Season Preview: Juventus (1 Viewer)

Signor

Senior Member
Jul 13, 2002
3,018
#1
Juventus, the grand old lady of Italian football, are once again the team to beat this season as they have managed to emerge from back-to-back Scudetto triumphs looking even more formidable.

The powers that be at the Delle Alpi have succeeded in hanging on to all of their prized jewels and even managed to improve on each outfield position with the widely acclaimed additions of up-and-coming Italian defender Nicola Legrottaglie (Chievo), hugely promising Ghanaian midfielder Stephen Appiah, as well as Italy's most exciting young striking talent Fabrizio Miccoli (back on loan from Perugia).

DEFENCE

Defence has traditionally been a strong-point for Juventus but if there were a chink in the Bianconeri's armour one would feel that this would be it. Juve's highly experienced rear-guard looked lead-footed at times last year and since the combined age of their backline has risen to almost 30, in spite of the summer signing of 24-year-old centre-back Legrottaglie. Ferrara is coming off one his best seasons ever but at the advanced age of 35 he will have to keep re-proving himself each season. Montero is no spring-chicken either as he is set to turn 33, while Juliano, Pessotto, Fresi and Thuram also find themselves on the wrong side of 30. Then again, most of the aforementioned are excellent defenders in their own right and will more than likely have the great majority of opposing strikers in their back-pockets again next season. It also bears mentioning that Zambrotta turned into a world-class left-back seemingly over night last year, which bodes very well for the future of Juventus and Italy.

MIDFIELD

Depending on how you look at Marcelo Lippi's favoured 4-2-3-1 formation Juventus either play with four strikers or five midfielders. The only true midfielders in the system occupy the two holding roles in the centre, which can be fulfilled extremely competently by a combination of either Appiah, Tacchinardi, Tudor, Maresca, Conte or Davids, who many predict will no longer be a Juventino by the time next January rolls around. Added to this, the Bianconeri boast arguably the world's best midfielder in Pavel Nedved, who was just distinguished as the best in Europe at his position by Uefa (Buffon, incidentally, was named both the European keeper of the year and Most Valuable Player during the same ceremony).

ATTACK

Juve still have the perfect man for the lone-striker position in David Trezeguet but might pay the price for failing to acquire a rock-solid backup if Marcelo Zalayeta once again does not deliver on his ample promise this season. Lippi still has a luxury of riches to fill the three supporting roles in Del Piero, Di Vaio, Nedved, Camoranesi and now the hyper-talented Miccoli, who has filled the position vacated by the departure of Salas to River Plate.

HOPES FOR THE SEASON

The Scudetto has once again been stated as the Black-and-White's primary target, but after two successful conquests you could not blame the titans from Turin from secretly favouring the Champions League trophy. Considering the supremely balanced nature of their squad a historic treble is well within the realms of the imaginable.

PREDICTION

The silver lining in Juve's crushing shootout loss to AC Milan in the European final last year is that it ensured that everybody at the club remained hungry. Lippi is intent on building a bona fide dynasty and we certainly wouldn't put it past Juventus to three-peat.

Time to win The treble CL + Serie A + Coppa Italia :strong:
 

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isha00

Senior Member
Jun 24, 2003
5,115
#6
I think that Ciro's 36 years old and Montero's almost 32 :undecide:
But it's not that important :)

It's a very good article :D Thanks :) :)
 

denco

Superior Being
Jul 12, 2002
4,679
#7
Personally I would have loved to see a lot more changes than we have done this season

A lot of players should have been shipped out imo and too many players went to other clubs which might have gone for

Was i the only one who watched in frustration as players like beckham moved to Real , say what you will but he would have boosted our population worldwide and brought much needed glamout to our team. We have won 27 scudettos but still have the feel of a small club comapred to others and he can play a bit

Mutu to chelsea was annoying, Ronaldinho to Barcelona, likewise Quaresma, Chivu to Roma and the non pursuit of players like Pizarro, aimar now that Valencia are not in Cl and so many that i cannot get into

