As I noted to my english chum at work last week who was laughing at my bemoaning of Allegri chopping and changing and the complete lack of any semblance of identity or consistency –
‘We cannot keep playing like shit, expecting to win on moments of individual brilliance. Soon enough we will come unstuck, and I have no confidence it will be the spark to light our fires…That is my concern’
He was laughing because he knew we were 5 points clear in the league and faring fine and dandy in Europe. Saw little reason to be so critical.
The conversation returned to my mind as I watched the fine pressure and welcome hunger shown in the first ten minutes against AC Milan dissolve into the same disjointed, lifeless showing we have seen in close to every game this term.
Our opponents deserved their victory, for they matched us defensively, worked damn hard for each other and showed greater passion than the majority in black and white. This was a poor showing, at times embarrassing, certainly cringe-worthy…mainly whenever Cuadrado received the ball in a promising position. Yet he was not the only horror, others were equally out of sorts (that is the nicest way of putting it).
I am no fan of Montella, for he strikes me as an arrogant goon, but I am fast becoming a fan of how he transmits to his players the manner in which he wants them to play. Fluid, fast and with great passion.
Player Ratings
Buffon – Could do nothing to thwart the brilliant strike from the youngster. Other than which was in fine form, not a step wrong. 6.5
Barzagli – One of only a small handful of players to emerge from this encounter with his pride still intact. Andrea was imperious, not only marshaling the rear-guard and making prime interceptions but pushing the team forward whenever possible. The result could have been worse without his immense experience and maturity. 8
Bonucci – I am aware that his head and heart have been and continue to be troubled, due to familial trauma, and unfortunately we have been forced to play him when he really should have been given time off to be with those afflicted. However, injuries to Chiellini, Rugani and Benatia lacking match fitness has forced Allegri’s hand. Big Leo made a wretched mistake in France mid week and he continued in the same vein against AC with a series of shameful theatrics, stupid fouls and poor distribution. In short, he isn’t himself at present. 6
Benatia – Definitely starting to show his value. Lively tackling, solid covering and reads the game well. He needs time to gain consistency but looks a good player. 7
Sandro – Worked hard on the flank, sent in a few decent balls to the crowded box yet lack support in his endeavour. 6.5
Alves – Much like his counterpart on the left, Dani huffed and puffed, showed sound technique but was left too often with little to aim for. However, he was profligate with the ball, ending several promising moves with a wayward shot, playing for himself more than the team, which must be curtailed. 5.5
Hernanes – The absence of a natural fit for the regista role really showed in this match for whilst the Brazilian fared okay, showed strong positional awareness and tried to keep the ball moving, his distribution was lacking penetration and flair. Yet for any regista to work his magic, he requires intelligent movement around him which was simply not forthcoming. He is trying his best to meet the demands of the role, but it is often not going to be enough at this level. 6
Khedira– One of the worst showings in our colours since joining the club in 2015. His passing was atrocious for such a decorated and hugely experienced player, as was his movement. Other than a fine shot in the dying seconds which was destined for the top corner before the giant kid pushed the ball to safety, Sami was a steady disappointment, to himself and the club. Bench him. We have two players who can play his role…4.5
Dybala – Looked spritely early doors before disaster struck soon after the half hour mark. Hooked off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. 6
Higuain – Toiled like a trojan, a couple of half chances but lacked the service especially after Dybala left the fray. A world class striker he certainly is, but he cannot do it all alone. 6.5
Cuadrado – If there was a game which epitomised his general level of performance it was this one. Why the devil he was brought on to replace a forward I shall bang on about further down. Juan was a shambles. Every single time he found the ball at his feet with any promise, he fluffed his lines. Time and time again. His shooting, passing, movement was at best, amateur. The only value he brought to the side was his ability to win free-kicks. I feel sorry for him, partly because he looks like an alien…but no healthy relationship can be founded on pity. One of the worst showings of an offensive player I have seen in our colours for many moons. I have reached a point where I now grimace as soon as I see him enter the field, for I know what will follow. His lack of concentration, poor decision making and absence of solid technique came together to produce a horror show of errors. I admire his enthusiasm, and his pace, but my own jury on Cuadrado is now set in concrete. He is simply not good enough. 3
Yes, we remain top of the league and group stage in Europe. Yes, we have only lost twice this season. Yes, there is no reason to panic. However, it is reasonable and accurate to conclude that we have yet to play one decent game in which we have looked anything like champions elect domestically or further afield. There is no form, no cohesion, too many players are making school boy errors. We are creating less and less each game, no player other than Barzagli, Higuain, Sandro and Dybala have looked consistently potent. There is no confidence, no fight, no passion. Yet there remains plenty of hope. If not solely time.
