Juventus v Udinese
Serie A Week 8 – Saturday, 15th October – 19:45 GMT – Juventus Stadium
Juventus
It almost feels like the international break lasts longer every time it comes around. Anyway, Juventus come off a very good game against Empoli: not a perfect performance since it took almost an hour to find the first goal, but in any case the squad always seemed in control of the match and the opponent’s attack never really threatened Gianluigi Buffon. There is an increasingly growing feeling that Juventus will always be able to win the games where they manage to gain a clean sheet. The offensive prowess of bianconeri will prove to be overwhelming more often than not.
The best possible news coming from the break is the return of Claudio Marchisio, who has fully recovered from his torn ACL and will solve most of the problem in the midfield, which was already starting to shape up nicely. If the rest of the team does its duty, he will able to play few minutes here and here and been eased back in. Of course, it will take some time to return in peak condition, but it is really nice to have him back.
The not so good news comes from Marko Pjaca, who apparently hid to the doctors the fact that he was hurt in order to be called up by his national team. I guess it is a nice gesture towards his fellow countrymen, but not a really smart one. Or maybe he simply wanted to get some playing time. Anyway, after the first reports indicated a very troubling diagnosis, a small crack in the fibula, it turns out he has only a bruised lower leg that will sideline him for a couple of weeks.
As always after the international duties, the South Americans have returned very late and basically missed all the preparation for the Udinese game. Having Pjaca would have helped. Also, the crucial Champions League tilt against Olympique Lyonnais comes up in three days, so some rotation is totally natural. This will almost surely affect Dani Alves and one between Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala: a re-energized Mario Mandzukic will start and pairing him up with Dybala makes the most sense.
Medhi Benatia has recovered from a hamstring injury and Giorgio Chiellini is available as well after missing an Italy game because of a knock on his trouble calf. Leonardo Bonucci was given an extra rest after the Italy game, so he is likely to get benched. If Allegri does not feel like fielding the two returning centre-backs, he can use a four-man defence. 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 are not really options without Pjaca and with Juan Cuadrado coming off an 18-hour flight, so the most credible alternative to 3-5-2 now that the midfield has been repopulated is 4-3-1-2, even though the coach has been a little gun shy with this scheme. Allegri has stressed again that he prefers Mario Lemina as box-to-box: that could be the case on Sunday night if Miralem Pjanic is advanced.
While Pjaca is out, the starlet Moise Kean will be the fourth striker on the first team’s roster. A very clever move: Kean is on a tear in the last two years, he has scored thirty goals in thirty-five matches. The management is squabbling with his agent, non-other than Mino Raiola, over the contract extension: he has yet to sign a pro contract because the two sides have different opinions on the ideal path for his growth. Hopefully everything will be settled and he will have a long and nice career at Juventus.
UPDATE: In a very unusual Saturday morning update, the team has communicated that Chiellini will miss the game because of a thigh problem and that Bonucci has been called up to replace him. Of course Bonucci could be shoehorned into the lineup, but he has not really practiced this week, so it is possible that Allegri will keep him on the bench and go with either Patrice Evra as CB or with a different tactic.
Probable lineup:
3-5-2: Buffon; Benatia, Bonucci, Barzagli; Lichsteiner, Khedira, Hernanes, Pjanic, Sandro; Dybala, Mandzukic.
Injuries:
Chiellini (thigh), Alves (rest), Rugani (knee), Pjaca (fibula), Asamoah (knee), Mandragora (foot).
Suspensions:
None.
Udinese
After conquering only seven points in seven matches and failing to win in four straight matches, Udinese have uncharacteristically opted for an early change on the bench, firing Giuseppe Iachini and hiring Luigi Delneri. It is true than they regressed as the year went along and at times they looked directionless, but I am not really convinced that this is the right move. In particular, the choice of the new coach has been underwhelming. They have liked Delneri for years now and he was close to be appointed in two separate occasions in the past, but he does not strike me as a great fit for this roster.
Despite the early struggles, they have put together a pretty interesting roster in the summer: they have good prospects at every level and of course they will need some time to adapt to Serie A and perform at good enough levels. Delneri is experienced but he is not really a coach known for grooming youngsters and for his skills in players’ development. They should have probably been a little more daring with the coaching changes, either now or in the summer. In any case, they have enough talent to easily escape the relegation, the goal they are clearly targeting at this point, regardless of who is at the helm.