Imo players like zalayeta, Conte, Tudor, Pessotto, Iuliano, Fresi and maybe Trez should have been thanked for their gr8 service in the past and shipped out

Tudor, they tell me he is a world class defender but anyone who misses most of the season for about 5 years now does not deserve a salary and he is a liabilty as we keep waiting for him to heal. He did something extremely funny last season , Dp had just scored a gr8 goal against Real madrid and was feeling very good with himself and full of confidence and got a bit cocky tyring to show Real madrid that he can play a bit along with Davids and Tudor tells them off for showing off and what does he do in the final, he tries to back heel a ball and he pulls his hamstring

We do need a play maker but it seems Lippi is content with athletes and not artistes and worringly Lippi has no plan B if plan A is not working so if Nedved is missing we be fooked

Personally i would have loved a formation of 3 at the back , 5 in midfiled and 2 strikers like thus

-------------Buffon-----------------------

--------------Thuram------------Tacchi----------------------Leggro

------------Appiah-----Nedved---------Miccoli------Davids-----Zambrotta

------------------Dp/Trez------------------Di Vaio

I can almost guess ppl asking Tacchi in defence, yes as that is where I have seen him play his best as a sweeper if you will all that holding midfileder nonsense ppl talk about, first of he has no pace to do the job properly so teams just go thru us to the defence and Buffon has to make too many saves, he is not as athletic as players like |Makele, Davids and Appiah who can make last ditch tackles for our defences as they have speed of recovery
Then again teams like Arsenal and Real madrid need a holding mf we don't as we dont attack as much and rely too much on counter attack which we are not suited for
We play our best when we go for the jugular and the sight of the pace of Nedved, Micolli and Di vaio going at ppl the guile of Dp and the recovery of Davids and Appiah not to mention thier athleticism would make for a pretty good team

Its not that I am a fan of Di Vaio , in fact I think he is second rate , when i say second rate, I mean for a team going for scudetto and Cl , Di Vaio should not be our main striker as he is like a kevin Phillips good enuff for teams like Parma and Uefa and cl qualifying spots not scudetto chasers but I dont want to see
Dp and Trez in the same team anymore as neither can go behing the defence with their pace and both can act uninterested sometimes ,as we did not buy any strikers which is disappointing then Di Vaio would have to make do for me
The likes of Camoranesi, Maresca, Ferrara, Montero,Trez,Birindelli on the bench and we wont be too bad at all would we

Also I would like to see youth players been blooded or there would be no need for prima vera as I am yet to see anyone progress from there probably ever , all they do id go on loan else where and thats it

Why can't we just buy a left back or discover one and let Zambrotta go forward as he is a gr8 asset but if not then left back would do
Buffon was voted player of the year and righfully so, I was surprised to read ppl saying it should have been Nedved , what for , yes he did well in serie A but in Cl he was not that gr8 , maybe in 2 games at the most but Buffon was superb thruout and is without a shadow of a doubt the best keeper in the world and imo alongside Schmeicel the best I have seen in 20 years
 

Hydde

Minimiliano Tristelli
Mar 6, 2003
38,703
#9
Yes, sadly Lippi will not do it for the moment. (the formation)

I still think that zambrotta needs to be in the mid too.
 

the phoenix

Junior Member
Aug 8, 2002
92
#10
Denco,

I like what you have said, well most of it (especially about Trez). I get a feeling that Di Vaio will start to make people believe this year (just a wild guess that s all) But I too would like to NOT see DP and Trez in the same team. It would be good for DP.

About the part regarding the primavera players. Wouldn't it be nice to see Lippi testing Olivera now with Juventus this season and it turns out to be a great surprise?
 

Hydde

Minimiliano Tristelli
Mar 6, 2003
38,703
#11
I really wanted to see olibera loaned. Of course i believe in his skills, but i have never seen him playing in serie a, so i dont know if he will make it.

