West Ham v Juventus
Friendly – Sunday, 7th August – 13:00 GMT – London Stadium
Juventus
Juve coach Max Allegri has confirmed that Gonzalo Higuain and Dani Alves are expected to feature for the Bianconeri in their friendly against West Ham. Speaking at a press conference ahead of tomorrow’s official opening of the London Stadium, Allegri revealed his starting XI for the game as well as addressing the constant press speculation regarding Paul Pogba’s future.
Allegri began by discussing opponents West Ham and what he expects for the friendly match.
“They played the preliminary of the Europa League and they’ll certainly be in a better condition than us. Everyone will be available but Lichtsteiner, who has a bad back. We haven’t been working together very long, and some players have done a month of work while others only 10 days. We had some training sessions together, others in separation.
“The team’s quality, technically speaking, is markedly higher. This doesn’t mean that the Scudetto is in our pockets, much less the Champions League final, absolutely not.
“We need to be aware of our strength but above all we need the humility that is necessary to win the championship. We’ll have to reach March still fighting in all competitions, and fighting to win. We’ll face many combative teams that want to challenge the Juventus hegemony.”
Allegri confirmed that summer signing Gonzalo Higuain will feature in the game tomorrow.
“You’ll see him, and not just for a few minutes. Juventus carried out a great market campaign, signing five new and excellent players.
“But integrating five new players is never easy. They have different characteristics than the ones we worked with and they don’t know each other. This year we’ll have to do that faster, it can’t take us 10 games like last season. Even though we did win the Supercoppa.”
“Dani Alves is coupled with Lichtsteiner, whether there’s a three- or four-man backline. Pjanic is a player who can play in front of the defence, or as a mezzala, although I do believe that his most appropriate role is the former. He should always be in the midst of the game.
“Pjaca is a young lad with enormous qualities, he can play as a winger and also as a trequartista. Benatia? You already know him, I think, because he played in Serie A. Higuain was the top scorer last year, so he completes a very strong attack department alongside Mandzukic, Dybala, Zaza and the above-mentioned Pjaca.
“Tomorrow we’ll play with a four-man defence, and I’ll give you the formation now, so everyone’s happy: Buffon; Dani Alves, Benatia, Rugani, Alex Sandro; Lemina, Pjanic, Asamoah; Pereyra; Dybala, Mandzukic. Neto will be subbed on for the second half.”
Speculation regarding Paul Pogba’s future has been an ongoing theme so far this summer and Allegri was quick to dismiss talk of a move to Manchester United.
“It’s only fair that Mourinho should choose not to talk of Pogba as long as he’s a Juventus player. I called up Pogba for tomorrow evening, so he’ll be in Vinovo for training on Monday. There’s no point in discussing replacements for Pogba because right now he’s a Juventus player.”
Allegri rounded off proceedings by touching on Claudio Marchisio’s return to fitness and his expected return date.
“Marchisio’s recovery is progressing well. He’s started running and he worked with the ball. I think the recovery time is estimated for October.
“The difference between the start of October and the end of October is a difference of 30 days so we’ll say the middle of October!”
Probable lineup:
4-3-1-2: Buffon, Dani Alves, Benatia, Rugani, Alex Sandro; Lemina, Pjanic, Asamoah ; Pereyra; Dybala, Mandzukic
Injuries:
Lichtsteiner, Marchisio, Khedira
West Ham
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic is excited to be facing Juventus for the opening of their news stadium.
Writing in the London Evening Standard, Bilic declared: “I am thrilled that our opening match at our new home will be against Juventus.
“The Old Lady are one of the biggest clubs in Europe, they are more than a club if you like. I use them a lot to illustrate a point when I talk to players, staff, my friends. ‘Yes,’ I say, ‘football is a sport but at Juventus it is a sport for men.’
“It is professional, serious — and no one is bigger than the club. They have had some great players throughout their history, such as Michel Platini, Liam Brady, Roberto Baggio, Zinedine Zidane and Alessandro Del Piero, but it is always Juventus first and then the individuals, which is great and the way it should be.”
Probable lineup:
4-2-3-1: Adrián, Antonio, Collins, Ogbonna, Byram; Nordtveit, Kouyate; Feghouli, Noble, Quina; Fletcher
Formation
Not much of a preview or any kind of insight, i knocked it together, simplyso we have a place to talk about the game tomorrow and hopefully our first impressions of Alves, Higuain and co.
Really looking forward to seeing Pipita in action – Pjaca might surprise as well.
Pogba due at Vinovo tomorrow…..lots happening this weekend.
Its a welcome addition, as always, comrade…I have something up my sleeve for the near future, so much happening in the youth sector that I am biding my time a little before posting then waking to find several moves which I had missed due to the need for sleep! I’ll watch the first half tonight, maybe the whole thing, yet it ends near midnight by my Melbourne clock and I must be up with the witches at dawn to reluctantly head back to the corporate hades where I earn my gold.
Coming from the South I have always had close friends who support the irons and they are a team I have always liked. Whilst there is little english blood left in the squad as a whole, old troll face Bilic performed impressively last season and his side was often very entertaining. Lost without Payet though!
I hope it is a fine occasion for all. And would not begrudge them a victory to inaugurate their new stadium (no matter the horrific pillage of the public purse)..I am more interested in avoiding injuries than hitting form. My beloved Gills lost 2 of the Summer purchases for the season before their first league game, another for 3 months to a fractured ankle. Terrible luck! Still, we crunched Southend away for our opener…
2 important point which needs to be noted of Allegri interview today was
– he sees pjanic best in regista (in front of defence) role.
