Blog- FI
Sunday 9 January, 2011
Blog: Toni deaf
James Horncastle asks why Juventus signed Luca Toni if they got rid of David Trezeguet in the summer?
Juventus supporters could well be forgiven for not singing along to Matze Knop’s hit song. After all, with lyrics like “Mozzarella, Mortadella with Nutella, Luca you are for me… Numero Uno” it’s the very opposite of lo stile Juve and the epitome of Eurotrash, even if the prevailing sentiment - when heard above the trademark droning synthesizers of this tragic genre of music - lends it a certain degree of charm.
Indeed, few Juventini are raving about the arrival of Luca Toni in Turin. Many are actually scratching their heads, wondering if the club’s highly regarded general manager Beppe Marotta is in fact just as tone deaf as Matze Knop.
Such an analysis is nothing if not reductive and its airing should perhaps be confined to the idle chit chat of the local bar. But the Toni deal still begs many questions even when viewed from the two positions Marotta has taken in defining Juventus’ recruitment strategy over the last six months. The first, which was revealed in June, had as its goal that of making the Old Lady younger and cheaper to maintain. The second and more recent aimed at adding quality at minimal outlay where opportunity presented itself.
Juventus’ new direction appeared clear-cut. Out went Fabio Cannavaro. In came Leonardo Bonucci. The players sold in the summer were on average 29; the players signed 25. Those in departure had cost €52m in wages; those in arrival would cost €29m. When cast in that light, Toni’s acquisition seems inconsistent.
Though the centre-forward helpfully joins on a free transfer and agrees to slash his annual pay packet by €750,000, he still turns 34 in May and becomes the club’s seventh highest earner with a contract worth €3.75m until June 2012 – [that’s €1.25m for the first six months and €2.5m for the rest], more than any of Marotta’s other new recruits with the exception of Alberto Aquilani.
In terms of age and expense, Toni is to all intents and purposes incompatible with Juventus’ project, at least if these were the criteria on which a club legend like David Trezeguet was adjudged to no longer have a future in Turin. Far from being finished, the Frenchman has scored eight goals in 15 starts for promoted side Hercules, his victims being high profile too, namely Valencia, Sevilla, Villarreal and Real Madrid.
In the same space of time, Toni has found the net just three times in Serie A and one of those was a penalty. His others came against Lecce and Bari, two teams in the relegation zone. Asked to give Toni a score out of 10 during the winter break, Genoa President Enrico Preziosi was withering in his assessment. “Three for each of the goals Luca’s scored,” he sneered, hence the sudden deterioration of their relationship.
So even if Trezeguet was earning €4.5m a year at Juventus, the deal, which was due to expire in June 2011, should perhaps have been renegotiated at a better rate. After all, if age is of such importance, it bears remembering that he is also five months’ Toni’s junior and despite seeing injury ravage his final two years at Juventus, he had also averaged 16 goals a season in a decade at the club, etching his name in the history books in the process.
Trezeguet’s case is just one example, for the overriding impression from the summer remains that Juventus were perhaps a little too dogmatic in their transfer strategy, choosing to spend most of their resources on the components required to change the team’s system to a 4-4-2 rather than best exploiting the opportunities that the market presented.
For instance, the €12m used to sign Jorge Martinez from Catania might have been better served in negotiations for Marco Borriello, who reportedly only turned down the chance to join Juventus because he wanted a permanent move away from Milan and not just a loan.
If - as both Del Neri and Marotta have claimed - Toni isn’t a replacement for the injured Fabio Quagliarella, then one could argue that there was more quality and opportunity to sign a better prima punta in the summer. That said, the FIGC’s decision to restrict Italian clubs to just one non-EU signing a season restricted Juventus’ room for manoeuvre and anyway hindsight is notoriously 20-20.
It’s certainly too early to pass judgment on the success or failure of a long-term project like Juventus’ which is still only six months old. Toni’s transfer must be seen within the bigger picture, perhaps that of moving on Amauri who may be younger, but costs more and scores less. The next 22 days will certainly be interesting in this respect. In the meantime, Toni could make his debut this evening against Napoli. Whether he’ll become Numero Uno to Juventus fans remains to be seen.
I really wonder why we let go of Trezegoal, we are paying 2/3 of his wages....
In 2006, they said they need 5 years to rebuild the Juve we had at 2006, but last year was a disaster, so they started a new project.
Now, we have a team as strong as the team we had with Ranieri..
if now the project fails will they start a new project again and so on...
It just looks we need alot of "money and work" to be having a bright future.
