Juventus Discovers Playing In Italy's Serie B Not As Easy As It Looks (1 Viewer)

Marc

Softcore Juventino
Jul 14, 2006
21,649
#1
Juventus is finding that Serie B is not a cakewalk.

In 2006, the Italian soccer Federation took the bold decision to banish Juventus soccer club to Italy's second division Serie B for the 2007 season. It was an unprecedented moment in European football perhaps even sports. No one knew for sure how this was going to turn out. Though long time observers and fans cautioned that it was not going to be easy.

There are a couple of reasons for this warning:

• Serie B would be in a rat race to get back to Serie A. The top four clubs in Serie B get promoted.

• Everyone was going to take dead aim at Juventus. It's not every day you get a chance to belittle royalty.

To begin, we need to place this in a North American context. This sort of thing has never occurred in North American professional sports — at least that I am aware of. Think about it for a second. Would the St. Louis Cardinals or Detroit Red Wings ever be sent down for any infractions seen as detrimental to their respective leagues? If an NHL team were demoted to the AHL, would it dominate the league?

Juventus, it should also be noted, are similar to the New York Yankees of Italian soccer - A soccer team with a huge worldwide fan base that rivals Real Madrid and Manchester United. (For those who don't, Juventus was found guilty of match fixing. While the charges laid were serious they were the work of a select few executives. Players were not involved. European soccer has other scandals with deeper implications in Germany, Belgium and possibly in England moving forward.)

The first practical issue to confront management was who was going to stay? Italy captain and FIFA World Player of the year Fabio Cannavaro bolted for Real Madrid and standout defender Gianluca Zambrotta took his services to Barcelona. However, Juventus did manage to keep several of their star players including Alessandro Del Piero, Pavel Nedved, Mauro Camoranesi, David Trezequet, and the world's best keeper Gianluigi Buffon, among others. They also hired former Juventus player Didier Deschamps who won a World Cup with France in 1998. Juventus has also been active and aggressively looking to add to their roster (Real Madrid's Ronaldo and Liverpool's Peter Crouch - to name a couple - have been rumoured to join the club) and it is clear Juventus still commands a prestigious place in world soccer.

Earlier in the year, Deschamps ominously summed up the state of the club thusly: "This season has certainly been a difficult one, right from the outset. July and August were hard months, with a complicated sporting project... We started out with a heavy penalty and, even if it was eventually reduced, this conditions the players psychologically. Then we lost our kit-man Romeo, who was with us for forty years and now these young boys... Like every Juventino, I've certainly lived happier months than these. Now it's about looking forward to 2007, hoping that things get better and that we'll be able to reach important goals".

After opening the season with a draw against Rimini, the idea and image of sophisticated Juventus sipping espresso and eating gelato while they played in Serie B games was quickly vaporized. It also raised the ire of Juventus management and ownership. The news was out: Serie B must not be taken lightly.

Juventus were soon on track as they put together a nine-game winning streak until drawing against Napoli. And just as quickly they were dealt a tragic blow in December after the deaths of two of their U-17 players.

Statistically, the results have been mixed. Juventus stands in 6th place, 3 points out of first place with a game in hand after 18 games. Juventus have 30 goals for (2nd in the league) and just 9 against (first overall). All things considered, these are positive results.

On a less positive note, despite boasting world class strikers, they do not have a player in the top ten in scoring. Frenchman David Trezeguet leads the team with six (five behind the overall leader) and this has him in 11th spot while Alessandro Del Piero has five placing him in 21st. One can look at the positive and rationalize that Juve is at least getting balanced scoring. It also points to the fact that teams have been diligent in marking Juventus players.

Even less encouraging, are the attendance figures which is down to about 17,500 fans per game (from approximately 27 000) and operating at a 25% capacity.

It would be hard to conclude that this has only to do with the demotion. Attendance has always been perplexing for Juventus. As mentioned earlier, Juventus commands the biggest fan base in Italy and one of the largest in the world. Yet, the lack of support for major tournaments like Champions' League has many observers scratching their heads. Reasons for this are many (please see Montreal Expos) with the most popular being that fans simply don't like going to Stadio Delle Alpi where Juventus plays their home games.

Following Juventus' recent shocking 1-0 loss - a first this season - to perennial powerhouse Mantova (that's sarcasm by the way), Deschamps said it was "the slap in the face they needed." Juventus midfielder Pavel Nedved, for his part, worries about not only the injuries that have hit the club but the complacency that stalks it as well.

A first in pro sports, it's surreal to see Juventus playing in Serie B. Despite the challenges half way through the season, Juventus continues to push forward. In all likelihood they will be back in Serie A next year. Who knows? Maybe the Old Grey Lady will get a makeover. Perhaps they'll win the title and it will be back to the sweet life for the Juventus.

