• About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Saturday, January 28, 2023
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Match Center
  • Transfers
  • Featured
    • Columns
      • Classic Clashes
      • Editor’s Pick
      • Footballistic!
      • Relic – Football History
      • Rewind – Classic Videos
      • Talking Game – Exclusive Interviews
      • Legends Of Indian Football
      • Whiteboard – Football Tactics
    • Around the World
      • UEFA
        • Champions’ League
        • Europa League
      • Internationals
        • Euro 2016
        • Euro 2012
        • Copa America 2011
        • AFCON
        • Olympics
  • Premier League
    • Arsenal
    • Chelsea
    • Liverpool
    • Manchester City
    • Manchester United
    • Tottenham Hotspur
    • Championship
  • Serie A
    • AC Milan
    • AS Roma
    • Fiorentina
    • Inter Milan
    • Juventus
    • Napoli
  • La Liga
    • Atletico Madrid
    • Barcelona
    • Real Madrid
    • Villareal
  • Bundesliga
    • Bayern Munich
    • Borussia Dortmund
    • Schalke-04
  • Home
  • Match Center
  • Transfers
  • Featured
    • Columns
      • Classic Clashes
      • Editor’s Pick
      • Footballistic!
      • Relic – Football History
      • Rewind – Classic Videos
      • Talking Game – Exclusive Interviews
      • Legends Of Indian Football
      • Whiteboard – Football Tactics
    • Around the World
      • UEFA
        • Champions’ League
        • Europa League
      • Internationals
        • Euro 2016
        • Euro 2012
        • Copa America 2011
        • AFCON
        • Olympics
  • Premier League
    • Arsenal
    • Chelsea
    • Liverpool
    • Manchester City
    • Manchester United
    • Tottenham Hotspur
    • Championship
  • Serie A
    • AC Milan
    • AS Roma
    • Fiorentina
    • Inter Milan
    • Juventus
    • Napoli
  • La Liga
    • Atletico Madrid
    • Barcelona
    • Real Madrid
    • Villareal
  • Bundesliga
    • Bayern Munich
    • Borussia Dortmund
    • Schalke-04
No Result
View All Result
TheHardTackle
No Result
View All Result

Juventus’ Corner: Time To Panic?

by Somnath Sengupta
January 25, 2011 10:53 pm
Reading Time: 9 mins read
0 0
16

Home » posts » Juventus’ Corner: Time To Panic?

Share on TwitterShare on Facebook

The New Year hasn’t turned out to be very happy for Italy’s most successful club. After a decent start to the Serie A campaign in 2010, the Old Lady has lost 2 out of 4 Serie A games in 2011. The sole win has come against relegation sure-shots Bari,  that too a narrow 2-1 win courtesy of a late Aquilani screamer. In this period, Juve has scored 3 goals while letting in 8, with two humiliating defeats by a three-goal margin. Serie A is extremely competitive this year, and a long run of indifferent form can throw Juve out of the UCL spots. Does this mean it’s time for Juve fans to panic?

In 2011, Juve have played four Serie A matches. The first game in new year ended in a shocking 4-1 loss to Parma at home. Parma are not one of the strongest teams in Serie A by any stretch of imagination, yet they inflicted a heavy loss on Juve, breaking an 18 match unbeaten streak. It will be safe to say that the result in the Parma match was nothing but an accident. Felipe Melo got sent off as early as the 17th minute for an irrational off-the-ball kick. Fabio Quagliarella suffered a heart-breaking injury in the 6th minute. Losing two of their most influential players weakened the team psychologically, as Coach Delneri was forced to make two substitutions within the first half an hour. Juventus also played this match without Leonardo Bonucci,  thereby breaking his impenetrable combo with Chiellini.

If the Parma match can be dismissed as an accident, the result of the Napoli match was not surprising. Napoli has been one of the strongest teams in Serie A this season, and it is never easy to play at the San Paolo. Juve were also denied a clear goal in the 23rd minute. If Luca Toni’s strike was not chalked off, it would have been 1-1, and the match could have turned out differently. It is still very likely that Juve would have lost that match even if that goal was allowed. However, losing to the second placed team away from home does not point to a crisis situation.

