On Saturday, Juventus started their home encounter against Roma in the best possible manner, with Dusan Vlahovic rocking Rui Patricio’s goal with a stunning freekick after 79 seconds.
The Bianconeri had the upper hand for the first hour, and should have consolidated their lead with additional goals – Manuel Locatelli did score but his effort was unfortunately overturned by VAR.
Eventually, the Romans slowly but surely built some momentum, and did just enough to grab an equalizer, ensuring that their trip Turin wasn’t fruitless.
So here are our three takeaways from the Old Lady’s decent but dissatisfying draw against the Giallorossi.
Right Choices
Time to give credit where credit is due. Last week, we all chastised Max Allegri (and rightfully so) for his perplexing choices against Samdporia and the team’s hollow performance.
But this time around, the manager’s tactical choices paid off, despite what the final result may suggest.
Fabio Miretti was the right man in the right place, while Danilo’s switch to centre back paid off as he formed a solid partnership with Gleison Bremer, and even the much-maligned Adrien Rabiot was enjoying an impressive outing prior to his injury.
Now surely Juventus ran out of steam as the match progressed, but this should be expected, especially with José Mourinho possessing a better variety of options on his bench.
Allegri’s players should have killed off the match when the visitors were at their mercy in the first half.
Automatic Starter?
At this point, there’s absolutely no reason to justify leaving Miretti out of the starting formation in the upcoming matches. Not even Leandro Paredes’ imminent arrival.
The Argentine will likely push Manuel Locatelli to his original box-to-box position, but at least during Paul Pogba’s absence, the teenager should feature on the left of the midfield trio.
Simply put, Miretti’s skillset is unique. While the majority of our midfielders rely on physical strength, the young Italian’s technique is on another level.
Two Wasted Points
Compared to last season’s horrific start, Juventus have assembled four more points this time around, and in spite of the growing number of injuries. Thus, it’s not a terrible start by any means.
Nonetheless, after Saturday’s performance, one can’t help but feel that Juventus have dropped another two points, despite the size of the opponent.
The Bianconeri were obviously the superior side for the majority of the match, while Paulo Dybala and company created very little.
During the manager’s first stint, Allegri’s men wouldn’t have allowed such match to slip out of their grasp.
Alas, the golden years are long gone, and at this point, it would be a delusion to think otherwise.
another one: we are already eighth.
It’s still early season. There are lots matches ahead
JUVENTUS FC may be EIGHT, but JUST TWO points behind the leaders. One looks at the league table in MAY not in LATE AUGUST.
typo: EIGHTH