Napoli v Juventus
Serie A Week 6 – Saturday, 26th September – 19:45 GMT – Stadio San Paolo
Juventus
How frustrating was the Frosinone game? Just as Juventus take two step towards in terms of performance, which was really dominating, they make a triple backflip from the results standpoint because they did not close the game despite having plenty of chances. The two main takeaways is that Juventus are struggling to score, but I think it is an aberrations, and that they can not afford to take the foot off the gas because they are not at the point where they are able of managing games. Solving this will take time.
The squad has collected only two points at the Juventus Stadium against Udinese, Chievo Verona and Frosinone: it is not only extremely worrying, it is also almost unintelligible. The team dropped ten point behind Inter: the gap has yet to become unbridgeable, but it is widening a little too quickly.
Juventus need a convincing and commanding performance in Serie A as they face Napoli, another top team that is sort of struggling. You may remind that the trip to Naples has been a turning point for Juventus twice in recent years. Last season, Juventus snapped a ten-year drought and held off Roma’s attempt of a comeback just as it looked like Rudi Garcia’s side was ready to take the lead. Three seasons ago, Antonio Conte forged his famous 3-5-2 against Walter Mazzarri’s Napoli and they came back from 3-1 to 3-3, showing for the first time the great character of that team that finished the season undefeated and surprisingly beat Milan in the Scudetto race.
3-5-2 could return in this game, mainly because of the paucity of right backs. Stephan Lichtsteiner was hospitalized after the last match due to breathing difficulties, he has been discharged but it is a situation that needs to be sorted out taking all the necessary precautions. Martin Caceres is out with a minor muscular injury. The worst part is that this choice could literally decide the game as Lorenzo Insigne has been on fire on that flank as of late. The only option is Simone Padoin, who has been basically buried at the end of the bench after the two horrid performances as deep-lying midfielder against Udinese and Roma. Of course he was not the reason why we lost, but I do not see how the coach thought that would work. The other solution would be to ditch the four-man defense and have Andrea Barzagli guard that part of the field, which is usually a good idea. Gazzetta is reporting that Alex Sandro could be used on the right flank, but they have made many bizarre suggestions on the Juventus lineup in the recent weeks.
If Massimiliano Allegri do opts for 3-5-2, I really hope he does not use both Padoin and Patrice Evra, because the formation would be way too defensive, and that he fields at least one between Juan Cuadrado and Alex Sandro, but I am not optimistic my wish will be granted because he tends to have a conservative approach. Hernanes should regain his spot in the heart of the midfield, with Paul Pogba on his left and either Mario Lemina or Stefano Sturaro on his right. If Lemina was chosen to be the pivot, which would be perfectly fine, at that point Roberto Pereyra would have a solid chance to start at CM in order to maintain a certain offensive/defensive balance. In the attack, it looks like Alvaro Morata is fit and slated to play from the get-go, with either Paulo Dybala or Simone Zaza on his side. I have a suspicion that Allegri likes having Dybala come off the bench, so Zaza is slightly the favourite. The alternatives are a 4-3-2-1 with Cuadrado and Pereyra supporting Morata and the 4-3-3 seen against Manchester City, with probably Zaza as centre-forward.
Probable lineup:
3-5-2: Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Cuadrado, Lemina, Hernanes, Pogba, Evra; Morata, Zaza.
Injuries:
Khedira (thigh), Asamoah (knee), Marchisio (thigh), Caceres (thigh), Lichtsteiner (breathing difficulties)
Suspended:
None
Napoli
Napoli are having a tough transition to the new regime, the Maurizio Sarri era has not started as well as they hoped, as they have collected six points in five matches. Their sole win came in a resounding fashion against Lazio at San Paolo (5-0), while they have dropped points against Carpi (0-0), Empoili (2-2), Sampdoria (2-2 after they were up two-nil) and Sassuolo (1-2). Despite the bad misstep against the newly promoted side, their attack is superb and they have already scored ten goals, second best in Serie A, while their defense, which has conceded six goals, remains their Achilles heel.
Sarri has started the season relying on the 4-3-1-2 he mastered on Empoli, turning Lorenzo Insigne in a trequartista and Dries Mertens and Josè Maria Callejon into second-strikers. While the first experiment worked, the other two did not go very well. The coach switched to a more reasonable 4-3-3 in the game against Club Brugge and the team exploded with ten goals in two matches. 4-3-3 makes more sense because sometimes it is simply better to field the players in the position they are most comfortable playing in, but it is not yet perfect. Rafa Benitez’s 4-2-3-1 was really the best way to take advantage of the whole offensive arsenal and using Marek Hamsik as box-to-box midfielder is a waste because it takes a toll on his attacking game and anyway he does not offer much in the defensive phase. With the addition of Elseid Hysaj, Vlad Chiriches, Allan and Mirko Valdifiori, Napoli would be better than last year’s version even deploying the same tactic.