Reasons Behind Recent Slump

Two incidents in the Parma match affected Juve’s performance graph – Melo’s sending off and Quagliarella’s injury. Felipe Melo has been possibly the most consistent player for Juventus this season. In most of the matches he has started, the Brazilian has been the best player on the pitch. Melo acts as a midfield enforcer, winning possession as well as shielding Aquilani. He often drops back deeper as a defensive screen when the full-backs are out of position. Melo has often made timely blocks to deny opposition strikers – most notably this one against Ibrahimovic. However it will be unfair to dismiss him as a purely defensive player. His passing percentage has been impressive this season, often matching that of Aquilani. He often delivers decent passes to Krasic and Quagliarella when Aquilani is having an off-day.

Melo was banned for three matches after his horrible kick against Parma, with Momo Sissoko filling up for him. The problem with Sissoko is that he is not as effective as Melo. To his credit, the Malian did perform doggedly in the last 2 matches, but he clearly lacks the passing ability of Melo. With Sissoko, Juve has only one passer in the middle of the park. Sissoko retrieves possession and leaves it to Aquilani to find the strikers. This means that whenever Aquilani is marked, the central midfield’s supply line is completely cut off – something that happened against Sampdoria.

Football Fans Know BetterFootball Fans Know Better

Comparative study between Melo and Sissoko. Melo’s passing range acts as a back-up when Aquilani is having a bad day. Sissoko on the other hand is totally dependent on him.

The current Juventus team has a fair share of workman like players, players who lack flair but work hard. In such a team, Fabio Quagliarella added a degree of unpredictability. His ability to strike the ball cleanly from anywhere near the penalty box has enabled him to score some incredible goals. He was also very mobile, and often dropped back to link up with midfielders. With his injury, Juve’s flair is gone; now Delneri has to depend on three very similar centre-forwards. Injuries to Iaquinta and Luca Toni hasn’t helped the team at all. The only available strikers are  the 37 year old Alessandro Del Piero and Amauri, who hasn’t scored in almost a year.

Last season around this time, Juve had 33 points; at that time, it was deemed as a crisis situation, and coach Ciro Ferrara got the sack. This season, the club has 35 points right now. Does that mean Juventus is in a crisis again? No, it doesn’t. It’s a case of misleading stats. Of the 33 points Juve had last season, 13 came in first 5 matches; Juve’s form steadily went downhill. This season, the low points tally is because of Juve’s inability to finish off matches despite creating chances. Two examples of this profligacy are the draws against Fiorentina and Chievo Verona.

All Hope is Not Lost

Coach Luigi Delneri is someone who is not new to crisis situations. Last season, his Sampdoria team endured an awful eight match winless streak in mid-season. In that period, they lost to teams like Livorno, who eventually got relegated. Delneri didn’t give up, and made crucial changes in the team. He didn’t back down from benching Antonio Cassano, aND the Blucerchiati roared back to form. In the end, they managed to capture the 4th spot and denied AS Roma a shot at the title. Therefore, there is no reason why this slump in form will determine how the season ends for Juve. The club has an experienced man in charge, who can make the right decisions. The onus lies on Giuseppe Marotta now; he has to bring in atleast one new player to bolster Juve’s weakness in attack or full-backs positions.

Things can get better from here. Gianluigi Buffon is back under the sticks. He is not just a great shot stopper, but also a brilliant organizer of defence. His presence on the field itself will motivate his team mates. Since he has returned, Juve has conceded one goal in three matches and the defence has looked better organized. Jorge Martinez has returned from injury and has looked lively in his cameo appearances. He is a technically good winger with a bagful of tricks. With Krasic’s pace on the opposite flank, Martinez’s skills can form an interesting combo. He can also play as a support striker when needed.

