Juventus went two goals down within the opening 10 minutes against Genoa and it took some Paulo Dybala magic to turn things around.
Player Ratings
Gianluigi Buffon: Couldn’t keep out the first goal having been left stranded by his defence and did the best he could on the penalty. Routine saves thereafter, can’t help but feel the blame was more on his back line than him. 6.0/10
Stephan Lichtsteiner: A better performance in this game than in the pre-season friendlies he took part in and last weekends game against Cagliari. Made a superb intervention, ran the right-flank well enough, made some good runs and looked solid. 6/10
Daniele Rugani: The penalty could be attributed to him but the whole game was full of strange calls, even with the benefit of the VAR. Better after those initial mistakes and he fared well against the Genoa attack and high pressing. 6.0/10
Giorgio Chiellini: At fault for the opener and his positioning overall was a poor, but like Rugani, he got better as the game progressed. It’ll take time to see the best of the pairing who still seem to be finding a rhythm. 5.5/10
Alex Sandro: Uncharacteristically poor – Was owned in the first half by Goran Pandev, who kept him pegged back and beat him on more than one occasion. Poor in the final third of the pitch as well with some truly wayward crosses. Needs to improve. 5/10
Sami Khedira: Anonymous. I had to check he was on the pitch at one stage, such was his absolute lack of influence in the centre. No energy, no drive, no muscle, no support offered to the attack. Abject. 4/10
Miralem Pjanic: A better game from the Bosnian who improved as Juve started to control the match more. Seemed to be more at ease with Matuidi next to him but still needs to offer more to support the attack. 6.0/10
Juan Cuadrado: Another Jekyll and Hyde display – Moments of brilliance, like the perfectly timed run and sublime finish for Juve’s 3rd goal, coupled with aimless runs and losing the ball in the final third. 6.0/10
Paulo Dybala: Man of the match for the second game in a row. Absolutely stole the show yet again, taking the game to Genoa and dictating the pace and tempo. A constant threat, drifting from right to left – Took his penalty with precision and scored two other great efforts to notch up his first Serie A hatrick. 9.0/10
Mario Mandzukic: Does exactly what Allegri needs him to do and has grown into this role with real tenacity and maturity. Could have scored a goal of his own before setting up Cuadrado to take the lead with a perfectly weighted cross. 6.5/10
Gonzalo Higuain: Deserves more credit for dropping deep to try and spark things into life and do his share of the defensive duties. Had a few wasted chances but was otherwise good in attack, creating the space for Dybala to operate in. 6/10
Substitutes
Blaise Matuidi: Another good cameo from the new midfielder. More energy and industry than Khedira displayed all match. 6.0/10
Andrea Barzagli: Came on late to shore up the defence and see the game out. 6.0/10
Rodrigo Bentacur: A nice cameo appearance, confident and assured. The start of many more, i hope. N/A
Next game Bernadeschi, Costa and Matuidi must start and Juve should seriously consider a new right back with pace.
We’ll probably see sweeping changes for the next match. In fact, we might see an almost entire 11 of players who aren’t regular starters because we play Barcelona in the champions league 1st round two days later and we need a result in that match, even a draw will do.
I hope not, chaps…We are three games into the season. Now is not the time for rotation, to rest players, now is the time to chase sharpness of our finest. We might have Howedes by then…Yet I suppose, with the damn international breaks, half the squad are flying around the world..
Easy for the La Nazionale…quick jump over to Spain, tough game though. then a home tie on the 5th against the never in a million years European exception in terms of owning the european governments Israelis. Even have their claws into FIFA…no real surprise there. Still a rancid thing to be reminded of.
Dybala and Gonzalo have Uruguay to travel to. then home to Venezuala on the 5th…not great for them. a lot of miles to cover.
Not sure if both COsta and Sandro are in the Brazil selection? Probably the former only? Ecuador away then Colombia in Brazil.
At worst it looks like up 3 or maximum 4 of the likely/ possible starting players have a lot of traveling to do.
Dybala, Higuain, COsta, Sandro, Cuadrado.
The europeans will be fine.
Could be a good chance for Mandzukic to be deployed as a CF, Howedes to play at L, if Asamoah is on his way out, and Bernardeschi to also feature, who can play through the middle.
Only the latin american players should be even considered for rest, and if not fatigued I would prefer to see us put a strong side out to continue/ gain momentum.