– he expects marchisio to be fit in OCTOBER.
both positive bits of news – He also said of Pjaca that ‘He can play ‘outside’ or as an attacking mid’ – Thats great news because it gives us even more versatility on the pitch
That line up looks pretty awesome, and a few main guys aren’t even there! Really excited for this upcoming campaign! The depth that’s been added in the last two seasons has been incredible… This year’s slogan needs to be…#doitforGIGI…
Replacing Zaza with Gabigol will make this squad complete.
https://twitter.com/IFTV_Official/status/762014098930405376
Avoiding all news of p***** for now – Next report will be when/if it becomes official.
Actually looking forward to this game – The opening of West Hams new stadium and they chose us – A reunion with Ogbonna, the chance to see Higuain and Alves in action……this is going to be great!
Some good news concerning Bonucci today which i will post as a separate story
What concerns me is still the midfield.
As I don’t know how Allegri is going to line up for the most part of the season I can not speculate on what kind of midfielder we should be looking into. Don’t get me wrong. Bringing in Pjanic was a really good move.
Pjaca I haven’t seen play yet so therefore I can’t say much about him. Hopefully he will be really good as well.
But seeing us without Khedira, Marchisio and Pogba leaves enormous holes on that midfield. No hard feelings towards Asamoah, Pereyra and Lemina. They are still a very important part of the team and group. But they are not in the same level as the once being mentioned first.
I’d be less critical of Asamoah, yet agree wholeheartedly on the absence of any proof that Lemina has what it takes to prove a major asset. The jury is very much still out there. Pereyra – at his finest for juve – was the 14/15 season when deployed as a trequartista. He can be useful in between the lines and is quick and likes to battle. His shooting was the only obvious weakness of his game, at least in that position. Elsewhere he was average at best.
Asamoah has looked stronger and back to his best pre-season. If his injury bothers are over we may well have a very solid, dynamic and technically decent midfielder. After reinventing himself as a LWB he now has to remember how to play central. If/when Pogba goes, I feel we have Witsel to replace him. A player highly thought of by many who has shown definite interest in heading to Turin. Perhaps more muscle and hustle than technique, but then again I have seen very little of him. I would like to hear from anyone who has watched him regularly.
I really hope that you,Asamoah and the rest of the Juve players I mention that have a question mark over their heads proves me wrong.
As you say. Asamoah have been off field for quite some time due to injuries. I hope that he comes back even stronger and shines. We need each and ever one of them bringing their A-game if we gonna have a realistic chance of bringing home that CL trophy.
Yes if pogba is out we are left with only 1 reliable mid who is pjanic new signing.So I hope with pogba money we sign atleast 2 mids like matic and another young potential worldclass mid like dahoud tielsman etc..
any1 got link for the game?
Try rojadirecta.me
https://www.feed2allnow.eu/type/football.htmli
It shows every football game.
cagliary signed Isla for 4m
official?
Ah, the new West Ham stadium…. Never has so little cost so much, paid for by so many and given away for the benefit of so few.
Well done to all involved in this scandalous masterclass of officially sanctioned corruption.
I was pondering your earlier words when I concluded that we have signed Witsel. A tackler and simple passer of the ball, DB…Any thoughts?
Have not seen much of him GP bar a little bit of CL matches for ZSP and Belgium. I like midfielders to have a defined character/role, and be very good at it – be it a Pirlo all flair, a Vidal warrior or a Pogba energy and drive. It’s only when then are a bit of everything and not much of anything that I get worried. Simple, clean and effective midfield play are fine traits if he does them to a high standard. Is he a good fit to replace Pogs?
The fact that his contract runs out next Summer and he clearly has eagerness to join and would fit into a accomplished tackler and distributor leads me to suspect the conditions are right for the move to take place. We hold the cards there…Zenith can play nice or lose 20-25m in potential fees next year when we pick him up for free…I will likely put together a midfield options piece this evening. Best strike whilst the iron is hot eh!
Half time report…All Juve, minus the majority of the first XI. Pjanic is not comfortable in front of the defence. Pereyra is a ghost, we are playing 4-3-2. Asamoah, Dybala, Sandro, Benatia seem lively. Alves too fancy. We deservedly have the lead, but its West Ham…yes in friendly guise but still eager to impress on the offical opening of their new home. Will be interesting to see Higuain, but I am more convinced that Pjanic is no natural regista,,,
yes, it looks like Pjanic is not realy suited for that position (the moment he loosed that balI he reminded me of Hernanes, and the way he played last season) hope to see him imporve becase he clearly is a better passer than Hernanes or Marchisio. As for Alves, i think he is an improvment offensevly on Lichsteiner but defensevly he is a bit weaker than the swiss. As for the flashy style of Alves, I kind of like it because this atracts more supporters to our team and makes us more visible. Asamoah looked decent ( hope too see a bit more of him but he was ok), Benatia is an improvment over Caceres and about Sandro, I kind of been disapointed about his crossing but yes, he was involved in te play (I hope to see more of him, he can now learn from the best).
mandzukic an underrated prodigy
I like him. Don’t get the anti-Mandz sentiment. He is class at what type of striker he is. Good stats at some big clubs.
I love him!
So Higuain has still to lose the pies he has been eating over the summer! He’s carrying them around on the pitch…