Another weekend, another disappointment. Unfortunately, this has been the story of our beloved Old Lady this season.
Once a mighty titan standing high amongst her competitors, incompetence brought her down in a shocking fashion.
When we talk about incompetence, many names should be mentioned, between players and directors – and perhaps a president – but today we shall focus on the shortcomings of one particular person.
After spending the majority of this season trying to reasonably defend Andrea Pirlo’s management of the team, it’s time to admit that the young coach utterly and miserably failed in his job.
Before the almost-decisive clash against Milan on Sunday, the former midfielder stated that he finally has a full squad at his disposal.
Admittedly, the current roster is a far cry from the ones possessed in the previous years – which is another sign of incompetence within the club – but one must ask: What’s the point of having a full squad if we’re only going to use two late substitutes out of the five possible whilst desperately chasing a victory?
Nevertheless, the word ‘’desperate’’ is being used cautiously in here, as very few Bianconeri players on the pitch seemed to feel the urge of getting a good result out of the match.
Despite not being at his best physical shape, Paulo Dybala is known to be the Rossoneri’s bogeyman, scoring several decisive goals against the Diavolo in the past years, and even providing two sublime assists for Federico Chiesa earlier in the campaign.
But for some odd reason, Pirlo only unleashed the Argentine in the final ten minutes, when the encounter was already decided, and his contribution was much more fruitful than that of Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata combined, who produced next to nothing in 90 minutes.
Moreover, Chiesa spent the night on the left wing, struggling to break through the defensively solid Davide Calabria. And yet, the Juventus manager never opted to switch him to the right flank, where he had previously torn Theo Hernandez apart in January.
Instead, the Milan left-back comfortably won his personal battle against Juan Cuadrado and occasionally Weston McKennie, causing havoc for the duo who left him too much space to run at.
However, the most worrying element in Sunday’s match (and the season in general) is the team’s inability to produce a positive reaction when facing adversity, but rather submitting to yet another defeat.
In conclusion, under the guidance of Pirlo, Juventus have lost their identity, hunger to win, strong character, and sharpness.
Simply put, the team has been emptied of its substance, and that is just inexcusable and indefensible.
