Monday 24 October, 2011
Conte reveals real Juve objective
Juventus boss Antonio Conte claims qualifying for the Champions League is not the club’s top target this season. “The aim is to win back our credibility.”
Conte cooled the expectation of the fans today on the eve of the Fiorentina game following the disappointing 2-2 draw with Genoa.
Juventus slipped to third in the table as a result and saw doubts emerge regarding their truth strength this term.
“The main objective for the campaign is to win back our credibility, especially in the eyes of our fans,” the Coach said ahead of Tuesday’s clash.
“Our League position is a secondary factor right now. It’s true that qualifying for the Champions League is important, but our target is to get back to being Juventus!
“You can’t forget the fact that this club has finished seventh over the last two seasons so we can’t make promises.
“It would be mad and stupid to create illusions for our fans.”
Juve seemed to be on the Scudetto trail with a win over Milan, but that was their only victory in the last five games given their four draws.
“We didn’t react well to conceding the equaliser against Genoa,” Conte continued. “We thought that we had the game under control.
“It was a difficult blow to recover from and it was tough to pick ourselves up.”
The Old Lady go into the Viola game with doubts over the form and usage of Milos Krasic, Giorgio Chiellini and Alex Del Piero.
“Krasic is having difficulties right now, but we are working on him, psychologically too,” the boss noted.
“As for Chiellini, I can’t doubt him as a player. I’ll always support him and Krasic and I hope the fans do too.
“We are building something here and the fans need to love our squad. They are two fundamental players for us.
“Del Piero? With all due respect to Alex, whether he plays or not is down to a technical decision. I’ll just pick the best team possible.”
The former Siena boss also confirmed that Fabio Quagliarella is in his plans, despite his lack of playing time so far this term.
Meanwhile, Arturo Vidal is in contention to return to the squad after missing the Genoa tie through injury.
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