Tottenham Hotspur v Juventus
Friendly– Saturday, 5th August – 17:30 GMT – Wembley Stadium
The ‘friendly’ against Roma was enjoyable to watch as we finally got to see the new summer signings getting a run-out while getting a better look at how Allegri might field the team for the season ahead.
Granted, it’s hard to take away too much from a game that has little meaning, but there were some positive points to the ‘victory’ over Roma in Boston, and the whole run of friendlies that we’ve taken part in over the course of the US tour.
The most obvious benefit has been the inclusion of the newest players, namely Mattia De Sciglio, Douglas Costa, Federico Bernardeschi and Bob Szczesny, all of whom have featured at some stage throughout the games against Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Roma, respectively. Each has arrived in a different condition and state of preparedness for the long year ahead, so getting to assess them at an individual level and prepare their training regime (as in the case of Costa) has been beneficial, as well as seeing them get a few minutes of playing time on the pitch.
One of the more positive moments from the game in Boston was the return to form of Claudio Marchisio who looked ever more like his old self in the centre of the pitch. It’s all too easy to start throwing around the clichés of him being ‘like a new signing’, ‘back to his best’ etc. but there’s an element of truth to it. There were suggestions that I Principino wouldn’t return from injury as the player he was before, but the game’s he’s featured in have given real cause for optimism.
Daniele Rugani joined up with the team and was pitched straight in at the deep end, partnering Benatia from the start against Roma and looking like he hadn’t missed a beat. In all honesty, whether he had been at fault for 3 goals or turned in a stellar peformance, it really wouldn’t have mattered – It’s simply a good thing to see him playing. He needs the minutes, even in a meaningless friendly, to make mistakes, to be at his best, to grow as a player – He’s spent far too long on the side-lines as a spectator.
The left flank looked solid as always with big Mario running things and Alex Sandro providing the perfect assist for the opener, and while it was exciting to see Douglas Costa get a run out on the right, Juan Cuadrado really impressed me. He has a tendency to turn in a few great performances before losing his head in a game that really matters or simply not delivering after doing all the hard work to get into the opponents half. With Costa around, they’ll be some healthy competition for starting spots so perhaps/hopefully we’ll see a more improved and consistent Juan in the season ahead. No one can fault his work rate, it’s just certain aspects of his game that he needs to work on.
Alongside all this we saw Dybala and Higuain linking up with regularity and looking like they’ve got an even better understanding of each other than in the season before, as well as another brief cameo from Rodrigo Bentancur who looks full of promise.
Next up, a trip to London to face Spurs at Wembley and an opportunity to see more from the likes of Bernardeschi and Costa. There’s no real indication of how Allegri will field his side, so there’s a degree of guesswork – I suspect Buffon will start in goal with De Sciglio on the right, Benatia and Rugani in defence and Alex Sandro at left-back. Khedira needs some minutes, as does Pjanic while Cuadrado and Mandzukic will probably play on the wings with Dybala and Higuain making up the attack.
Squad list
Portieri: Buffon, Del Favero, Pinsoglio
Difensori: Alex Sandro, Barzagli, Benatia, Chiellini, De Sciglio, Lichtsteiner, Rugani
Centrocampisti: Asamoah, Bentancur, Cuadrado, Khedira, Lemina, Marchisio, Pjanic, Rincon
Attaccanti: Bernardeschi, D. Costa, Dybala, Higuain, Kean, Mandzukic
Probable Formation
4-2-3-1: Buffon; De Sciglio, Chiellini, Rugani, Alex Sandro; Khedira, Pjanic; Costa, Dybala, Mandzukic; Higuain.
Was that the most depressing Juve showing in a long time or what? There were very few positives in this one.
1) The players looked lethargic and uninterested. Maybe they are very tired from all the travel and training sessions, but they never looked ready for the game mentally or physically. Dybala, Chiellini, Sandro, and Cuadrado at least hustled a little bit to no end.
2) I have yet to see anything positive from Bernardeschi and Douglas Costa. Bernardeschi is vastly overhyped and I don’t really expect much from him. Douglas Costa doesn’t look like the guy we saw at Bayern two years ago. At least we can send back Costa if he doesn’t perform, but I doubt we’ll ever recoup the €40m we spent on Bernardeschi.
3) Our defense has been poor all pre-season and it was at its worst today with Rugani in the back today. Maybe this is a one-off performance for him, but we are in real trouble if this is the real Rugani. Maybe he’ll be okay in a 3-man backline playing on the outside, but it would be terrifying to have him play centrally, either in a 3- or 4-man backline. The way things are going, we are really going to miss Bonucci. Without him, the defense looks nervous and hurried. Its ability to handle the ball and make clean passes forward seems absent.
4) Higuain — well, he looks awful out there. I can’t figure out if it is because of the lack of service or him being out of shape or not playing more intelligently.
5) The only ray of sunshine so far has been Bentancur. He’s definitely a keeper. Kean has been promising, but he’ll surely be loaned out to get more playing time somewhere else.
In short, Rugani, Bernardeschi and Costa have been disappointing. Everyone else not names Bentancur has been underwhelming this preseason.
I managed to watch until the 80th minute and I totaly agree with you on the performance.
What I saw though is a lot different. First of all , the 3 from the 4-2-3-1 have no more fixed positions. They are instructed to roam, which I suspect it will bare fruits only with all three Berna – Dybala – Costa on the field, since Madzu and cuadrado do not play on all three positions. So here is a tactical change that affects the game.
Second, Bonucci was until last season the one with the responsibilitty to play the ball out of the defence. Without him, the team tries to identify if the best option is to have Pjanic come an get it(it did nor work well, Buffon was furious with a back pass from him) or train the Rugani to do it.
Marchisio should start over Pjanic and Khedira any day.
We desperately need a DM who can control the midfield and aid the defence until they gel together(for the opener it was Khedira who lost H.Kane).
PS: Tottenham has a very physical and technical team that you love to watch. I hope our roads cross again in a competitive match and with all our players in top condition. It would be agreat match.
We have not played a single match from the new season and you judge Costa and Bernardeschi. You cannot take a serious picture from this outing. If you take bayern would be out of champions league in no time. They lost every single match in friendlies. Not even scoring one goal.
Wembley was empty yesterday. It was hardly 50%.There you see the importance of these matches. We are supposed to meet pro vercelli siena bari not Barcelona PSG Tottenham or roma anyway money wins
Players will be in condition mid September. We ll see then.