Allegri’s tried and tested plan of focusing this segment of the season upon getting the squad as a whole match sharp, aiming to hit top form in March when all competitions become more serious is ruining any possibility of gaining momentum, let alone producing performances which the sum of the parts lend to with spades.
We remain suspect at corners and creating little when we take our own. If it wasn’t for individual brilliance and some highly seasoned veterans at the back we would be in trouble. Thankfully there is plenty of time to turn this around, or rather, to pull ourselves free of the lethargy which has mired our campaign to date.
Pjanic has yet to adjust to whatever system Allegri deploys. He seems more often than not a shadow of the supremely potent player he was in Rome. He does not fit the 3-5-2 and so let us change, let us deploy him in a similar role to when he played centrally alongside a nutjob enforcer in Radja. Sturaro would do the job I suspect.
Khedira appears jaded and sloppy. And Cuadrado is a constant menace to our own forward play. It is the job of Allegri to address these burning issues. Yet why did he bring on a winger with an appalling goal scoring record to replace Dybala, when we had Mandzukic and Kean on the bench, both of whom were far closer to like for like replacements?
Why did he wait so long to bring on Sturaro, who managed to find himself in several good positions in the short time he was involved?
These decisions baffle and bother and do little to help our cause.
One of the other obvious problems we face is the lack of men getting forward, finding useful positions in the box, let alone the final third as a whole. Without which we are finding our forwards outnumbered.
Il Mister appears to have no solutions to the ongoing midfield issues, nor does he seem to have addressed our struggles at defending set pieces. Much of this we can explain to some degree by looking at the injury list, but we should still be playing better football.
We can talk of the disallowed goal, which was a wretchedly wrong decision, but that misses the point. For our manner of playing football was abject, predictable and slothful.
It will be interesting to see how the manager deals with the absence of Dybala. With Pjaca still recovering, will he change the formation? Roll the Kean dice? Or simply bring in Mandzukic and stick to the 3-5-2?
AC deserved their victory. And I am glad to see their resurgence gathering steam. Also their use of young italian players must be lauded. Allegri should but will not take note. He blazes his own trail, and my fear if not conviction, is that we will continue to see these performances until Marchisio is reintegrated into the squad and Chiellini and Dybala return.
Alarm bells are not ringing, but its depressing to watch our beloved vecchia signora presently. And I cannot help but wail and whine and stamp my hooves, demand change. Which must come soon, for we have a flurry of important fixtures where we will be forced to stand up and be counted, or fall by the way side.
Il Mister is hedging his bets. I will continue to offer my support and belief in his expertise, for he has won two doubles on the trot, and I do feel this side is stronger than last year, at least it will be once we have recovered more key players. Before we become too downtrodden, let us be thankful for the chance to improve on this dire showing midweek, and then onto the visit of Napoli. If such a huge fixture next weekend fails to rouse our spirit and pride, then it will be time to worry more deeply and balefully…but not yet!
Forza Juve
NB. The U19s just won the Turin derby…Mosti scored for Juve, equalised by a Berardi, who may be a relative of Domenico! Yet again, however, for the third match running, Luca Clemenza came off the bench and scored, what proved the winner for 2-1.
There is no magic fairy dust in the middle of the park this season, that’s all I want to say. Getting tired of saying it now, but that is the simple truth. You need a great midfield to link up a great attack and defence. Otherwise sweet fa usually happens…. Compared to years gone by we simply don’t have this midfield magic in evidence, at least until Marchisio returns. We should be ok with playmaking from Pjanic, but not enough there either. I too would rather see Sami K benched for Sturaro now. Sami has had enough slack given to him for his poor performances.
Agreed on Cuadrado’s entry, why would you put him on knowing he will often turn over possession to ACM, and not likely score.
