[Serie A] Empoli 1-3 JUVENTUS (November 8th 2015) (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter Azzurri7
- Start date
Another game, another win 
epedinho:
Mandzukic, Evra did well.
Pogba & Khedira as well, at times.
Not too many good performances other than those, with Marchisio, Cuadrado, Morata & Buffon being remarkably poor.
Good thing that we're getting some points now. Because our infamous winter slump is waiting just around the corner
epedinho:Mandzukic, Evra did well.
Pogba & Khedira as well, at times.
Not too many good performances other than those, with Marchisio, Cuadrado, Morata & Buffon being remarkably poor.
Good thing that we're getting some points now. Because our infamous winter slump is waiting just around the corner
Strangely enough, I'm still cautiously optimistic. Some will call me naive, but there is a lot of quality in our lineup. There really is.
Juve has been putrid, an absolute abomination in the league so far... but... it's still only a 9 point gap, with 26 rounds to go. A long season yet, and none of the other squads in the top 7 have anywhere near the depth Juve has. These are not world beating squads.
FFS, Inter has scored 12 goals in 12 games, and they're tied for first! They can't keep that pace up! What happens if you take Higuain's 9 goals in 12 games out of Naples soccer club, or Radja blows a knee, and Roma starts conceding 15 goals a game? These teams will hit their rough patches.
Those are obviously overly simplistic examples, and I know today wasn't pretty (at all), but I can't shake the idea that if Juve can get to the winter break down 6 points or less, those other squads are going to buckle under the pressure. Meanwhile, by midseason I expect our group to have hit their stride, and the championship mentality that is instilled in our boys to take over.
Fino alla fine... and keep it in mind, folks. This. Aint. Close. To. Over.
Juve has been putrid, an absolute abomination in the league so far... but... it's still only a 9 point gap, with 26 rounds to go. A long season yet, and none of the other squads in the top 7 have anywhere near the depth Juve has. These are not world beating squads.
FFS, Inter has scored 12 goals in 12 games, and they're tied for first! They can't keep that pace up! What happens if you take Higuain's 9 goals in 12 games out of Naples soccer club, or Radja blows a knee, and Roma starts conceding 15 goals a game?
These teams will hit their rough patches.Those are obviously overly simplistic examples, and I know today wasn't pretty (at all), but I can't shake the idea that if Juve can get to the winter break down 6 points or less, those other squads are going to buckle under the pressure. Meanwhile, by midseason I expect our group to have hit their stride, and the championship mentality that is instilled in our boys to take over.
Fino alla fine... and keep it in mind, folks. This. Aint. Close. To. Over.
Forza Juve!!
Another game, another win epedinho:
Mandzukic, Evra did well.
Pogba & Khedira as well, at times.
Not too many good performances other than those, with Marchisio, Cuadrado, Morata & Buffon being remarkably poor.
Good thing that we're getting some points now. Because our infamous winter slump is waiting just around the corner
epedinho:Mandzukic, Evra did well.
Pogba & Khedira as well, at times.
Not too many good performances other than those, with Marchisio, Cuadrado, Morata & Buffon being remarkably poor.
Good thing that we're getting some points now. Because our infamous winter slump is waiting just around the corner
A good post overall.
One thing I want to point out in this paragraph. The bolded part is the key assumption that you make which, if incorrect (and I believe it really is), can well invalidate the conclusions that you draw here.
Take for example the points per game won by the eventual top 3 teams during the first (H1) and the second halfs (H2) of the past four seasons:
2014/2015 H1 H2
Juventus 2.42 2.16
Roma 2.16 1.53
Lazio 1.63 2
2013/2014 H1 H2
Juventus 2.74 2.63
Roma 2.32 2.16
Napoli 2.21 1.89
2012/2013 H1 H2
Juventus 2.32 2.26
Napoli 2.05 2.05
Milan 1.58 2.21
2011/2012 H1 H1
Juventus 2.16 2.26
Milan 2.11 2.11
Udinese 1.84 1.37
As you can see across the four seasons only 3 (out of 12 cases) of the eventual top 3 teams in all years managed to do better in the second halfs of the seasons than in the first, 2 managed to do just as well, while during the 2013/2014 season all did worse.
My point is that it was perhaps unreasonable to extrapolate the data that we have so far (considering we're not even halfway through the season yet) to make end-of-season predictions or to conclude anything about the pace at which Juventus must travel (or how hard it would be) to catch the top teams. In only 2 of the last 4 years did the composition of the eventual top 3 look identical to the one we had at the end of the first half seasons, and currently there are still seven rounds to go until we even reach that point.
I believe at this point anything is still achievable, though I agree with you that 1st place looks improbable indeed even at this early stage.
One thing I want to point out in this paragraph. The bolded part is the key assumption that you make which, if incorrect (and I believe it really is), can well invalidate the conclusions that you draw here.
Take for example the points per game won by the eventual top 3 teams during the first (H1) and the second halfs (H2) of the past four seasons:
2014/2015 H1 H2
Juventus 2.42 2.16
Roma 2.16 1.53
Lazio 1.63 2
2013/2014 H1 H2
Juventus 2.74 2.63
Roma 2.32 2.16
Napoli 2.21 1.89
2012/2013 H1 H2
Juventus 2.32 2.26
Napoli 2.05 2.05
Milan 1.58 2.21
2011/2012 H1 H1
Juventus 2.16 2.26
Milan 2.11 2.11
Udinese 1.84 1.37
As you can see across the four seasons only 3 (out of 12 cases) of the eventual top 3 teams in all years managed to do better in the second halfs of the seasons than in the first, 2 managed to do just as well, while during the 2013/2014 season all did worse.
My point is that it was perhaps unreasonable to extrapolate the data that we have so far (considering we're not even halfway through the season yet) to make end-of-season predictions or to conclude anything about the pace at which Juventus must travel (or how hard it would be) to catch the top teams. In only 2 of the last 4 years did the composition of the eventual top 3 look identical to the one we had at the end of the first half seasons, and currently there are still seven rounds to go until we even reach that point.
I believe at this point anything is still achievable, though I agree with you that 1st place looks improbable indeed even at this early stage.