Ok, maybe 11 changes is excessive, but I feel we really need to get a result against Barcelona to make the end of our 2017 a bit easier on us. And I think we need to go into that as close to full fitness as possible to make it happen. 48 hours of rest and trip to Camp
Nou is a lot to ask of any player.
Also, have heard Costa is staying in Turin to work 1 on 1 with max on fitness and understanding the system and will be a guaranteed starter after the international break.
How many times do we have to see the name Sami Khedira and word anonymous together before we start to deploy other options?
I think the big point of confusion for most Juve supporters is why max allegri integrates new signings so slowly. I have respect for that in regards to young players whom you don’t want to just throw into the deep end, but when you have viable, proven first team quality players that your management has spent tons of cash on, why ease them in? Surely Costa has enough experience and skill to supplant cuadrado, and same with Matuidi with khedira. I respect that it’s been a recent tactical shift in our side and these players know it best, but we can’t rely on Dybala to drag us back from every game. Obviously mad max is a more intelligent man than I, but if we continue to field this 11 and struggle to teams like genoa, what happens September 12th when we play Barcelona?
Khedira seems to have some magic teflon coating, because no matter how awful he is (and that is far too often) he never seems to get anywhere near the same stick as many other players who have had bad games / spells.
He’s not quite a cuadrado, but when he’s on a good run of form he’s spectacular, when he isn’t, he’s never really all that terrible, he’s just not all that great and really vanishes. Plus, khedira has a much better pedigree/cv than cuadrado and cuadrado’s mistakes are much more glaring. Additionally, khedira doesn’t bring the best out of pjanic typically which highlights his poor performances when they are just that. They both would seem to operate better with another midfielder with them, which brings back the question of 3 in the center. All in all, I think we’re in a difficult place right now tactically because we could deploy so many systems successfully. It’s hard to say which would be best. Max seems very keen on Matuidi, so I think he’ll get a good run alongside pjanic while marchisio is out. At least max has two weeks to think this all over before chievo and Barcelona two days after. Hopefully we start seeing some changes. At the end of the day, I won’t complain about 6 points from 6 just yet. Even if outside of dybala it’s been relatively sloppy. It’s still early in the campaign.
Systems are secondary, if not quite irrelevant. You play your best players. Khedira isn’t now one of them. Oh, and I don’t remember the last time he was spectacular? What match was that again? I am remembering though that this time last year match reports around the start of the season from TGP stated he was awful. A year on and nothing seems to have changed very much.
If systems were entirely irrelevant, there would be no defined positions. Every team would just have as many great attacking players as they could get there hands on and they would send them out and let them run wherever they want without any order or real purpose outside of scoring. The last time I can remember khedira really being on a good run of form was immediately after we changed system last year. He did score in the first two games of last season though. I do concede I may have been a little over zealous in my word choice. I’ve never really thought of khedira as a spectacular player as much I have thought of him as very useful/good/consistent when he has been, which is what I was getting at. I am not disagreeing with you in any sense, save the system thing, I don’t think he should be starting. It should be either Matuidi or marchisio when he’s healthy again.
Well Arsenal were playing a system yesterday and got crushed by Liverpool. Everyone is struggling to understand why some of their best players (inc Lacazette) were sitting on the bench….?.. If you are going to play a system then have your best players play it. I can only think Max assumed that he could get away with benching Matuidi et al due to the opposition quality. Two goals down after not much time indicates he made an error of judgement, which were it not for the brilliance of Dybala would have cost us 3 points. Many other teams would not have allowed us back into the game from a 2 goal deficit.
Arsenal is a not a buoyant vessel anymore. I think Wenger has lost the plot. Agreed that you should use a system that utilizes your best players and we would have certainly lost our points to any relatively decent side.
They have no backbone. It has been the major problem for a long time…could say as far back as Viera! Yet this happens with teams, even at or near the top. We didn’t really replace an out and out goalscorer since Trezeguet, until Higuain was signed. A world class left back? Huge gap between Zambrotta and Sandro….when this position is an integral one, by my reckoning down the spine of the team, progress is stunted. Make the rest of the team pretty, but never address the core issues, hence their stagnation…
There are strange parallels in my head between Putin and Wenger. The former has a lot…well some…people in Russia (forget what the West say, its bluster and as substantial as Saddam will attack New York!)…who say ‘he has had too long, time for someone else to have a chance’ or ‘we need a less prone to cronyism leader!’ yet the majority appear to support him precisely because the country has improved slowly, quickly, slowly, since he first appeared at the helm in late 99′. The reason they are demonised, him specifically, is precisely because the country has regained strength.