They have had some bad injury luck and they will be pretty depleted in this one as well. They will be certainly without Silvan Widmer, who has a fractured scapula, Emil Hallfredsson, who has strained hamstring and Ewandro, who has a broken foot. Panagiotis Kone sprained his shoulder this week and should be out, likewise Emmanuel Badu, who is dealing with gastroenteritis. Gabriele Angella has muscle fatigue and his presence is questionable.
Therefore, Delneri will not have many players to choose from on Saturday. As we know, he is a 4-4-2 guy, but they do not have enough wingers to deploy it. He should go with a 4-3-3/4-1-4-1, maybe steering towards the 4-2-3-1 he abundantly used last year at Hellas Verona if need be. In any case, the problem on the flanks remains.
As it is often the case after a coaching change, the pecking orders in the various positions are murky and so there are doubts in every area. Molla Wague has a little edge on Thomas Heurtaux to start as right back, replacing Widmer. Pablo Armero should supplant Ali Adnan on the left, but they have also tried a very uninspiring four centre-back look that includes Heurtaux or Wague at right back, Danilo and Angella in the heart of the defence and Felipe at left back, a position he has not covered in years. They should have Samir back from a severe hamstring strain: he will eventually end up starting at left back, but he is not ready to start just yet.
The absences in the midfield pretty much force the coach’s hand: Seko Fofana on the right-hand, Sven Kums in the middle and Jakub Jankto on the left-hand. Fofana has been pretty good so far even though he has been miscast as a pivot while he looks like a natural and physical box-to-box midfield. Kums, who is a natural deep-lying midfielder, has been inserted in the starting XI right away despite being acquired late in the window: he immediately took control of the team and looks like a great acquisition. Jankto was excellent last season at Ascoli, but he has not played much last season. Lucas Evangelista could be an option, but he is a little too offensive.
In the trident, the versatile Rodrigo De Paul and Cyril Thereau will play on the flanks: neither of them is a pure winger: De Paul is a no.10, while Thereau is a second-striker, but they have both experience on the wings. It would make more sense to put Ryder Matos on the right, but he has not seen the pitch a lot since moving to Udine. Duvan Zapata is the starter, but he is being challenged by Stipe Perica who has been pretty effective in the few minutes he has featured in.
Probable lineup:
4-3-3: Karnezis; Wague, Danilo, Felipe, Armero; Fofana, Kums, Jankto; De Paul, Zapata, Thereau.
Injuries:
Widmer (scapula), Badu (gastroenteritis), Hallfredsson (hamstring), Kone (shoulder), Ewandro (foot).
Suspensions:
None.
Formation
45 Comments
Moise Kean has been called up for this game! Wow! Not really expecting to see him play though, but what an achievement already anyway!
Though I am most excited about Marchisio returning at last, I missed him a lot
It is likely as much a show of confidence as an opportunity to make him feel valued, be amongst the seniors, perhaps get a few minutes of a professional debut aged just 16…as it is a clear effort to encourage him to sign that ever so important first professional contract, which we have been eager to see signed and sealed since he turned 16 last February.
Must be careful in assuming that Raiola is his agent, for whilst he is clearly involved, he is presently more of an advisor of sorts, who has some how weaseled his way into the affair for essentially, below the age of 18, the lad’s parents are in charge. They make the decision of his future and a contract cannot be signed without their permission, in short, they sign on behalf of the player as he is a minor. It is a small matter…but an important one.
The official term is ‘intermediary’ after FIFA abolished ‘agent’ restrictions and regulations in 2015.
Yes yes, unfortunately Raiola appears to have signed on as Kean’s intermediary (which also would have needed the parent’s signature), but whilst he is considered a minor good ol’ Mino cannot legally earn any money from his client or any moves the client makes. Which is where the scene becomes ever more complicated. As Raiola is investing his time for financial gain he will not legally be able to receive until after Bioty turns 18.
It is illegal for ANY player or club to make payments to an intermediary whilst the player is classed as a minor.
Promising attacking midfielder Luca Clemenza made his long awaited comeback from injury earlier today. Scoring a fine free kick and adding a penalty in the dying seconds in the U19’s 1-8 mauling away to plucky Avellino. Luca suffered an ACL tear during the Viareggio early 2016. The other scorers were Bove, Mosti (2), Muratore, Zeqiri, Leris. We are top of our primavera league, with 13 points from five games.
