Serie A Tim - 29 Sep 2007 - 5:15 PM
Ranieri: “Juventus will be ready for battle”
Mr Ranieri is getting ready for his first Italian derby. He has already experienced many in London, when he managed Chelsea, but leading Juventus in a derby game that’s been 4 years in the waiting is something special.
“Derby games are not like all other games, they are beyond table positions, physical form and psychological states. These games deserve a special place of their own, because the supporters make them special, living days of excited anticipation. Both teams and their supporters want to win to be the best in town and tomorrow’s game must be a showcase for football: we have to show young people that there can be a healthy rivalry, in the name of fair play.”
The strength of Juventus. “It’s hard to say what constitutes our strength. We have shown that we can react to difficulties and that’s very important, a good quality to have. A quality which has belonged to Juventus since the Lippi’s days, just to keep to recent times. That team wasn’t the strongest but it found its superiority in the will to fight, like a 3rd division team. Well in my team I want to see the same unity and spirit of sacrifice which is what, in the end, makes you shine.
The style of Juventus. “Recognition for the Juventus style pleases me, but I hope I can equal previous managers which brought trophies, and achieve something to make history. I too want to contribute something to the display cabinet, otherwise recognition for the Juventus style doesn’t quite cut the mustard.”
Novellino and Torino. “Novellino has already lived a derby as a player. He is pure Torino style and that makes him wonderful. That story of the washing basket is brilliant. I would’ve never done it but he was great. It needed cunning, shrewdness… Well done Walter! He’ll do well here too, as he has always done throughout his career, and he can count on a chairman like Cairo who knows what’s what. I think Torino’s project, like Juventus’, will soon bring these two teams to fight for something important. That is what I wish for Torino.”
Recoba. “I would take Recoba away from Torino, because he can invent anything and on the right day he can clinch the match, so we’ll have to watch him closely”
The leadership in the table. “I’m not thinking of the table. I think it’s important to stay there all together as a group. This is what will make the championship interesting. It doesn’t make much of a difference if one Sunday it’s one club and the following another. The result of Roma vs Inter can’t influence us, because we have a derby to play, but of course, I’m hoping for a draw.”
A combative Juventus. “I’ll have to replace Iaquinta, it’s a shame because he was doing well. Tiago? He has the same probability of playing as all the others. I’m just saying it’ll be a combative Juventus, ready for battle.
Nedved. “He is always decisive. I’ll tell you a story. Before the game with Roma a friend of mine, a Roma supporter, said to me: I have a feeling, I think something’s going to happen: a goal by Trezeguet, an invention by Del Piero, a crack of the whip from Nedved. He obviously said this because that’s what Pavel has in him. He always contributes something and during training I always have to tell him to slow down and stop. And when he doesn’t work here, he trains at home… He’s like a 19-year-old not a man of 35.”