Furious Lippi fires up Juve
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Marcello Lippi was incensed by Juve’s attitude in the 4-1 defeat to Man U and demands a change for Sunday’s Italian Supercup clash.
“When you play against a team like Manchester United it is possible you’ll lose,” noted the Coach. “But I disliked the attitude on show during that game.”
“The players were working for themselves and not the whole team. I saw that when they lost the ball these men did not try to immediately get it back.”
The 4-1 thumping at the hands of Sir Alex Ferguson’s men was the second disappointing pre-season friendly.
The Italian Champions needed two late strikes to hold Barcelona in a 2-2 draw, eventually losing in a penalty shoot-out.
These performances have worried Lippi as he prepares for Sunday’s Italian Supercup clash with Milan.
Nonetheless, he has asked fans not to press the panic button just yet.
“It is difficult to go around the world and play games against such good opposition when you have only been training for ten days,” he added.
“You could clearly see that Manchester United were at a more advanced stage of their pre-season regime. They passed the ball around much quicker, and that is why we lost 4-1.”
However, there is definitely tension in the air following Juve’s Champions’ League Final defeat to Milan.
There have been a series of bitter contract rows with Mauro Camoranesi, Edgar Davids and David Trezeguet.
Lippi was also particularly upset with the way his team will begin defending its Serie A title.
“Usually the reigning Champions have a relatively easy start to the campaign,” suggested the tactician, “but that is not the case this year.”
The Bianconeri must take on Empoli and Roma in Turin, with tough customers Chievo and Reggina away in the first four games.
“We will need a really good start to fight off the pretenders to our throne. It’s a very difficult calendar for us.”