A long serving incumbent. Now Wenger has been at Arsenal longer than Putin has been President (and stint at PM). So the ‘give someone else a go’ crowd are louder and greater in number. Yet the main issue there is that after a jolly period, their has been nothing but stagnation and decay. Their main rivals are prospering, they are still making huge money but the directors seem to prefer Wenger, perhaps because he is frugal with spending and keeps making them enough money. Yet that is surely under threat now…with Liverpool looking more than capable of usurping them in the CL qualification race, again…
I find the situation interesting. I know of no other long standing manager who has faltered so much in recent times, yet has somehow clung to power? How? Why? The income guaranteed by even a top 6, maybe top 8 income is enough for the owners? What about the fans?
I have the utmost respect for Arsene, he’s a brilliant mind, but for me,something has happened inside that club at the management level that isn’t being said. You don’t see a fall from grace like this out of the blue. It’s not just wenger, the players look devoid of ambition, the clubs at odds with the fans, etc. they have a squad with more than enough talent to mount a challenge in the pl. something is definitely amiss in arsenal land.
Side trivia on arsene: did you know that the man the famous film ‘money ball’ is based on,(Oakland a’s stats man billy beane) started a company for analyzing data for professional teams and arsenal has a standing contract with them for when wenger retires to help them with transfers. Billy beane will be arsenals rep as well. They feel that is the only way to replace wengers mind in the market. Thought that was pretty cool the first time I heard it.
I think it is for psycho reasons he let Khedira start, newcomers have to prove themselves first; On the other side, I guess Allegri will give first the defence time to settle before changing a lot. So all the routines will start the first games, when the defence is settled one by one will be given their chance in the starting XI, only injuries can stir things up. I guess it ‘s good management to do it more naturally and humanly
I’m a bit harsher on Sami than some…but I’m the same with all our players.
I cannot recall a game let alone a run of games when I would have considered khedira anything amazing or outstanding. The main positive of his time at juve is that he has managed to stay quite fit. His value as a box to box CM role has never fit well with me. Either convert to sit deep, but he is no natural defender, or stick higher up, yet he lacks the pace.
One of those on a decent wage hard to shift. Yet too big a leap for me to speak highly of any period. For a few games he was average. For many he has been absent…
I used to level this ghost like value on marchiso, as he was in and out of games, this was a few years back. He lost his place to pogba when injured, then came back and morphed into a pirlo alternative and grew in stature.
CM players are always a liability of they do not make their presence felt. It’s the most important area on the field for me.
It’s very early days…and I just had a beautiful swim in a fresh water pool in the forest at wild sarka here on Prague….rather chilly but sublime surrounds.
I hope your adventure in Prague is as beautiful as the city itself.
I don’t see khedira as spectacular, although I did let my fingers get the best of me in a previous response and pulled that out a bit too quickly. Shame on me, I know. It happens when I’m trying to respond quickly while I work and am not thinking too in depth as I am more trying to quickly regurgitate my idea and get back to work. I do see him as less of a liability than some other players who get staring minutes. You’re right that the biggest thing with him is his health. All things considered, Matuidi should be starting alongside pjanic, we look far better with him out there.
Back to work for me. I’ve been drawn into the conversations a bit too long now.
Ah, comrade,,,your opinion might be at odds with my own, but its possibly closer to that of Allegri in turn!
We have a couple of players who can prove quite divisive…Juan and Sami mainly, but also Sturaro, for whilst so many seem to have jumped on this bandwagon of casting him not even a Serie A standard footballer, I hold a markedly different opinion.
When played in his natural role, and fit, sharp…he has more often than not proven strong and capable, possibly the only natural box to box midfielder in the squad. Yet others judge him on hearsay, social media trends and a few bad showings playing as a LW last term which is so far removed from his skillset we may as well have asked him to play in goal…
Even with Del Piero I have found myself beating my oars against the tide on several occasions, mainly in terms of his suitability as captain – I prefer, always, a tough warrior type, a centurion, a player who will charge through walls, whose head never drops, who leads from the front, whose roar can be heard for miles in every direction…and also, where he stands in terms of genius talent – for me a living legend and symbol of the club but below the levels of genius of Zidane, Baggio, probably/possibly Platini…just as examples!