Should have rolled the dice with Kean. Mario M’s time maybe coming to an end too. Another who is not doing what he should be, ie score a goal or two. As Elisa said a few days back we should get some goals with wingbacks crossing into a target man. That is not working out either…
Whilst Khedira may well be suffering as a result of Alves aiming for the same space, that does not excuse his poor form when he is in good positions, for his passing and shooting have been fairly wretched of late. Which cannot be blamed on anyone but himself. I would be happy to see Sturaro return to the starting XI. In fact why not start with Pjanic, Marchisio and Sturaro against Samp? Kean and Higuain up top? Lichsteiner back on the right.
I still consider Cuadrado a great sub- at the 70th minute or later. He hasn’t been a good starter and he showed yesterday he isn’t a good early sub, either.. regardless of where Max puts him. His speed is a great weapon against tired feet, but he doesn’t understand where he’s the most dangerous and instead tries to be a player he isn’t. Play to your strengths, Juan, or I’m gonna have to get off your bus… because though I’m not always a fan of the most skilled player, I’m always a fan of players with heart AND brain.. 🙁
I loveee him and am so, so glad he’s back, but in my opinion this was a tricky game to put Stura in earlier.. he is coming from an injury, you can’t risk another one for 3 points when we have a long season still ahead. AND, we’re still in first place. By 2 points. Against a club that may or may not continue its growth… if you consider the other team that beat us, coincidentially also from Milan, it’s still up in the air. As a Juventina, fuck Milan. But, as an italian… fuck Milan. Forza Azzurri, though.. hope these young guns can be of service when they’re called up to the NT.
I would also like for all of us to collectively sit down and remember that Marchisio is and will be a key player for us, but being that he is neither a wizard nor an inhuman, it will take time. This is – yet againnnnn – a new midfield he needs to get used to. It’s not a recipe and he’s the missing ingredient that will make it instantly yummier.. we will likely have to continue to stir the pot for a little while longer.
The only thing I wish for is for a strong January mercato… mostly because I don’t want Juve to change more than 3 players in the Summer. I would like some continuity, please, and to not have half of a team of new players (regardless of their talent) having to get to know the other half both on and off the pitch FOR THE THIRD TIME IN A ROW. It’s annoying.
He has had a fair time to recover, elisa…and as with all players returning from injury there comes a point where the chance of aggravating the injury has close to vanished (unless there is a long term problem there) and all that remains is to gain match sharpness. Match sharpness can only be gained through playing competitive matches. It is highly unlikely that the club doctors allow any of them to train let alone be given the green light for selection unless they are 100% the injury is gone. That is an integral part of their job. After which it is up to Allegri how quickly he reintegrates them into the squad.
As Db wrote below, we are lacking grit and technique in the middle. Sturaro brings a bit of both. he fights like a soldier, has great energy, assists defensively and always manages to find himself in useful position in the final third. I do not feel he is yet mature enough to be tried in the DM role, for he loves to get forward, but I see every reason to give him a chance in Khedira’s role who has been woeful for weeks now.
Pjanic has barely shown glimpses of his fine form for Roma, and this should be noted by Allegri with an attempt made to bring the best out of one of the most talented players in the squad, and league, perhaps Europe! 4-2-3-1 might work. Yet we lack Dybala and Pjaca presently which means more time for Cuadrado…I also support all players who give their all, but Juan has no natural footballing intelligence. His decision making is close to as poor as the worst player I have ever seen in our ranks, poor De Ceglie, a player with a hooked left foot which results in every pass curling away…the poor lad could not control his passes, had zero positional awareness, put in one good hooked cross per game, other than which was a constant liability. Yet he had heart! We have been unable to offload him even for free! I do not see Cuadrado as much better, he is simply much faster, plays higher up the field,and black with a funny face and colombian. So he sticks out more…
Essentially, yes yes, players need time to get back to their best, but they need time on the field.
There is no need for any major signings in January. We have enough trouble adjusting to the changes made in the Summer! Witsel will be welcome…with Bentancur signed but kept on loan at Boca until the Summer. Other than which Lichsteiner might leave, Mandragora might head out on loan.
De Ceglie has heart but no intelligence on the field, which I mentioned is my favorite combination. Heart AND brain. I think Cuadrado is better than Paolino.. but Cuadrado is too focused on being a specific type of player instead of just being good. For example, Hernanes is good when he does what he has to do instead of what he wishes he could do. Does it make sense?
