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:
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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