The Mister can turn it around

Vincenzo Iaquinta is all set to return from an injury lay-off. Iaquinta is not a world class striker, but most importantly, he is not Amauri. He adds more pace and movement to the frontline and is capable of scoring good goals occasionally. The most crucial piece of the puzzle will be return of Felipe Melo. Melo has served his three match ban, and will return to action from next week. In his first game since getting banned, the Coppa Italia match against Catania, Melo looked uncharacteristically focused and serious. There is a good chance that he will return against Udinese in a better frame of mind and won’t commit such mistakes in future. It’s very crucial that Marotta doesn’t sell Momo Sissoko in the winter window, as Juventus don’t have a good backup for Melo and squad depth will be of great importance in next few months. Delneri needs to get his squad focused on this season’s objective – a UCL spot. Juventus started the season targeting a place in top-4. After a few good results, talks of winning the Scudetto slowly popped up; this has shaken the mental focus of the team. Delneri needs to get his players back on the right track, and he has the ability to do so.

The current Juve team has shown enough grinta (grit) to get results when needed. It is good enough to finish in top-4, and the recent run of bad results doesn’t mean the season is over. It is important that the Juve board and fans keep faith on Delneri’s methods.

Tags: Alessandro Del PierobonucciChielliniGianluigi Buffongigi delneriJorge MartinezJuventus 1-4 ParmaJuventus 2-1 BariJuventus 3-0 Napolijuventus crisisjuventus loss of formluca tonimelo red cardquagliarella injurySampdoria 0-0 Juventus
TweetShareSendShare

Comments 16

  1. A Blaugrana says:
    12 years ago

    Isn’t AC Milan Italy’s most successful club?

  2. Howard Roark says:
    12 years ago

    As far as i know, AC Milan is the most successful Italian club in Europe (Champions League), while Juventus is the most successful Italian club domestically.

    Any Juve/Milan fan can correct me if I’m wrong.

  3. juvefan says:
    12 years ago

    nice article, well written it’s a pleasure for me to read it,hopefully this season lady luck is on our side so we can thrive for maximum result…!! consistency is the key, i ‘m just wondering in your opinion what is the main reason behind this inconsistency of juve i mean in the ranieri era we do much better than this, we finish runner up and we also qualify for champions league quarter final before being eliminated by chealsea,well at least we gave them a good game and on that year we beat madrid twice, my point is where is that kind of mentality has gone from squad wise i think the quality level is not that different, is it the coach or just juventus has lost it’s champion attitude?

  4. Somnath Sengupta says:
    12 years ago

    @juvefan

    You are right to an extent. The key difference in Ranieri era was Del Piero, Trezeguet, Camoranesi still had 1-2 years of good football left. In the first season we came up Alex and Trezegol scored 40 goals between themselves…it is that kind of world class players that we are currently missing. I am sure if we had 2007-2008 season Alex , Trez or Camoranesi (THAT Inter match) in this team, we’d be cruising in top-3.

  5. Shad says:
    12 years ago

    Very well written article Somu.

    Krasic – Martinez combination might do the trick. Had there been a decent center forward inplace of Amauri, i presume we would have improved our position in the table big time.

    P.S: How badly we miss Trezegoal…..

As featured on NewsNow: Football news
Football News 24/7 

Recommended

Bolt to the Blue Moon: Manchester City, the European ban and the implications

Manchester City vs Arsenal: Three key players to look out for

January 27, 2023 5:09 pm
Transfer News: Gabriel confirms aspirations to play in Premier League amid Arsenal interest

Gabriel Magalhaes: Arsenal’s most important defender under Mikel Arteta

January 26, 2023 12:43 am
Arsenal vs Blackpool: Probable Lineups, Prediction, Tactics, Team News & Key Stats | Carabao Cup

Leandro Trossard and Jakub Kiwior will aid Arsenal in title challenge

January 24, 2023 11:50 pm
2019/20 Premier League Matchday 22: Best Tips for ‘Big Six’ Fixtures and more

Arsenal pressed Manchester United into submission in stunning win

January 23, 2023 7:48 pm
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2022 TheHardTackle.com

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Transfer News
  • Match Center
  • Features
  • English Premier League
  • German Bundesliga
  • Italia Serie A
  • Spanish La Liga

© 2022 TheHardTackle.com

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.