What does a team do when a talisman is nearing the end of his career, yet can still be useful when he is on the field?
Its a problem that all large clubs who have legends on their team face. This is not a situation unlike ones we have seen in the past. If Alex was truly past his prime to the point where he could bring nothing to the field, then there would rally be no case for argument.
the argument is whether or not someone who although is in very good shpae at the coming age of 36, should be playing and starting every week for upward of 90 minutes per game. Whether anyone wants to admit this, has a lot of tread worn off of the tires. Entering your 18th season will do that to anyone, regardless of position or physcial srength and stamina.
But that doesn't mean that he should not have a place. Far from it. He still brings great value on the pitch, and off the field, with his intangibles, even more so.
But this could potentially turn out to be a different Juventus, with the incoming transfers of Krasic and Aquialni, along with speedy and high energy players such as Pepe and Martinez filling the wings as well.
We could be looking at a Juventus that is not reliant on Del Piero in the creativity sense of the word. A juventus where the buildup from the center of the pitch is not reliant on Delpiero or Diego or whomever having to backtrack in order to start an attack that should have already been in play to begin with.
To me, it seems like a situation where the end is coming sooner rather than later, and a lot of people are having difficulty adjusting to that.
And I don't blame them. An overwhelming majority are fans of the team solely because of Del Piero, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. My teams in the NFL, NBA, and MLB that I have supported for 30 years now are because of that exact scenario.
We are caught in a balancing act. How does juve utilize Del Piero to the best of his ablility and to the benefit of the team, while slowly phasing him out as the featured player on the team.
I think that the only way to do it is to reduce the workload. Football is a young man's game, but certain skill sets never go away. To me, he is the best Free Kick taker in the world, and with the added dimesnions of speed and creativity that have come through the doors the past few weeks and will continue to come through until the 31st, he will still have plenty of opportunities to make his mark on the game.
But for his sake, and for the sake of the present and future of the club, it would be a detriment to have him out there for 90 minutes each game.
This time was going to come eventually. It is time to start buidling the squad for what the post Del Piero era is going to become. However he does not deserve to be cast aside like a rag doll. he deserves the respect and gratitude of everyone who has supported this club over the years, as he seems to get it everywhere he goes.
Buy on AliExpress.com
