Juventus 1-0 AC Milan
Scorers: Dybala 65 (J)
Serie A Week 13 – Saturday, 21st November- 19:45 GMT – Juventus Stadium
Juventus earned a valuable 3 points against AC Milan thanks to a moment of brilliance from Paulo Dybala
Full match report to follow….
5 Positives:
1. Paulo Dybala – Another game, another goal. Dogged determination throughout, great delivery on the set-pieces, relentless running and brilliantly taken goal.
2. Claudio Marchisio – Completed 90% of his passes and kept the team moving forward. Tackled, harried, passed and bossed the midfield. A silent hero
3. Allegri subs in Sandro… – It might have been related to Evra being injured but it seemed like a tactical choice ….and it paid off. Sandro’s mix of pace and strength, combined with his tendancy to fire crosses in whenever he can, certainly made the difference.
4. 3 Points – It may have been a so-so game but three points are all that matter today. A solid if not spectacular performance and a result to build on considering we just won two league games in a row for the first time this season.
5. Leapfrogging Milan – Juve are up to 6th, overtaking Milan and just 6 points away from the top of the table. There’s hope yet.
Statistics:
Man of the Match: Paulo Dybala/Alex Sandro
Flop of the Match: Hernanes
Corners: 5
Pass Accuracy: 84%
Shots on Target: 5
Total Shots: 16
Ball Possession: 55%
Formation: 4-3-1-2
Formation:
Lineups:
Juventus: Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Barzagli, Chiellini, Evra (Alex Sandro 28); Sturaro, Marchisio, Pogba; Hernanes (Bonucci 46); Mandzukic, Dybala (Morata 81)
Milan: Donnarumma; Abate, Alex, Romagnoli, Antonelli; Kucka (Luiz Adriano 74), Montolivo, Bonaventura; Cerci, Bacca, Niang (Honda 84)
Ref: Mazzoleni
Poll:
[socialpoll id=”2310731″]
Sandro must play more. Mandzukic out, Morata in. Get Cuadrado AND Oscar in January.
Agreed.
Oscar wont come guys. Why should he join Juve?
He has been poor for Chelsea this season. I suspect Abramovich is more keen on generating transfer funds from sales than pumping in another 50 million or so for the changes which are definitely coming in January. Still, the move seems unlikely, as I figure once Chelsea right their ship we will see more of Oscar in blue. Also, he earns close to 6m EUROS per year I believe when our highest earner is Pogba on 4.5m EU. So to take a sizeable wage drop to a team who are not presently in the reckoning for even champions league qualification in a new league with different football…indeed, very unlikely. If he leaves, it won’t be for Turin.
“a team who are not presently in the reckoning for even champions league qualification”
To be fair, Juve is only 7 points behind current first team Napoli, we can still finish first if they get it together.
It’s very likely we will end up in the top 3 at the end of the season. We had a bad start of the season, but we’re slowly getting it together and are almost qualified for the 2nd round of CL. If you look only at the start of the season, Chelsea are doing much worse so Juve would be a step up for him anyway.
Its a couple of millions EUROS at least of a step away. We also have no guarantee of offering champions league football and there would be other takers willing to match his wages which we will not. I’d forget about Oscar.
‘Very likely’ is more hopeful than my present stance. We have no form, no set line-up, no consistent team spirit, and are where we are in the league on technical value of individuals alone. We have many new players. Which Naples, Florence and Roma contend with in a far lesser manner. They will have their slumps, yet have a set system, the managers of these teams know their players and have set plans for how to deploy them. We lack that set plan. Allegri does not yet know his new players.
I would say it is very likely we will finish top five. Anything above which depends on how we fare when Pererya is back and Khedira remaining fit and Allegri finding a set first choice formation and selection. All of which is presently up in the air. A problem the teams we are chasing, do not suffer from.
These other sides at the top have been itching for this very chance. Of aiming for glory with us out of the running. This has bred that gold dust of things…confidence. Which is as much a new danger to our own stumbling swagger back up the table as out own misgivings.
And Hernanes out too, that guy is just horrible
It’s strange how Barzagli never looks as solid in a flat back four as in the trident. Yet at least he and his comrades at the back seem to finally be recovering from the error prone awfulness which has haunted us quite regularly this season, up until recently. Equally odd to consider how during these last four seasons of wonderful success we have avoided defensive slip-ups costing us too dearly as well as a period in which several key players were unavailable for lengthy periods. It is as if our bad luck was saved for these last few months. So let us hope that is enough for another four years!
Definitely a major positive to deservedly win a game, yet we seem to have made hard work of it in terms of potency in the final third. I am more happy for the defensive solidity. For its up top where our problems lie. Until one or two of the Bonucci/Chiellini/ Barzagli crowd are injured in the same period we are not going to see much change at the back. Which is only a bother due to the presence of Rugani, who really does deserve more time than he has yet been given.
