betting
Juventus
By David, BettingExpert.com | Edited
A rejuvenated Old Lady
Snubbed by a number of players and given the cold shoulder by the Hoeness brothers with regards to the transfer of Dzeko, general director Marotta has sought to engineer a facelift for the Old Lady focusing more on quantity rather than quality. The convalescent patient has now been handed over to the cares of Del Neri but he is far from a miracle worker.
Coach: Del Neri
Tactics: 4-4-2
Players In: Quagliarella, Krasic, Bonucci, Pepe, Storari, Motta, Aquilani, Lanzafame, Martinez, Rinaudo, Traore
Players Out: Giovinco, Diego, Poulsen, Cannavaro, Trezeguet, Camoranesi, Tiago, Zebina, Caceres, Ekdal
Current Probable Formation: Buffon, Motta, Chiellini, Bonucci, De Ceglie, Pepe, Aquilani, Marchisio, Krasic, Amauri, Quagliarella
Do not misunderstand my statement. Del Neri is a good coach and the magic he worked with Chievo a few seasons ago are still fresh in all Serie A football followers’ minds. Having stumbled over a few stones along his managerial career since leaving Chievo, namely the misadventures with Porto and Roma, he then settled at Sampdoria and, along with the then general director of the Blucerchiati Marotta, he steered the team to the fourth place last season. The pair are now back behind the driving seat of what is supposed to be a more solid sports car but they did have to bring about a number of modifications in order to really own this Juventus revival project. Whether their car will be the fastest on the Serie A race track is yet to be seen but given the major uplift there will be need of a number of test drives before getting the steady winning pace all fans are hoping for.
Last season was a disastrous one for the Bianconeri. You would need to go back quite a number of years in order to see the team struggle so much throughout the season. Nothing seemed to work as the inexperienced Ferrara proved unable to cope with the innumerable injuries and, most importantly, handle the frequent internal diatribes between the players that were masterfully contained within the Vinovo corridors by directors specializing more in that department rather than in bringing to the club the big names that could help the side lift off on the football pitch.
There will be need of some tragedy in order to have Juventus
repeat last season’s misdeeds. The club is one of the better organized ones on
the Italian peninsula and, given Del Neri’s pedigree, there should be no déjà
vu for the fans. However, the question of what exactly is the team’s potential
this season is one that is yet to receive a convincing answer.
Let’s start from the tactics. Having signed on Del Neri there is no room for anything other than his trademark 4-4-2. And this is where new problems started to surface. Last season’s expensive purchase, Diego, had oriented the team towards playing with the playmaker behind the strikers. Was there any space for him now that they were to adopt a strict 4-4-2 formation? The answer for Marotta was a definite ‘no’ so he sought to find a new home for the Brazilian back in May. Finally he managed to offload him to Wolfsburg where he went on to join Juve’s prohibited dream, Dzeko. The Bosnian striker has apparently been promised to Bayern Munich and with the two Hoeness brothers at the helm of the two German clubs the transfer seems to be a done deal for next season and no Marotta could ever have interfered in any significant manner as to snatch the striker away from their hands.
The two major Juventus transfers last summer had been those of Diego and Felipe Melo, having cost the club around €25 million each. The former has been sold for much less this summer whilst the latter has not enjoyed much interest from other clubs given his disappointing displays last season. He is considered a weak player when it comes to his character and this does affect his performance on the pitch. He is very inconsistent and should be quickly replaced by Aquilani as Sissoko’s or Marchisio’s partner in central midfield unless he came back humbled by his unlucky displays in South Africa and therefore ready to get to work hard to keep his place.
Two new signings this summer have been Pepe and Krasic.
Theirs are perhaps the most delicate roles in Del Neri’s tactical plan. They
are the wingers and should be delivering day in day out in order to keep the
side alive. They will be required to produce a high work rate, closing down on
opponents when the ball is not in Juve’s possession and run down the flanks to
create the dangers when the team is on the attack. Both are new to the team
though and despite the fact that they do
add a lot of quality to the side there
will be need of time in order for them to gel in well enough. Martinez, who can
be used as both a forward and a winger, is another new face and the same argumentations
put forward for the roles of Krasic and Pepe apply for him as well. He may not
be a starter but will definitely be featuring very often as a sub to replace
one of the tired wingers.
Up front Del Neri will be trying to emulate what he had done with Sampdoria’s Cassano and Pazzini last year. What he has available at Juventus is not of the same level as that fantastic duo but with Quagliarella he now has a very decent replacement for Cassano. The ex-Napoli striker can play the ball well and go for goal himself. His partnership with either Iaquinta or Amauri should not be a problem. The latter two are the team’s only true strikers though, now that Trezeguet has been sold to Hercules in Spain. Both of them have got good aerial abilities. Neither has proven very consistent on the pitch in the past year though with both being haunted by innumerable injuries. Their presence will be vital to what Del Neri has in mind. Del Piero cannot be forgotten either. In terms of injuries he has been doing better than either Amauri or Iaquinta but he is considered the substitute of Quagliarella. If the two are to be partnered in attack due to injury problems then Juventus will lose out on those crosses that are supposed to be coming in from the byline.
A look at the defence reveals three new faces in this year’s starting four. Chiellini is of course the leader. His side kick will this time be Bonucci, brought on after his excellent displays with Bari last season. He is considered the future of Italy’s defence and the two have already been handed the reins in the national side by Prandelli. Cannavaro, who last season produced a number of embarrassing mistakes given his age, has been released. Legrottaglie is still available to cover for any of the two though.
As full-backs there will be new signing Motta, who signed on from Roma, and De Ceglie, who was already in the squad last season but was handed little playing time. He will have to compete with ex-Arsenal left back Traore for his place. The latter can deliver more pace but Del Neri should prefer a more defensive-minded left back who is capable of covering for the runs of Krasic. Motta’s personal battle for a starting role will be with Grygera whose experience may triumph at the first signs of inconsistency from the Italian.
The goalkeeper will of course be Buffon but with his back a constant problem last season Marotta has done very well in signing on Milan’s Storari. He had no place left at Milan with Abbiati and newcomer Amelia closing him down. At Juventus he will be featuring often as Buffon should be struggling to overcome his back problems for quite some time. Consider the Juventus goal safe in his hands.
Predicted finishing position: 4th
Nobody should expect this side to start kicking in with the points from the very start. There have been many changes done to both the personnel and the tactics. Del Neri will need some time to build a solid unit but he does have the necessary capabilities to reach the targets. Quality is lacking when compared to the two Milan giants and Roma but they can claim the fourth place when success becomes a habit in the second part of the season. Missing out on the cash loads brought on from the Champions League for a second successive season will be a financial disaster and a huge setback for a club of Juve’s tradition and stature.
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