Mosti’s first was a beauty…picking the ball up 25 yards out he smashed the ball into the top corner, left peg. Top drawer.
All the goals were decent, Zeqiri looks a handful and Clemenza was instantly superb, not just with his finishing but the boy can dribble. Great to have hime back in the ranks and the rest of the squad looks extremely encouraging!
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4xh692_primavera-avellino-juventus-1-8_sport
Forza Grosso
I’ve always vouched for Clemenza! In my opinion he is the successor to Del Piero and I will stand by that. He has that Juve DNA, kind of hard to explain. But I am glad he is back, hopefully allegri gives him a chance soon. All around he is the best player in our youth academy, my opinion anyways.
Not sure if ‘vouched’ means much when we are talking of the player who many have known to be the most talented of the bunch last year, Jas…So you are repeating the view held by the club, myself and many others. Its a risky a tip as suggesting we will win the scudetto! As for developing into Del Piero, they are different kind of players, Luca is far more central whereas Dp was always roaming in the wide and inner wide channels as much as moving centrally. Different skills as well, with Clemenza likely to mature into a physically superior player. Other than which, in terms of creating and scoring goals, and top drawer FK ability…yes, the comparisons are there.
It was marvelous to see him hit the ground running, though Avellino were appalling. If he can help us salvage something in the UEFA league, we might finally make it out the group stage, but to be fair, Macek, Zeqiri and Bove were also very impressive and Magnusson looked solid at the back.
As for Clemenza finding chance in the senior squad…Perhaps if Dybala, Pjaca, Pjanic, possibly Lemina and Cuadrado are all injured, he might get a spot on the bench later this season. Other than which, I hope we can find him a Serie A club to join on loan in January. The sooner we get him into senior football the better for his development.
Or 2 left backs
or one CM lol
2 left backs was the best comment in a long time =D
The sad thing about it is that you are spot on. Most of the time they were on the same spot running into each other.
Our growing numbers in south american players has really taken its influence on our attacking style. This has to be an entertaining showing for those who enjoy the free flowing form of football.
I love the love between Dybala and Higuain. These guys have each other. I also wouldnt be surprised if Messi has been giving Dybala pointers whilst on national team duty. Dybala is looking extremely sharp and all his dribbles and creative pasing has become second nature.
Allegri setup is intelligent. I didnt see the line up, so from what i saw, it seems we re playing a 4-4-2/4-5-1 hybrid? The way our players are actually shaping up has me lost. The off the ball movement,obscure runs and support plays are all on point. Our counter attacking is also extremely lethal.
That first goal shouldbt of happened, but it did, but by the looks of it, we should win as long as we keep our foot on the peddle.
I dint fancy the result, but the performance is extremely promising aside from the fucked up udinese goal and lack of finish, we re looking good.
what game you watching mate? we play terrible , mandzukic & hernanes are like disaster, buffon with another mistake, hernanes lost ball directly in front of our box, wtf,
Hernanes was doing well up until his fuck up.
Udinese hardly looked challenging and we pegged them back for moat of the first half. They struggled to get anything at all going.
same is we did, sorry but i disagree with you, hernanes was ghost for the whole game, lemina saw much more ball and created 100% more than him, when you put him under little pressure, he is fuked up and has no idea what to do with ball
What Mandzukic is doing in a Juventus starting XI 2016 I cannot understand. He contributes with absolutely 0!
I can bet against anyone in here, including the Mister that keeps on insisting in giving him playing time.
Balotelli Jr. aka Moise Kean can surely not do a worse job than Mandzukic?
In other news. Very disappointed in Lichsteiner with his theatrics like he is sending a message to Barcelona. “I play and act just like you Catalan boys”. His finish in front of the goal and his attitude isn’t the best either.
Mario Lemina has to do better in the final third of the pitch. Those decisive balls has to get better. Other than that he has been okay in the first half.
Uncle Pat may have given the ball away but Super Gigi should have no problems with a shot like that. I know it had a tricky bounce but he was positioned good.
Alex Sandro is not his usual self today. Maybe it is getting to crowded to the left with Uncle Pat running up and down that flank?
Barzagli is a ROCK!!!
Taking care of the defense all by him self. The rest of the defenders can hit the shoer,he got this!
Loved that Dybala scored and went straight for Bonucci. Real LOVE!
Cuadrado is in the same category as Mandzukic for me. Dosen’t contribute with anything.
Second half is starting. Let’s hope we take 3 points.
