissoko, Team News