As for this match, Kalidou Koulibaly should have another chance to confirm his growth from the start, with the former Tottenham on the bench, like Christian Maggio. Jorginho should replace Valdifiori, who is struggling almightily in his new team and is not in ideal conditions yet. Callejon should complete the trident with Insigne and Gonzalo Higuain as Mertens did not deliver in the Carpi match where he was in the starting XI. I think that Mertens is a better player than Callejon, but both the Belgian winger and Insigne are ball-dominant players, while the Spaniard is more capable of playing off the others, an ability that has proven to be very useful over the years. Mertens works better as an alternative to Insigne than as a partner.
They do not play as well as last year’s peak Empoli, but they have already shown some quick and dangerous combinations upfront. Allan, who is not known for be a scoring threat, has already scored twice thanks to deadly cuts at the right moment. Higuain and Insigne, who is becoming quite an assist man, are handfuls for all defenses. On the other hand, their defense is generally very vulnerable and prone to blunders, even though they have kept a clean sheet for three straight games, and they play very tight so there should be plenty of room on the flanks.
Probable lineup:
4-3-3: Reina; Hysaj, Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Allan, Jorginho, Hamsik; Callejon, Higuain, Insigne.
Injuries:
None
Suspended:
None
Formation
Stats and Facts
Infographics from www.sporticos.com
Rather see 4-3-3 with Sandro on the right than 3-5-2 or anything that contains Padoin in it.
Buffon
Sandro Bonucci chiellini evra
Pogba Marchisio/Hernanes Lemina
Cuadrado morata dybala
That looks good. But dont worry he will most likely change the formation a couple of times during the match 🙂 At the moment im not impressed with Allegri. I dont understand his decisions. Was he just lucky last year or what is going on?
I think he is looking for the new juve identity. So far i dont really think Allegri is to blame, only when he apparently expected Padoin to be decent as regista I was mad at him. Also would like to see Dybala from the start and Rugani to start playing some games. Besides that, there isnt much to blame him for, imo. At least he is searching how to get the best out of the players. They just collectively perform average in the league
Yeah he needs to use Rugani more, otherwise he might leave us. Apparently Arsenal is very interested in him. Dybala needs to start regardless of the formation. I would also like to see him behind the attackers in a 4-3-1-2. On the positive side is Cuadrado and Lemina. Cuadrado is amazing. He is everywhere, attack and defense, whatever he does he does it amazingly. Lemina has already proved that he is good enough to be a starter.
Yup, this is pretty much what I think
Just lucky
After the Frosinone game, I am quite pessimistic for this game. I dont see us win at all, so a draw would be a good result. Sure Napoli is struggling too, but they are at home and apparently no Juve fans allowed in this game. No idea why, some retarded punishment again I guess.
And for the love of god, no padoin tonight. Everyone has to step up and the best possible team has to play. Use Pereyra or Sandro as RB or even Neto, anyone but Padoin
Does anyone know a good Android app that I can watch the game on Live Stream? … and by good I mean one that actually works. The official Serie A TIM app isn’t available in my country -_-
Napoli away are like Cesena, but at home, they are damn near close to Barcelona.
Padoin starts, looks like 4-3-1-2, dybala and Zaza up front….
Pado again.why god why??
stream?
I like our front line, not sure about defense.
Hernanes where is your fucking head?
Hernanes sucks in this position. He is giving too many balls away
Zaza has a terrible first touch.. His first touch is often his last touch..
Offside offside offside. Zaza is always there
Yes its frustrating.. We bought the wrong Sassuolo player.
God, hernanes should get subbed. bad bad game
Geez, don’t wanna see hernanes ever play on the pitch again. Wtf was that
Not the first one today. He makes them all the time. But this one cost a goal
That was a horror show from Hernanes. I have never seen a Juventus player kill his team as much as he did today. Remember he lost the ball against Man City in the first few minutes which would have had us down 1-0 within minutes had it not been to Buffon’s heroic double save. I hope Allegri learns to NEVER EVER PLAY HERNANES IN FRONT OF THE DEFENSE. Fuck!
That was sturaro not hernanes, hernanes was total shit today ,pogba as well,lemina played like a boss, best player on the pitch
Has there been one game this season where Juve just played one formation for 90min?
no. but there has been more than one game where we changed formation more than once in a game.
I dont get why he didnt sub zaza instead of dybala. Zaza has played terrible
This is just depressing, we’re going towards 3 losses already. No determination in this team whatsoever
No determination? The players played hard, but it’s always hard to get a result at San Paolo. The only one I’m really pissed at is Hernanes for his shitty play and Allegri for putting him in that position.
Cant say I’m surprised by this result. This isnt a team, its 11 random guys doing shit on a pitch. Well 10, i dont count Padoin as an asset.
And padoin wasn’t even the worst player on the pitch today.. That’s also a first
Padoin is always solid — never impressive, but always reliable. There are other serious liabilities on this team.
