Accident alibis and investigations are not enough. The attitude “suggested” by the coach is not up to an ambitious team, which has the obligation to earn a place in Europe. But there are bold solutions…
It’s no joke: the last success in the league dates back to April 1st, a month ago, then a meager point in four games, yet Juve are still in third place, one step below Lazio. With a little more continuity, the Champions League today would be armored, regardless of the well-known extra-football events. And in any case qualifying for a cup is the imperative to serve as soon as possible any punishment from Nyon. It can be done. Just want it.
juve terrible parade
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The Bianconeri’s last success dates back to matchday 28, 1-0 at Verona, goal by Kean. On the evening of April 1, Juve found themselves in second place, 12 points behind Napoli (-27 with the penalty but, as Allegri said, points count on the pitch). Since then, the horrible parade with Lazio (1-2), Sassuolo (0-1) and Napoli (0-1), not to mention the elimination from the Italian Cup against Inter (one draw before the San Siro knockout ). It’s luck that in the Europa League qualification for the semifinals arrived: Sporting managed to waste enough to give way to the black and whites who are at least more concrete in the cups. Finally, in Bologna, a more spectacular draw than the result says, and which interrupts the negative streak, but it is the umpteenth demonstration that Juve, today, can no longer win.
merry, time to risk
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One can agree with Allegri when he recalls that playing in this condition is not easy, “taking blows since January 18”, in practice since the nightmare of the penalty began. Real. To this must be added the second line of inquiry, that on salaries, which has not yet produced any effects but, sooner or later, will complicate the classification in some way. Plus the Super League, a bottleneck in which it wasn’t really necessary to slip, unless the Court of Luxembourg unexpectedly overturns the opinion of the Advocate General. And, in order not to miss anything, the serial infirmary problems that deprived Allegri di Chiesa (for a long time), of Pogba (until today) and, randomly, of many other players, from Di Maria to Vlahovic, from Bonucci to kean. It may be that the coach enjoys playing the little chemist – with Bologna the hundredth different formation in a hundred matches of his second Juventus cycle – but finding continuity is not easy. The question, in this scenario of a tragedy that threatens at least one season out of the cups, is inevitable: at this point what is there to lose to risk more?
wrong attitudes
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In September there was no talk of a capital gains trial and the “match” with UEFA for the Super League could have seemed more balanced, yet since then the black and whites have been facing the most important matches with a helmet and shield, sheltered by a virtual bunker. Do you remember PSG and Allegri’s imprudent sentence that on the eve explained how that wasn’t the opponent for Juve (in the sense of too strong)? Admitted and not granted, a coach should never offer his players alibis more preventive than a mark on Haaland. Juve went onto the pitch in Paris terrified, conceding goals and chances, with a center of gravity almost as high as Szczesny: but a little courage in the second half explained that perhaps the result wasn’t written, as Benfica later demonstrated (two equal with Frenchmen and first place in the group) and of course Bayern who eliminated Messi before being humiliated by Guardiola. Juve, on the other hand, insisted with this attitude against great or presumed greats, Milan and Naples, Benfica and Lazio, was a bit unlucky with Roma, and had always had the better of Inter before the semi-final of the Coppa Italia who overturned the perspective.
iling and next-gen
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Having nothing to lose today means overturning written hierarchies and saving tactics. It means never giving up on playing. Allegri is also a paradox: forced by necessity, he took his courage in hand and launched Miretti and Fagioli, Iling-Junior and Soulé, even that Barrenechea not yet ready, and the responses were overall positive. Above all those of the young English winger who enters the field as if he were in the Premier League, aiming at the opponent and slipping in with a mixture of speed, power and recklessness that is so good for today’s Juve. The suspicion is that without Iling, Juve would not have made up for the disadvantage with Bologna: he had just entered, yet he showed courage and lucidity in seconds that his teammates lacked for an hour. It would be nice to see Iling again from the next match against Lecce. In a tactical system more suited to him and to the whole team.
the juve system
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Juve’s other problem is in fact the insistence on a formula that doesn’t enhance the characteristics of its players. Allegri would have a team born for 4-3-3, with Chiesa, Di Maria, Iling, Soulé, Kostic, Kean himself ideal for assaulting the flanks and serving Vlahovic, Milik and Kean in the center. Instead he persists in an incomprehensible and convoluted 3-5-1-1 (useful for compacting the team in the most difficult moment, but by now unsustainable) or, as in Bologna, in a 4-4-2 which is frankly inexplicable if not with the concern to control the spaces and protect yourself as best as possible. But it should be Bologna that fears the shock force of the Bianconeri, not vice versa. Church struggles in the center. Locatelli is squeezed. Alex Sandro can’t hold the wing and it’s not clear why one day Kostic can’t be offered a chance (too offensive to play full-back?). Juve have the richest squad in the league and can still fix the season by finishing in the top four and attacking the Europa League. The flop with Valladolid last year – closing for two games after Vlahovic’s goal in the first leg’s ready-to-go – should have taught us something. Or not?
May 1, 2023 (change May 1, 2023 | 11:29 am)
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#Merry #shyness #Kostic #fullback #youngsters #cure #Juve