Maurizio Sarri gave a stark and honest post-match interview following Juve’s 2-1 defeat to Atletico, declaring “we have to cut six players from the current squad.”
The Bianconeri boss was his bullish self post-game and gave an honest account of Juve’s performance and a damning indictment of the transfer affairs thus far.
“I am fairly satisfied with the performance and I liked the attitude, especially in the first half, against a team that was in better physical shape than us.
“We should never concede a goal like the second, but that’s all part of pre-season work and training. We moved the ball around well technically in the first half and I’d not seen that for such long periods.”
The coach was asked for his opinion on the transfer market and interrupted the reporter to give his view on things.
“Sometimes, I get really astonished when I read your papers. You go on about Sarri’s choices, the choices of Paratici.
“Did you look at the Juventus squad? We have to cut six players to fit into the Champions League list, which I haven’t read anywhere. Otherwise these choices might look insane.
“We have to cut six players from the current squad and that puts me in a difficult position. The last 20 days of the market will be difficult for us, it’s an embarrassing situation, because we risk having to leave out players of a very high level.
“It’s a situation we have to resolve and it is not just about the decisions made by Coach or club.
“Dybala only had two training sessions with me, so all evaluations are premature. Clearly, he can’t be at the top of his condition physically and that also affects what he can do as a False 9.
“I think he has the characteristics to play in that role, but we’ll have to see how we can fill the penalty area with that solution.
“As I said before, I can talk to Dybala all I like, but the market goes in a certain direction and my opinion counts for zero. We have to cut six players, that’s all there is to it.
“I’d love to keep them all, but our problem is that we don’t have players who grew up at this club, there’s only one, so our entire Champions League squad will be 22 players with three goalkeepers. That forces us to make decisions on the market that we don’t want to make.
“Usually, I don’t start seasons well. Aside from Chelsea, where I think I set a record for going unbeaten at the start of a Premier League career, in Italy I always struggled in the early weeks.”