Written by Alessandro Nicolo
 

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OP
Marc

Marc

Softcore Juventino
Jul 14, 2006
21,649
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #5
    I don´t understand one thing: If Serie B is harder than Serie A, why then don´t they switch the leagues then :disagree:

    Only in Italy this is the case where 2nd division is harder than 1st.

    However, Juventus is still doing pretty well under the circumstances and the league table would be like this without the -9 points:

    1. Juventus 44 points
    2. Napoli 35 points

    :eyebrows:
     

    Omair

    Herticity
    Sep 27, 2006
    3,254
    #6
    Earlier in the year, Deschamps ominously summed up the state of the club thusly: "This season has certainly been a difficult one, right from the outset. July and August were hard months, with a complicated sporting project... We started out with a heavy penalty and, even if it was eventually reduced, this conditions the players psychologically. Then we lost our kit-man Romeo, who was with us for forty years and now these young boys... Like every Juventino, I've certainly lived happier months than these. Now it's about looking forward to 2007, hoping that things get better and that we'll be able to reach important goals".
    :touched:
    Then some people doubt his love to juve .. for god's sake, DD is the coach to stay ... for atleast 2 seasons other than this :agree:
     
    OP
    Marc

    Marc

    Softcore Juventino
    Jul 14, 2006
    21,649
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #7
    No-one is doubting his love for Juve, this is what the club needs, but he´ll have to convince many of his tactical approach.

    I hope he will do better when he had better players and not so many injuries next season. ;)
     

    ReBeL

    The Jackal
    Jan 14, 2005
    22,871
    #8
    Even less encouraging, are the attendance figures which is down to about 17,500 fans per game (from approximately 27 000) and operating at a 25% capacity.
    Ha?:confused2

    How the hell did he reach that percentage??

    And how would I believe anything in his article if he can't divide simple numbers??
     
    OP
    Marc

    Marc

    Softcore Juventino
    Jul 14, 2006
    21,649
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #9
    Ha?:confused:

    How the hell did he reach that percentage??

    And how would I believe anything in his article if he can't divide simple numbers??
    I think that the percentage is not related with the stadium attendance, something else in is question here.
     

    malducato1

    Junior Member
    Dec 26, 2005
    456
    #10
    That is such bull about the attendance more fans should go and support and then the ones that are there don't even make themsleves heard. Del Piero was pissed at the end of the cesena game he was yelling at the fans and gesturing towards them on why he couldn't hear them make any noise.
     

    AngelaL

    Jinx Minx
    Aug 25, 2006
    10,215
    #11
    I don´t understand one thing: If Serie B is harder than Serie A, why then don´t they switch the leagues then :disagree:

    Only in Italy this is the case where 2nd division is harder than 1st.

    However, Juventus is still doing pretty well under the circumstances and the league table would be like this without the -9 points:

    1. Juventus 44 points
    2. Napoli 35 points

    :eyebrows:
    Teams in serie B are tough & uncompromising. They have to "fight" for every point they earn - they don't have the money/influence the big clubs have.

    Ha?:confused2

    How the hell did he reach that percentage??

    And how would I believe anything in his article if he can't divide simple numbers??
    I think the Stadio Delle Alpi has a current capacity of around seventy to seventy-five thousand. Seventy divided by four equals seventeen & a half thousand. I guess that's what he's based it on.
     

    Seven

    In bocca al lupo, Fabio.
    Jun 25, 2003
    38,179
    #15
    FFS who writes these shitty articles?

    a) No one ever said it was going to be easy, so it never looked easy to begin with.
    b) If anything, we were wrong for ever believing it wouldn't be a walkover. Let's be fair, if we didn't have to face that deduction of points we would have been walking away with the title already.
    c) We lost ONE game.
     

    Bisco

    Senior Member
    Nov 21, 2005
    14,378
    #16
    Teams in serie B are tough & uncompromising. They have to "fight" for every point they earn - they don't have the money/influence the big clubs have.


    I think the Stadio Delle Alpi has a current capacity of around seventy to seventy-five thousand. Seventy divided by four equals seventeen & a half thousand. I guess that's what he's based it on.
    in other words they have nothing to lose!!!!!!!!! :agree:
     

    Seven

    In bocca al lupo, Fabio.
    Jun 25, 2003
    38,179
    #17
    I never thought I'd say this, but watching Juventus play in B only made me love them more. I like the team far better now than I did a season ago. Even if we need years to recover, I'm glad Calciopoli happened.
     

    swag

    L'autista
    Administrator
    Sep 23, 2003
    83,368
    #19
    FFS who writes these shitty articles?

    a) No one ever said it was going to be easy, so it never looked easy to begin with.
    b) If anything, we were wrong for ever believing it wouldn't be a walkover. Let's be fair, if we didn't have to face that deduction of points we would have been walking away with the title already.
    c) We lost ONE game.
    If that wasn't amateur enough, citing the delle Alpi in the context of this season's attendance woes seems a bit of a red herring.
     

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