Sunday 9 January, 2011
Blog: Toni deaf
James Horncastle asks why Juventus signed Luca Toni if they got rid of David Trezeguet in the summer?
Juventus supporters could well be forgiven for not singing along to Matze Knop’s hit song. After all, with lyrics like “Mozzarella, Mortadella with Nutella, Luca you are for me… Numero Uno” it’s the very opposite of lo stile Juve and the epitome of Eurotrash, even if the prevailing sentiment - when heard above the trademark droning synthesizers of this tragic genre of music - lends it a certain degree of charm.
Indeed, few Juventini are raving about the arrival of Luca Toni in Turin. Many are actually scratching their heads, wondering if the club’s highly regarded general manager Beppe Marotta is in fact just as tone deaf as Matze Knop.
Such an analysis is nothing if not reductive and its airing should perhaps be confined to the idle chit chat of the local bar. But the Toni deal still begs many questions even when viewed from the two positions Marotta has taken in defining Juventus’ recruitment strategy over the last six months. The first, which was revealed in June, had as its goal that of making the Old Lady younger and cheaper to maintain. The second and more recent aimed at adding quality at minimal outlay where opportunity presented itself.
Juventus’ new direction appeared clear-cut. Out went Fabio Cannavaro. In came Leonardo Bonucci. The players sold in the summer were on average 29; the players signed 25. Those in departure had cost €52m in wages; those in arrival would cost €29m. When cast in that light, Toni’s acquisition seems inconsistent.
Though the centre-forward helpfully joins on a free transfer and agrees to slash his annual pay packet by €750,000, he still turns 34 in May and becomes the club’s seventh highest earner with a contract worth €3.75m until June 2012 – [that’s €1.25m for the first six months and €2.5m for the rest], more than any of Marotta’s other new recruits with the exception of Alberto Aquilani.
In terms of age and expense, Toni is to all intents and purposes incompatible with Juventus’ project, at least if these were the criteria on which a club legend like David Trezeguet was adjudged to no longer have a future in Turin. Far from being finished, the Frenchman has scored eight goals in 15 starts for promoted side Hercules, his victims being high profile too, namely Valencia, Sevilla, Villarreal and Real Madrid.
In the same space of time, Toni has found the net just three times in Serie A and one of those was a penalty. His others came against Lecce and Bari, two teams in the relegation zone. Asked to give Toni a score out of 10 during the winter break, Genoa President Enrico Preziosi was withering in his assessment. “Three for each of the goals Luca’s scored,” he sneered, hence the sudden deterioration of their relationship.
So even if Trezeguet was earning €4.5m a year at Juventus, the deal, which was due to expire in June 2011, should perhaps have been renegotiated at a better rate. After all, if age is of such importance, it bears remembering that he is also five months’ Toni’s junior and despite seeing injury ravage his final two years at Juventus, he had also averaged 16 goals a season in a decade at the club, etching his name in the history books in the process.
Trezeguet’s case is just one example, for the overriding impression from the summer remains that Juventus were perhaps a little too dogmatic in their transfer strategy, choosing to spend most of their resources on the components required to change the team’s system to a 4-4-2 rather than best exploiting the opportunities that the market presented.
For instance, the €12m used to sign Jorge Martinez from Catania might have been better served in negotiations for Marco Borriello, who reportedly only turned down the chance to join Juventus because he wanted a permanent move away from Milan and not just a loan.
If - as both Del Neri and Marotta have claimed - Toni isn’t a replacement for the injured Fabio Quagliarella, then one could argue that there was more quality and opportunity to sign a better prima punta in the summer. That said, the FIGC’s decision to restrict Italian clubs to just one non-EU signing a season restricted Juventus’ room for manoeuvre and anyway hindsight is notoriously 20-20.
It’s certainly too early to pass judgment on the success or failure of a long-term project like Juventus’ which is still only six months old. Toni’s transfer must be seen within the bigger picture, perhaps that of moving on Amauri who may be younger, but costs more and scores less. The next 22 days will certainly be interesting in this respect. In the meantime, Toni could make his debut this evening against Napoli. Whether he’ll become Numero Uno to Juventus fans remains to be seen.
I really wonder why we let go of Trezegoal, we are paying 2/3 of his wages....
In 2006, they said they need 5 years to rebuild the Juve we had at 2006, but last year was a disaster, so they started a new project.
Now, we have a team as strong as the team we had with Ranieri..
if now the project fails will they start a new project again and so on...
It just looks we need alot of "money and work" to be having a bright future.
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i think most people realised Zidane was a talent,although it is fair to say nobody could have expected himt o be THAT good but to call him a nobody is an extreme insult