Forza ragazzi!
I swear i thought higuain was bonucci xD
=D
I am getting increasingly bored with Mandzukic. I havent seen anything from him yet again, though my stream was of such poor quality i couldnt distinguish Evra from Mandzukic.
He has to seriously step it up, I have no idea why he plays as much as he does.
The main thing for me was the reaction of the team after the Udinese goal though. We looked lazy and unprepared in my eyes, but that changed after the goal, the real Juve was stepping up again.
Not a game to remember, but we got the result and that is what matters
i feel like we sent the wrong attacker to West ham.
Thats not a real suprise. Zaza is a very promising player. Mandzukic is old. He has had his time. I can’t blame him either he has had a great carreer. Whats weird tho is that he keeps scoring so many goals for Croatia.
you remember niklas bendtner( or whats his name) he always scored for denmark but barely for a club
How can i ever forget Bendtner. He made his mark in my memory with other things than his play on the field.
You’re right. But Mandzukic was rated very highly at Bayern.
bayern played 433 , the style that suits mandzu the best, in 352 there is not much support for him, all he can do is head it in or pouch it, nothing more, he cant shoot from distance or past his opponent or what ever
Yeah. And that’s perfectly fine if you actually do that. But he’s been missing the oppurtunities he should excell in lately. Maybe it is the formation and his goals for Croatia might back that up.
I have been feeling the same since that deal was made
Facts.
Send him to a communist league or to the Arabs. Con someone for like 20m just like El Cholo tricked us into buying him.
We dont need 300 strikers. Higuain and Dybala are doing well together. let Balotelli Jr. be the third striker and that is more than enough.
There arent many strikers who can do what Mandzu can do. It just so happens that we were fortunately gifted two other strikers who ve set the bar extremely high. Kean is 16, he can wait. Hes still going through puberty for fucks sake xD
John, my friend who is in the US of A.
Do the things Mandzukic can do?
Come down to earth and speak to me. What is it exactly that he does?
Goes around the field and complaining with his grumpy attitude like he is one some kind of period, ALL THE EFFING TIME!!!. Misses a lot (I’m not exaggerating when I say a lot) of chances. Is supposed to act like a target player and even fails at that. Putting the ball in the net with his head,which I hear he is supposed to be good at.
And what is up with this BS position, target player? Play the ball on the ground please and attack in numbers. Don’t shot a cross ball from the goalkeeper to a loner, fishing all by him self up in enemy land.
His speed, technique and control on the ball, or rather the lack of all 3. That is just embarrassing.
As you see my friend the list of things he is supposed to be good at can be made very long.
Im not saying hes a footballing god, but lets look at this through all aspects. For a person aiming to win everything the grand stage of football, hes a fat guy. Obviously hes in prolific condotion despite his weigh, but i assume the management are asking him to shed at least 30 pounds of fat. From experience, losing so much wiegh in such a short period of time takes a toll. Despite how eager higuain is, we cant have him overworking his self.
We and Mandzu himself knows hes not ginna br a regular once Higuain reaches peak physique. We aremt bayern barca or madrod. Players arent lined up to sit on our bench. He could easily go to china, but hes mot because hes determined to continue and win… Id take a heart like that despite his poor finishing. Theres more to my comment, but its time to eat xD
I don’t agree with your opinion my friend. Neither yours or the Misters. Who keeps on insisting on that no new player can feature in his starting XI if they haven’t adapted to his style of play. I respect both the Mister and you but I don’t agree with neither of you. I think that on the contrary. The Pita Bread needs more playing time. He needs to play as much as he can so that he can score as much goals as possible to boost his confidence. I’am not saying that it’s not good to rotate. But when you have someone like Mandzukic on the bench. Waiting to fill in for either Pita Bread or Dybala, then they are light years away from each other and he can never even come close to the quality those two add. Therefore we should sell him and bring in someone young that is willing to learn and develop with this team. That is able to get some playing time here and there.
I’am not saying we should do like we did with Pjaca. Because that is just nuts. Paying over 20m for someone just to put him on the bench and giving him 5 or 6 minutes here and there. Why buy a player for that amount of money if you can’t find a place for him in the team?
I hope you enjoyed your meal John. I absolutely agree with you. Heart, determination, grinta and all that are very important aspects that we want our players to have (for example Vidal). But those things dosen’t mean jack shit if the lad can’t do what he is payed for.