And the step between primavera, and the nig ride is very important you know.

But anyways, i hope the best for him. I have seen olivera in a lot of games, and he definitely rocks.
 

gray

Senior Member
Moderator
Apr 22, 2003
30,260
#13
I really think our squad is good enough this season to win everything, if we play with the heart and determination of last season.

That said, as much as we love that formation, Lippi will never play with 3 at the back :down:
 
OP
Signor

Signor

Senior Member
Jul 13, 2002
3,018
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #14
    ++ [ originally posted by PersianMafia ] ++
    aragon, did you write that article for soccerage?? because they have the same one
    obviously, I didn't......I suck Big time and this kind of stuff ;)

    No, I didn't....I took it from soccerage.
     

    Stu

    Senior Member
    Jul 14, 2002
    17,557
    #15
    Here's the formation that I would have liked to see this season:

    -------------------------Buffon-------------------------
    ----------Thuram-----Legrottaglie-----Montero---------
    ---Birindelli------------Tacchinardi------------Zambrotta---
    ------------------Miccoli---------Nedved----------------
    ---------------------------------Del Piero---------------
    ------------------------Trezeguet----------------------

    A better alternative to Birindelli such as Cafu or Javier Zanetti would probably help, but I still think that Biri could do the job. The back three is very solid, and wing backs Birindelli and Zambrotta are expected to get forward as often as possible to add width to our attack. Miccoli, Nedved and Del Piero should offer sufficient creativity and service for Trezeguet and the good thing about the formation is that Micco, Neddy, DP and Trez can all co-exist without having to be forced out of position.
     

    Zlatan

    Senior Member
    Jun 9, 2003
    23,049
    #16
    Nah, thats no good. To play only one defensive midfielder, when we have 4 world class players that can play there??? We cant leave Davids, Appiah and Maresca on the bench.

    The current 4-2-3-1 is perfectly suited for the players we have IMO.
     
    OP
    Signor

    Signor

    Senior Member
    Jul 13, 2002
    3,018
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #17
    Yeah, Zlatan is Right, sorry stuart your Plan can't be applied, we have the perfect sytem now in the 4-2-3-1 system IMO.
     
    Jul 12, 2002
    5,666
    #18
    ++ [ originally posted by denco ] ++

    -------------Buffon-----------------------

    --------------Thuram------------Tacchi----------------------Leggro

    ------------Appiah-----Nedved---------Miccoli------Davids-----Zambrotta

    ------------------Dp/Trez------------------Di Vaio
    I completely agree. Tacchinardi is actually a brilliant sweeper, but he's never really going to play there again. Tudor can play the smae position with impressive proficiency, but he'll probably never play in defence again either. It's a really a shame.
     

    JUVESUPPORTER

    Senior Member
    Aug 25, 2003
    712
    #19
    ----------------------------buffon------------- -------------------------------------------Zambrotta-------leggro---------------------Thuram

    --------------------Appiah--------------Davids------------

    ----Nedved------------Tachnardi----------------Miccoli

    ----------------Del Piero------------------------------------

    -----------------------------Trez--------------------------
     

    Stu

    Senior Member
    Jul 14, 2002
    17,557
    #20
    ++ [ originally posted by G_O_A_T ] ++
    Nah, thats no good. To play only one defensive midfielder, when we have 4 world class players that can play there??? We cant leave Davids, Appiah and Maresca on the bench.

    The current 4-2-3-1 is perfectly suited for the players we have IMO.
    Well, the idea was to include Miccoli and Del Piero in the line-up without forcing them to play on the wings and I don't see why we need to play with more than one defensive midfielder. There are three centre backs and two wing backs in the formation so we wouldn't need more than one DM. Anyways, I too like the 4-2-3-1 formation, I just don't want to see DP on the left wing.

    PS. Against Empoli DP played more like an attacking midfielder/second striker than a left winger.
     

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