“A strong January mercato” doesn’t mean we need to buy 30 players, it means I wish whoever’s coming at all that can come to come then. Witsel, for example… as well as a striker, if we’re getting one, since I’m 80% sure Mandzukic is leaving in the Summer. If this is too big of a thing to ask for, at least let’s finish all of the signings before the ritiro, so that FOR ONCE we can start with everyone from the very beginning.
Don’t look GP 😉
The boss speaks “When we had Dybala on the pitch we had a man in between the lines, then Cuadrado came on and he offers a different set of skills but we still managed to control the game.”
Everybody sees a different thing!
With comments like that, he begins to lose my respect, DB…For it is one thing to show confidence and avoid publicly condemning your players when they have been awful, and another to lie. Who does that protect? And if that is his idea of us controlling the match, we may well be in for a tougher season than I had thought…
I’m surprised no one has brought up dani alves’ performances. He has no tactical awareness and spends most of his minutes drifting into midfield. He is technically brilliant but i think the team’s football as a whole suffers with lichtsteiner’s omission, khedira’s in particular. Khedira is a tactical player with good positioning and great timing for runs into the box, but alves consistently runs into his space with a style of play that doesn’t complement sami’s. Lemina was a much better pairing for alves when he played as a mezzala against cagliari, as he was capable of exchanging quick passes and overlapping with alves. It looked really good but i prefer intelligence over flair. So far alves feels like a liability and it’s not like we’re scoring more goals from crosses than before. I honestly think we were much better off with lichtsteiner.
Completely agreed. I have changed my Alves rating…after re-reading my notes and your post, for you are spot on. And it makes sense that Khedira is missing Lichsteiner more than most, for as he is pushed higher, he shares channels with Alves, whereas Lichsteiner is much more comfortable hugging the touchline and also stronger defensively.
In terms of output, I was unconvinced at the start of the season that Alves would be a definite upgrade. Stephan is no fox in the box but he always weighs in with his fair share of goals, assists and contribution to many other team goals.
I am lobster faced after lying on the beach to delve deep into Knut Hamsun’s engrossing Growth of the Soil. I made the instinctive, nonsensical measure of ‘if the sea remains cold, its not yet burn season from above’…And so I am drained now, yet do recall the morning, when I visited Dr Chan, my dentist, for my annual cleaning session. As I twitched and my fists tightened, I tried to focus on formations as the hook went to work…
What has been going wrong this season? How can it be remedied?
Firstly, we can all agree that we are not playing anywhere near the sum of our parts. The collective has given way to hope placed on individuals. This has not always been the case though this term, for there have been some wonderful flurries when our passing and cohesion looked beautifully promising. Few and far between but it was there, at least before the international break in patches.
As tempting as it is to blame the system, demand a change from the 3-5-2, we have been playing players on the whole in positions where they should provide more than we are seeing on the field. There have also been steady individual errors. Alves, Cuadrado and Khedira were most guilty against AC, but others have made similar blunders which are surprising as much as irritating. Why does a team become prone to such blunders? Mass hysteria roaming the ranks? It is tricky to pinpoint though the new players coming in, injuries to key players and international breaks have certainly contributed. Yet other squads suffer similar ailments.
Only Barzagli, Sandro and Higuain have been consistently impressive, which is nowhere near enough and bizarre.
We are suffering from the absence of Lichsteiner. Not just his engine and steadfast defensive zeal, but also his grinta. I was not happy with the manner in which he was treated early doors, especially the decision to keep him out of the champions league squad. It was a kick in the teeth for a player who has given his all for our success since he joined the club at the start of our winning cycle. Pjanic, for all his technical talent is no scrapper. Lemina also seems not fit for a battle and Hernanes…well, its a sign of our problems that he has proven the least awful DM.
Lack of bite is a problem. And when this is to be found in midfield, we rely on the flanks and to connect the defence and attack.
I have also noticed how often we find ourselves outnumbered in the final third, relying in intricate passing or moments of genius or mistakes of our opponents, far more readily than on collective passing and intelligent movement. How many times do we see Sandro make great ground then try to pick out 2 up against 4 or 5?
Asamoah is another we have missed since his injury, even though his form was haphazard. For he is dynamic, and always involved. He can battle.
Essentially we have been left with a misfiring Khedira, cowed Pjanic and weak Hernanes and Lemina. This is where our most burning of issues can be found.