It’s frustrating watching players like Mandzukic and Cuadrado in our team. If there is a chance I think we should send Cuadrado back to Chelski, sell Mandzukic and Lichsteiner (who obviously is past his prime and don’t seem very interested in wearing our colors no more). Maybe bring in Darmian from Manchester United as a back up for Dani Spandex ?
No offense taken at all. We are all gentlemen and world filled with diversity. Of course we wont agree on everything
My taste in what to expect in players is extremely different from the typical fans. I have an obscure vision to the footballing game.
Idk why this keeps happening, but i cant continue my reply because im eating again haha
And that’s one of the reasons why I love hanging out here. We all respect and worship the same club. But, Rav has created a place for us to share our thoughts and feelings. Which I am most grateful for. Another perk is that I have got to know you guys here.
John, It’s the munchies. You gotta go easy on those mushrooms man =D
Do you remember in a land far far away when we launched the movie train which later turned in to a movie/tv-show train?
Not just munchies. My esting schedule is out of sorts. Id never imagined my life to be so busy haha. I thought i was gonna be a bum at home with plebty of time on my hands haha.
How could i ever forget? But because i havent had a television provider for a numbr of years and im too cheap to go out to the movies, ive not kept up to date with the cinemas haha. I havent even watched the revenant! How dare i call myself a di caprio fan. Although i did watch now you see me 2. Great film in my opinion
Excuse my many errors in my response. Today is my day off and im exsausted. I can hardly functionproperly haha
I think there was interest in him from the PL and China? I like Mandzu as a person, his attitude is great, he works his ass off all the time and is apparently a bit of a Juvefan too. But as a player, I’m tired of him. I’d like to have Zaza back and perhaps Kean, though I rather see Kean loaned out and actually play.
Cause let’s face it, he isn’t going to play anything at Juve this season. He’s 16. Allegri was superslow to bring in even Dybala, who was 21 and had had 2 good seasons at Palermo, what chance of playing does Kean have
There was some vague reports about Tottenham, Arsenal and probably some other minor teams in PL.
China, the Arabs and probably even Russia would welcome him with open arms. I say sell even if they aren’t willing to pay more than 15m for him. At this point he is hurting the team too much with his presence on the field. He is taking up a spot (just like Cuadrado) for no reason at all. The both of them are contributing with exactly nothing. Which can be interpreted into them effing up our game and therefore having a negative impact on the team.
I’m with you and the Gutter Poet on the Balotelli Jr. business. Giving him a spot on the bench was just so that Marotta & the others could say, hey look we give youth players the shot. In reality it means nothing. The whole loan spell business is good if we do it in a Chelski manor. Meaning we don’t loan out a player which is not included in the managers plans and dosen’t have a realistic shot of being fielded.
mandzukic had one great chance to score but he failed hard, i have no idea how he scored 4 goals with croatia in qualification, and another question is , wtf is doing cuadrado here, this guy is so useless, he is like faster sissoko, cant pass for the hell, had good chance to score from the edge of the box and what he did?( the ball just left milkey way )we can never play with hernanes, mandzukic and cuadrado together
The goals were against Finland and I forgot the other, some country with hardly 2 million people in it. Even Belgium has 5 times more than that and we’re a peanut-sized country 😛
I don’t expect much from Cuadrado either, he works hard and has a lot of speed, but besides that there is nothing remarkable (I have probably said this a million times by now, sorry for the repetition)
Hernanes has grown on me this season. Marchisio is obviously superior, but Hernanes is a good deputy. He has had one silly error now, but that it resulted in a goal was just as much Buffons fault as it was Hernanes’.
but he does these silly mistakes too often
We get the 3 points. But we did not play well at all. Something is not right. I feel like we are missing something. When i watch the game i keep thinking, what is our game plan. Do we go for posession, counter attacking, direct play or what is it we want. I fail to see our identity. And i dont like all the changes every game. Too much rotation for my liking.
Defend like italians and attack like south americans… Thats our current identity. Maybe its just me, but the way we played today was gorgous despite the horrendus udine goal. I call todays game obscure art. Central midfielders making runs outside while wingers cut in and attack the space created by the outside runs.
lol, i really have no idea what you do like oN our performance. one of the worst games this year
So Marchisio didn’t play after all? I couldn’t watch the match.
No, neither did Kean
No, no Claudio yet 🙁
https://youtu.be/6kYg_TvEHgw
nice vid
Comments are closed