Under new coach Antonio Conte and a flurry of transfer activities, Juventus look to bounce back in season 2011-12 after enduring a disastrous season in 2010/11. The Old Lady finished seventh and missed out on European football for the first time since early 1990s (not counting 2007/08 season). Conte’s main job will be to make the club competitive again after two back-to-back seasons of finishing outside top-5 of Serie A. Pre-Season matches are never a proper way of judging a team’s eventual performance (no Juve fan watching the Peace Cup in 2009/10 season would have foreseen the club finishing the season in shambles) but Antonio Conte’s team has shown signs, which fills Juventini with an eager sense of anticipation. Let us take a look at Juve’s pre-season matches so far.
Phase One: Goals Rain in Bardonecchia
Juventus 12-1 Rappresentativa Val Susa (15th July)
Conte’s team took to field for the first time against weak opponents in what was essentially a practice match. Three new signings Andrea Pirlo, Michel Pazienza and Stefan Lichtsteiner were given starts as Conte fielded his 4-2-4 formation with Marchisio and Krasic playing as advanced wingers. Rappresentativa shockingly took the lead on the 14th minute as Sorensen failed to mark goal scorer Barocco. Juve bounced back in style and expectedly piled on a healthy dose of goals on hapless opponents. Marchisio started the rout as Matri grabbed a hattrick with Pepe and Toni scoring braces. Melo, De Silvestro, Quagliarella and Sorensen also got their names on the score-sheet.
Juventus 6-1 Lucento (17th July)
Juventus concluded their Bardonecchia stay with a confidence boosting win over local team Lucento. Reto Zeigler, another new signing was handed his first Juventus start. Despite playing in driving rain, veteran Andrea Pirlo showed impressive form as Alessandro Matri repeated his performance of first match by grabbing another hattrick. Pirlo opened the scoring with a brilliant solo effort and Quagliarella scored two goals – one of which was a beautiful bicycle kick off a Lichtsteiner cross.
Phase Two: Juventus USA Tour – Disappointing Start, Strong Finish
Juventus 1-2 Sporting Lisbon (23rd July)
Juve’s loss to Sporting would be the first loss in pre-season in a largely forgettable match. In order to overturn the recent trend of poor performance in domestic league Sporting had been busy in transfer market from the beginning. They had also played more warm-up matches since they had a Europa League qualifier coming up end of July. The difference between match practices of both sides was painfully evident as Sporting dominated the match from start to end. The Portuguese team took the lead through Yannick Djalo after 13 minutes. Djalo made it 2-0 on 36th minute and the game was more or less over for Juve after that. The only memorable moment in a forgettable evening in Toronto came on the 79th minute when evergreen Alessandro Del Piero scored a wonder goal with a precise chip.
Juventus 1-0 Club America (26th July)
20,000 people lined up for this match in New York as a much improved Juventus sneaked past one of Mexico’s most successful clubs. Antonio Conte benched Pazienza for this match and started with Marchisio partnering Pirlo in central midfield. Youngster Cristian Pasquato was used as an advanced left winger in a 4-2-4. It was Pasquato who made the difference in this encounter with a wonderful half volley from edge of the penalty box on 41st minute. Pasquato had very little time to make a decision as CA goalkeeper’s weak clearance fell for him – his finish betrayed the impressive form he showed for Modena in Serie B last season. Juventus enjoyed lion’s share of possession for most of this match and also dished out a gritty defensive display. Antonio Conte made a flurry of changes in last fifteen minutes, which resulted in Juve ending the match on a shaky note.
Juventus 1-0 Chivas Guadalajara (28th July)
After seeing of Club America, the Bianconeri faced another Mexican club in Raleigh. For this match Conte started with a playing XI which was essentially the reserve bench. Fabio Quagliarella put Juve ahead within first five minutes thanks to some horrible defending from Chivas. Conte tinkered with his formation a lot in this match, which affected the free flow of Juve’s game. Overall, this was again an uncompromising, gritty victory – the kind of results that typified successful Juventus teams of past. Conte’s sides in Serie B were notoriously difficult to be beaten and early signs show that the same quality has somewhat rubbed off on current Juventus team.
Phase Three: Back In Italy
Juventus 8-0 Cueno (5th August)
After an encouraging end to the US tour Juventus returned to Italy. In this period, two major new signings were made – Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal and Montenegrin striker Mirko Vucinic. Vidal was on a vacation after Copa America but Vucinic was handed his first match in a Juventus shirt against the club which was recently promoted to Serie C2. The ex-Roma striker got his name on the score sheet on 63rd minute after combining neatly with Pirlo. The difference between two teams was most evident between 73rd and 82nd minutes when a lumbering Luca Toni banged in three goals (one of those events which make you realize it is only pre-season after all). Matri, Marchisio, Pasquato and youngster Ruggiero scored one goal apiece. The high point of this game was a good start from Vucinic who combined well with rest of the team.