Pjanic played regularly as a CM in Rome, often with Radja nearby, sometimes with Radja and De Rossi. He was rarely forced to tackle or cover and was a major outlet for the enforcers who did all the dirty work. He has no such hard fisted company in the Juve midfield. Whilst he made a fair few interceptions, they were higher up the field. Players attacking would be faced with the brutes. Whereas now they are faced with Pjanic who is no enforcer. However, as our most creative midfielder, we need to play him.
It is my belief that our midfield problems begin with the DM role, which is essentially the fulcrum of the side. Not just defensive cover but the player through whom play is constantly recycled, where moves begin either deep or higher up the field. Whilst ALlegri stated before the season commenced that Pjanic could fit there, he quickly dispensed with the idea, then moved to Lemina, then Hernanes. None of whom have fit.
Whilst we can understand keeping Marchisio in cotton wool, the need to reintegrate him is now reaching fever pitch. We also need to see more of Sturaro, who has grinta as well as solid technique. A midfield of Pjanic-Marchisio- Sturaro seems the best way forward, and given Samp’s form I hope that Allegri rolls those very dice this week…
Relieved to read clear-headed thoughts from fellow Juve supporters. I’ve been at least mildly grimacing at all of our performances this year, even the “good” ones against Zagreb and the like.
Comparatively, our defense is decent. But our offensive movements are very unimpressive. The general pattern almost always ends up with the ball wide with a wingback who is either trying to beat his man and put in a cross, or pulling the ball back, recycling it through our back three to the opposite wingback, and then repeating this pattern on the other side of the field.
Either outcome is not ideal for us. We don’t have aerial prowess in the box, even if our midfielders were more aggressive about making forwards runs for crosses (which they aren’t).
A team is built to maximize the strengths of the side. Offensively, we’re nowhere near that. We’re not getting the ball to our most dangerous players (dybala, higuain, sandro, pjanic in theory) in areas that they can hurt the opponent. Dybala tends to receive the ball in midfield, and work it negatively or laterally.
Higuain basically never receives the ball and has his “best” opportunities from crosses. He’s always calling for the ball either to his feet or in space on the ground, and expecting runs around him to give him options and draw away defenders. And why wouldn’t he? He’s scored goals with service and movement like that for years.
The one partial exception to this is Sandro, who, in general is being setup to create a handful of decent chances per game. I’d put this down more to his personal grinta than to the strength of the system though.
I can’t help but feel that the system is at least partially at fault, and the overall negative/defensive mentality that still seems Allegri to still be reinforcing in the team.
The system causes us to have space on the wings with support behind our wingbacks, at the cost of Dybala and Higuain being left isolated and outnumbered in the box.
Some good points there sir…
Whats with Bonuccis son?
And could it be that we will play against Napoli with Mandzu and Higu infront?
I think it’s important not to over analyze guys. Yes we lost a game to Milan without much optimism to take back but it’s not a reason to panic. All teams go through dry spells yet we still stand in first place in all competitions. We’ve had many injuries so far and that’s really set us back in the campaign. Once pjaca comes back healthy it will open up a new dimension in our game. The midfield is a bit of a mess but welcome back Claudio! It will be interesting to see who max sits out. I remain very much an optimist. My only complaint is that we have been absolute rubish against big teams. The 3-5-2 seems like a trap we haven’t figured out an exit from. The idea of acquiring the players we did in the summer was to move forward to a more offensive formation. I’ve yet to see this materialize, not sure how max plans on making this work but I absolutely despise 3-5-2. The other formations haven’t really worked either. Let’s see if allegri can adjust going forward.
Agree with some, comrade, but I cannot bring myself to despise the 3-5-2 and many variants of that system which has brought us back to close to the top of continental football.
It makes no sense to suddenly move to a new system which has served us splendidly, especially when we have so many injuries. Yes I believe that Pjaca will bring a new dimension, but when? I am unsure when he is back from injury? As for Pjanic, he was brought in to add creativity and perhaps assist in the transition to a new formation, but injuries have curtailed Allegri’s propensity to do so. In fact perhaps the story would be markedly different had we had a full complement to choose from yet we have not, hence why Allegri has stuck with the status quo. Which isn’t working…
Results have been good, performances have been often horrible. Indeed, soon enough we will see Il Mister earn his stripes, as he must again and again season upon season.
Re Samp. A Cuadrado cross, Mario M scores from header. Where did this new fangled football tactic of playing to your players strengths come from!