CR would prefer a defeat though...
Ranieri sneaks into Serie A
Saturday 4 August, 2007
Juventus face Sunderland today and Claudio Ranieri insists a defeat will be better than a win to keep the media hyperbole off his back.
“It is important for me to talk to the players and see them put my suggestions into practice on the field. I saw this against Hamburg and am convinced I’ll see the same with Sunderland,” said the Coach.
The Bianconeri have been touted as potential Scudetto dark horses, but lost both pre-season friendlies to Newcastle United and Hamburg.
“I am not particularly interested in the result at this stage. In fact, it was almost a good thing we lost the first two, because victories would have had the newspapers claiming Juve were favourites for the title. In all honesty, I prefer to start in the shadows with our headlights off.”
All eyes will be on the returning giants anyway after the Calciopoli scandal and their term in Serie B.
Ranieri is new to the job and has many summer signings to juggle, so Tinkerman will be at it again this afternoon.
“I like changing tactical systems so that I can get as many players as possible in shape. Tiago has done so much more than I had asked. He wants to participate in every move, pushed by the desire to prove himself, but that meant he couldn’t find his place on the field. We discussed it and he is a player I am really counting on.”
Giorgio Chiellini was expected to remain in Britain after this tour to join Manchester City, but the club ruled out a move yesterday.
“He is a Juventus player and, as we have said before, this is our squad. He didn’t play against Hamburg because he had a slight back ache and I didn’t feel it necessary to rush his recovery.”
Marco Marchionni is definitely out of action after he sustained a microfracture to the fifth metatarsal in his foot.
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