Juventus 2-0 Primavera (7th August)
Juventus first team squared off against the Academy team in a 60 minute match in Chiusa Pesio. Conte started with a largely experimental XI using the likes of Grygera as center-back. The Academy team was led by prospective striker Alberto Libertazzi along with players like Albin Ekdal and Gabriel Appelt. The match remained goal-less in first half but the seniors took the lead in second period through Alessandro Del Piero. Vucinic deserves much credit for the opener as he earned a spot kick which was converted by Juventus’ all-time top scorer. Vucinic notched a goal for himself few minutes later with a precise chip after a one-two with Del Piero.
Juventus 4-1 Juventus B (11th August)
The traditional “Family Match” was hosted in picturesque Villar Perosa like every year. A wonderful, amiable and homely atmosphere was evident throughout the match as Andrea Agnelli, Beppe Marotta were present on the sidelines under a flawless Mediterranean sky. Conte rested a number of main players who had participated in International friendlies on previous two days. Christian Pasquato combined well with Vucinic and Del Piero upfront before putting the senior side ahead with a Thierry Henry like finish after 29 minutes. The senior team dominated this match as expected, but were pegged by a number of sharp saves from impressive 19 year old Romanian ‘keeper Branescu. The flood gates opened after Branescu was subbed off as A side won the match by a 4-1 scoreline. Iaquinta, Marco Motta and Zeigler got on the scoresheet while Beltrame scored B side’s only goal. Before the match ended Arturo Vidal took to the field amidst wild cheers from the spectators.
Juventus 0-0 Real Betis (13th August)
Juventus hosted newly promoted Spanish club Real Betis in Salerna for the last pre-season match (excluding the Trofeo TIM and Trofeo Berlusconi). Like Sporting Lisbon, Betis was also in a much better shape with La Liga starting next week. Antonio Conte’s 4-2-4 system backfired in this match as the Marchisio-Pirlo midfield was completely over-run by Betis midfield. Marchisio tried his level best but he was often left to do too much as Pirlo rarely performed defensive duties. Cristian Pasquato had another bright outing with Iaquinta having a good game. Vucinic and Matri didn’t combine well upfront while Milos Krasic had an off day. This match again raised a question mark over the effectiveness of 4-2-4 and if Juventus really had the right set of players to smoothly use this system. The only positive was a cleansheet despite playing without Chiellini.
Five Important Observations From Pre-Season
Alessandro Matri has started where he left off last season. He has looked sharp in off the ball movement as well as finishing. With increased service from midfield (in comparison to last season), there is a realistic chance that the former Cagliari hit man will score a hatful of goals.
This could be the breakthrough season for Claudio Marchisio. His tactical abilities were never under question but his growth as a central midfielder was stunted after being played out of position too many times last season. He has bossed the midfield in every pre-season match and can form a strong partnership with Vidal and Pirlo. It will depend on the system to a large extent also as Marchisio-Pirlo midfield in a 4-2-4 was clearly overrun in the last pre-season match.
Juve’s right flank is looking lethal. Last season one of the reasons behind Milos Krasic’s loss of form was lack of a competent right back. With the arrival of Stephan Lichtsteiner, Juve have one of the better full backs in Serie A. His interplay with the Serbian has showed encouraging signs so far. Krasic has linked up well with both him and Pirlo. Lichtsteiner often continues to overlap while Krasic cuts back from wings to form a two pronged attack from right side (see buildup to Pasquato’s goal against Club America).
Antonio Conte is putting his stamp on the team, at least on the psychological side. In terms of tactics this Juventus side is still very much a work in progress but the players look inspired and are fighting for possession. Reports suggest that Conte has made players work hard in trainings and he doesn’t tolerate slackness. Conte is an extremely vocal character on the sidelines and drives his players on, just like he did as a captain during his playing days. His demeanor will be crucial if Juve are to get maximum of “lazy” players like Vucinic. There is also a noticeable tendency to play possession football instead of long balls. However, Juventus is still not completely freed from the menace of long balls as the team tried the same tactic when it failed to break down Real Betis defence in final pre-season match.
Pasquato must not be loaned out to another club. Cristian Pasquato is finally showing signs of maturing as a player. This is an important season for him – he can act as a left winger as well as support striker. If another left winger is bought then Pasquato needs to be second choice ahead of Pepe.
Despite a number of positives, one must never draw far-reaching conclusions from pre-season games. Juventus and Antonio Conte’s real test starts from 28th August.