Marchisio is working his way back to match sharpness. Pogba’s form is beginning to show signs of settling and if/when Big Sami can find an injury free month we are very strong indeed up to the forward line…where Allegri has tinkered too much, yet understandably so, for he has gambled to a degree on champions league progression over the league. Which is a reason of sorts, to explain the constant rotating, yet not one I agree with. At this stage of the season, when we have endured such a woeful start to campaign for a myriad of reasons (new recruits/mass injury crisis to key players/bad selection decisions) it worries me to conclude that Allegri has zero idea of our strongest attacking unit.
The wretched form of Hernanes has been a surprise. He simply does not fit. The same can be said of Mandzukic. I have been shocked by the inability to perform of our make-shift trequartista signing. He may well have dropped off last season, yet still managed a few solid outings, though for us…Hernanes has been more often than not awful. This problem (other than the financial loss, as his resale value is hardly encouraging) will be alleviated with the return of Pereyra. A player I have become increasingly fond of, for whilst his finishing is poor, the phenomenal amount of work he never fails to produce in linking the midfield and attack has been painfully absent this season. I believe he is back early December?
Morata was improving month by month last term, yet now his stop start inclusion has horribly stunted both his form and mentality. I understand that Mandzukic needs to be given the chance to find rhythm, but not at the expense of our most talented and accustomed to our club striker, which is undoubtedly the spaniard, given the departures of Tevez and Llorente. Dybala and Morata with Pereyra behind them seems our best way forward…yet then what of Cuadrado? Problem with him is that often he forces us to balance the attack by playing Morata out of position wide left. Which adds explanation to the spaniard’s inconsistent displays. Even more a nuisance when we need him to feel loved to compete with the lure of Madrid (and their buy back option).
Dybala plays best when in a front two. As does Morata. Yet Cuadrado plays best when wide right. We have no natural counterpart to the colombian for the left so when he plays, others are shoe-horned into that role.
There is a slither of potential for deploying a 3-5-2 with Sandro and Cuadrado as the wingbacks, yet that removes Lichsteiner and Cuadrado is no natural defensive reliability. The players who have been at the club during our recent scudetti winning period are not comfortable with playing with a wide forward; they have been drilled to focus more through the middle with support coming from fullbacks and Pereyra and Tevez making in-roads into the wide forward positions to open up space for others.
Cuadrado is not special enough a player to justify such a huge step away from the system which has served us so well. Put him in the middle instead of Hernanes behind Dybala and Morata. Its the only move which makes his inclusion viable.
Also..Greetings to the community. I wonder if any of the old sbnation crowd are around? Regardless, I look forward to getting involved with the discussions and am eager to become part of the community.
forza Juve.
TGP
Whats up bro …. NIce to have you.
Keep ’em coming.
Allegri should use Dyabala out wide when using Cuadrado in a 4-3-3, Morata at CF. Or, like you’ve said, Cuadrado behind Dybala-Morata. The best formation for the players at hand, though, is the 4-3-2-1. Cuadrado and Dybala play a little further back, so that either, or both, can get inside as well, with Morata/Zaza up top. That gives both players, who are good with the ball at their feet, space to roam, and requires more attention from the defense. They can also push up at anytime to make a 4-3-3, or just one push up to make a 4-3-1-2. But the 4-3-2-1 would give us better control and possession of the game, and better chances in the attacking third, while putting our most dangerous players on the field together. It also brings Dybala and Cuadrado, or the “2” players, into the game more, by moving them back closer to midfield, with space to move around and link up with the midfielders and overlapping fullbacks, rather than having them focus on getting forward and not really letting them get into a rhythm with the rest of the team.
I’ve long argued the choice to let Llorente go for free to bring in Mandzukic and Zaza for €38mil was a bad one. Mandzukic just doesn’t cut it at this point. I wish we would give his minutes to Zaza so that the 24 year-old can grow. Zaza will eventually live up to his €20 million price tag, but the €18 million spent on Mandzukic is a waste as is the €11 milion for Hernanes. Maybe he could come in late in games and play some free-kick heroics, but he is having a detrimental effect otherwise.
Letting him go for free was a shame indeed, but he had to go. Mandzukic was another waste of money, he shouldnt have been bought. Zaza at least can grow, his price was quite high but he could become something, its the only deal out of the three that made some sense to me.
Hernanes is garbage, he was already bad at Inter and it baffled me Juve bought him. He is more like a 12th player for the opponent than one of ours..
I think Zaza should be the first sub striker to use, but starters are definitely Morata and Dybala. They should play each game they can