Regardless, my point is…I respect your opinion. No matter how it differs! Its different perspectives which cause me to question my own, for without which, I would just assume I was always right and how boring that be…like living a life where you never made any mistakes whatsoever. Such a monastic existence is not for me…
If you could have ripped the words from my mouth about sturaro I couldn’t have put it better. I am 100% on board with sturaro. One of the most underrated players on the squad in my opinion. And typically forgotten he’s from our youth system. He’s got Juve in his blood. I also agree that while it may be more exciting to see a player dance around, what really gets my heart racing is when someone absolutely terrorizes a player physically and isn’t afraid to be a battering ram. that’s why I think sandro is so exciting to watch. He does have a bit of skill, but he just absolutely never gives up bombing down the left. Running into players, bouncing off and out of a weak challenge, can’t be stripped of the ball, just so strong. Great to watch.
Glad to find some solidarity in regards to Stefano, comrade…yet must assert that he has never been in our youth setup. At Genoa from his teens.
I do feel we lack the tenacity you are referring to. There is definitely something to be said in support of the value of menace and beastliness. I often feel we are too nice a team. Marchisio has changed over the years and is now one of our most likely candidates to take a player down quite fiercely…I like that grinta. We need more of it. For it makes a player more comfortable in a game if opponents know he wont easily be cowed…
Damn. My memory failed me on Stefano. Regardless, he’s a juventino now.
Problems I see, amico, when a CM is absent, are even worse than Juan fumbling and bumbling and not tracking back on the flank. For it leaves an open, clear path straight to the heart of our defence.
I am a serial ranting raging advocate of solely deploying central midfielders who consistently make their presence felt. Mourinho demands the same, hence why he likes monsters…many sides do the same. Spurs last season with dembele and wanyama…it’s normal and natural
Anything less leads to imbalance and trouble.
So whilst Sami might appear to do less wrong his lack of presence is insidiously more significant. By my mangled meanderings…
Great stuff from PD, and also shows why if he is cheap on salary why Juan C should stay – great finish by him.
I agree Khedira is too anonymous to start. While I appreciate the respect Allegri is showing the veterans, he’ll need to make changes to that midfield soon.
I don’t know what Cuadrado needs to do to please you guys. I for one appreciate all his efforts even on days when things aren’t going well. He always tries his hardest to make a difference and he often does.
This start compared to last season is good. I am enthralled with what our No. 10 is doing and hopefully continues to do this season. This season can really make PD. PS: I hope Pjaca recovers asap as I have high hopes from him as well.
That is not a very good benchmark to judge from Pravel. That was our worst start ever. I am still worried, and if the performances against Lazio and Genoa are anything to go by as GP says above we are going to be turned over by quite a few teams this year i’d wager.
And what we managed to achieve with that kind of start last season. Agreed that some serie a teams have shore up their squad but they too need to sort themselves out. Increasing competition domestically is good for us. Whenever we have lost a game or two we have come back stronger. I believe in the character of our team
Maybe on a points comparison only. The performance has been relatively appalling. Save for dybala.
Dybala is the only major positive from a playing perspective at this early stage of the season, for he has been the only player to really shine in each of our matches so far. It is his talent and perhaps growing determination – the number 10 may truly have carved a new niche in his heart – which is keeping us beyond the mediocrity that much of our play warrants.
Cuadrado was absolutely appalling for much of the game. Constantly losing the ball, and showing no determination and tactical responsibility to get back to help defensively. It is the latter which few seem to realize. Which is strange to me, for whilst many praise Manzdukic – who I also thought was mediocre, ponderous on the ball, ran around by quicker opponents for most the game – for his defensive zeal and contribution, which greatly helps Sandro prosper, so very few seem to realize or perhaps mention out loud that the complete opposite from Juan is detrimental to our shape and tactics. Especially for whoever plays at RB.
Yes, Juan scored a superb goal and Mario got the assist, before which the latter was abject the former a mocking caricature of a professional footballer.