Thats what I thought too. He was totally okay today. Hernanes was shit. And this Zaza.
He’s a complete waste of space, he is invisible and the team also ignores him on the field. I seriously prefer Neto or Rubinho on the field over Padoin or just any random fan in the stadium. I’m so sick and tired of Padoin doing absolutely nothing and we trying to cheer ourselves up by saying hey, at least he doesnt really make mistakes!
I disagree. I’m not a big fan of Padoin, but he gets a decent enough job whenever his number is called. There were other players who deserve a lot more blame. Hernanes was by far the worst, IMO.
Pado was conservative because Insigne and Mertens were keeping him busy and he did a good job on both. He went forward a few times and delivered good crosses. He combined well with Pereyra and Cuadrado.
A topclub needs players who can be special. Who can make the difference. Padoin has never done that and will never do that, he just can’t. Saying he never does something really wrong does not make up for him being way too long at Juve already.
Hernanes was bad yesterday but atleast he tries some shots from outside the box. Atleast he tries. The only thing i’ve seen Padoin do in the last 4 years was score the 1-5 vs Fiorentina in a match that was long won.
Haha thats what a discussion site exists for right, to discuss! In this game yeah, Hernanes was the worst. In general though, Hernanes over Padoin any day. he isnt worthy of a juve shirt, the best you or anyone can say about him is what u just said. That is simply not enough for a Juveplayer.
Haha typical allegri… Win with someone else’s team, lose with your own… Lemina should’ve been in the middle, Pereyra on the right and Hernanes CAM. Never play Padoin.. Start with 10 men or Barzagli/Pereyra out of position if no licht or caceres. Allegri needs to go.
Carlo
Conte
Guidolin…. Any of those 3.
Bright side is dybala clearly deserves to start with morata, and lemina is a gem. He and pogba should start next to each other every match.
I totally agree with you. And my vote goes to Carlo Ancelotti. He said he wanted to take a year off from coaching. But lets try to convince him that half a year is enough. In my eyes he is one of the best coaches out there.
We’ll have to qualify for Champions League for him to come… They way it’s looking, we won’t even finish in the top 5.
Amen to that. Sandro and Dybala should be starters, Lemina at least a serious Challenger to be a starter and Padoin should be selling popcorn. Not blaming Allegri yet though. I like the versatility he has that conte never had. Dont want guidolin. Ancelotti would be nice but then again, winning Leagues never really was his strong suit. He is a great CL coach though.
I would even try to get Klopp. That guy is bat crazy but one hell of a coach.
Don’t mention ”bat crazy” in negotiations with him though :p Something tells me he won’t want to come to Italy, i think he prefers to stay in Germany.
Haha yeah i know, its some fantasy football. Would be cool tho xp
Guidolin is the best Italian coach. Nobody does more with less, and gets the true spirit of his players to come out each game.
There are a lot of better italian coaches out there than guidolin. He had a good season at Udinese and did nothing with it the next. Partially not his fault, Udinese sold key players.
I couldn’t see the match, just last 5 min of the first half. Have been away alot during Juve matches this season. The only match i watched fully was the City match and the Frosinone match, we beated City. I might be the key to our success. I will watch wednesday.
Also, B1anconer0, aren’t you dutch? I can’t remember clearly. I’m asking because you asked for a stream.
Yes i’m dutch. Well i’m belgian but we understand each other
You are? Cool
Oh Belgium. Was gonna say the match was on tv on eurosport, but thats just in Holland. Belgian eurosport didnt buy the rights i think.
Yeah and it’s 3 years now that I pay 20 a month to have sport channels. And just this season they decided to scrap the serie a. So instead of them broadcasting napoli juve they prefer to broadcast a retarded match from the belgian league. Unbelievable
Someone on voetbalzone from Belgium purchased the eurosport player for serie a. Didn’t read about the exact deal eurosport made, which said they didn’t buy the rights in Belgium, but thats a waste of money for him.
I think there are more than enough Serie A fans in Belgium for them to make a good deal there though.
Why is Sandro not playing more?
Im sorry for him.
He should be starting LB, idk why he isnt.
they paid 26 million for him and he never plays …
Him and Dybala are gong to get ruined here.. Investments in these 2 nears 70 million and they’ve been irrelevant thus far.
Same for Rugani and Dybala
Both are top talents. I just dont understand so few games. Evra out. Chiellini out. These two in.
And does everybody know when Marchisio and Khedira comes back?
They should at least play the easy games. Dybala starter for all of them. Both will be back after the international break
Its really urgent. Hernanes was terrible yesterday. Juve has to watch out that they dont lost the way to the top 4. At least.
On Wednesday it will be a 3:2 for us. God knows why!!
One by Bonucci.
One by Lemina.
One by Evra.
I hope so, I can see Sevilla topping our CL group.