I've noticed something about our squad in the last few games which has me a little bit worried.
The sense of friendship between the players isn't what it was. Since the Barca final we have lost a lot of key players but even more big personalities. We don't see our new Padoins celebrating with our new Tevezes and it's worrying because it was a huge part of what made our team so great in that year. Our players now celebrate together but they don't look as happy for each other as they did back then.
Looking ahead most of our leaders will be gone in a couple of years - Buffon, Evra, Barzagli, Alves, maybe even Chiellini while Lichtsteiner hasn't even been invited to come and see our Champions League games. Giorgio will be our next captain and while I love him he's no Alex or Gigi. Claudio will be next and I love him too but he's a different kind of guy and certainly not a world-renowned football legend as we're used to.
I think we may be in for a short lull as a team before a new resurgence with Bonucci wearing the armband. He's got the skills, a growing reputation and he's charismatic too. That sense of community is absolutely crucial and all of these Ferrari $#@!boys asking to leave each year have made Marotta's job even harder in trying to assemble a machine to conquer Europe.
Anybody else noticed a bit of a change, or am I seeing dark clouds where there aren't any?
I'm really not worried about that. Yes, in the end of the 2018 season there will be a revolution, but till there, we'll not only still have Chiellini, Bonucci and Marchisio, who are the backbone of the club, but also guys like Alex Sandro, Dybala, Higuain, Cuadrado, maybe Pjaca, who will start to exert leadership towards the youngs by that time.
It is very important that these guys remain with the team for some years to build the identity, like Vidal and others did.
Anyway, with Bonucci and Marchisio we'll still be good.