Khedira was…as Rav’s words show above and could well have been taken from some of my own reports from last season, almost verbatim…absent without leave yet nowhere near as useful as Van Damme…
Unless there are serious concerns for ongoing issues with Marchisio, I see no burning need for a CM. Yet if there are, and Allegri has ideas of a midfield 3, or if Sami or STuraro are to leave, then yes, bring another in.
Essentially, I believe a performance with Khedira, Mandzukic and Cuadrado for much of the game, against a stronger opponent would have seen us lose, and deservedly so.
They wouldn’t be starting in another elite side. Speedy Gonzales and the terminator are both useful for the squad, but not as starters. The quicker we integrate Matuidi, Bernardeschi and Costa the better for our season’s ambitions. That selection can be too easily found out…
Coaches in Italy and the best coaches we find in the CL are smart enough by now to realize Mandzukic plays at pedestrian speed and can be played around, or kept away from the attacking third by pushing him back, asking him to defend, which he will. They will also see that Juan can easily be forced into mistakes and is often non existent defensively. Simple, double up on our defensive right zone…
These two issues are somewhat negated with a stronger, more natural DM, such as Marchisio or even Matuidi, but other than which they are obvious weaknesses. Add Sami in and there are three channels of weakness to exploit and only Dybala to worry about.
Thankfully, Dybala is often even more to contend with for our opponents than 3 of our players producing woeful performances for our own worries. He has seemed world class, improved in focus, determination and involvement. He really is looking like a star for the Ages…
I thought Stephan did well when often given 2 players to consider, as Juan doesn’t track back, he just jogs a few yards then stands around.
Rugani recovered from the dubious penalty well enough. Still yet to impose himself on a game, but has done what is required.
Sandro was subdued, again…yet as I say, a lot of his game requires Mandzukic to be in form, and despite the assist I found the Croatian a marginal figure in much we created positively.
Chiellini is in bad shape. The quicker we bring in the German the better and perhaps it will be Howedes and Rugani in the middle? We are crying out for an experienced leader there far more than to replace Lichsteiner at RB, where we also have De Sciglio to come through.
Decent result, despite carrying three for much of the game and the irritating VAR and misfortune of the first…As for the VAR I agree with Buffon.
Much of the beauty of football is the excitement, its seeing nothing happen for a while then BANG! an explosion in a flurry of intense seconds, a goal? was it offside? was there a foul? I saw a hand? He trod on his toe? but before discussion of any of those matters has blossomed the action continues, the keeper is kicking the ball out of the net in anger, and the players are shouting at the ref who returns to the centre circle…for anyone living in a country with a proper living, breathing football culture, by which I mean one where most if not many men speak about football every single day…in the majority of interactions…the post man…the newsagent..the train guard…co workers, with reaction, opinion and discussion raging with chums by screen. The split second decisions and massive amount of discussion after are what has kept the game so ugly, pure, beautiful and all consuming for so many years for so many millions…Now…we are looking at something more sanitized. Something more pristine. with less rough edges, less entertainment, less bums on the edge of your seat high drama, less heart in the mouth, or even beating wildly in the chest…as we wait 6 minutes…6 fucking minutes for a decision to be made on an incident we are not even fully aware off.
Perhaps it suits the new wave of fans who do not come from a footballing culture, or who are more accustomed to stats on whoscored and FIFA, and feeling football almost exclusively through screens, rather than through face to face interactions, heart to heart on a daily basis. Its what I miss most about England!
I would understand but could not relate…for to me and millions of others, the VAR technology, presently – of course it could improve somewhat – is poised to quite significantly make the beautiful game lose much of its allure, nourishment to the instincts and entertainment value.
Cuadrado should be employed as a super sub imo GP, nothing more. A little explosive, unpredictable pill of energy at the end of a match when all is lost and all else has failed.
Mandzu was absolutely bereft of ideas this weekend, outside the assist, agreed. I’m going to leave cuadrado alone for now. My response will be in its entirety in new piece which rav confirmed to me will come out tomorrow. VAR is an apathetic way for referees to cleverly dodge the abuse they get when they miss obvious calls and it is absolutely ruining the beautiful aspect of the game. It’s an embarrassment to allow them to hide in the shadows of a mentality that includes, “we went back and corrected it. Now I can’t be disciplined, berated, and I got it right. Whether or not that disrupted the flow of the game, not my problem.”
Who else thinks Matthew McConaughey refree the Genoa match