Juve collapse confounds Ranieri
Sunday 3 May, 2009
Claudio Ranieri admits he doesn't know why Juventus are faltering so badly and will only continue “if the club has faith in the Coach.”
The Bianconeri were held to a 2-2 draw by Lecce and are now without a win in five games, dropping four points off Milan in second place.
“We were visibly more tired than Lecce and we'll talk over the reasons in the week. They train hard and run with great enthusiasm, so I don't know what could've happened.”
The Stadio Olimpico crowd was furious and aimed numerous chants against the players, tacticians and club directors.
“It isn't pleasing to see those protests, but sometimes they can act as a motivating force,” noted Ranieri.
“We may run more, but we're not really going anywhere because we are tactically not as united and organised. In effect it tires us out.
“I already said 10 days ago that we have to stay quiet and do our best. As with every business, at the end of the season we'll see if the objectives have been reached and our plans for the future.
“If the club still has faith in its Coach then we can carry on. It has been a terrible month, so we have to roll our sleeves up and dig ourselves out of this hole.
“I only see one Juventus and we are all working together to achieve our objectives. We try to win the games, but recently have struggled to do so and we know that more than anyone.”
Once again Juve conceded on counter-attacks and were caught out in stoppages against Lecce.
“I am not accusing the defence specifically, as we score and concede all together, but we have been leaking goals repeatedly for a month.
“The fans are right to be disappointed and so are we. We wanted to end the season on a high and are not managing it. In football what you do today counts, not the day before, so we must get ourselves back on track.”
This afternoon Fabio Cannavaro flew in to Italy for his medical in Perugia, ready to complete a free transfer from Real Madrid.
“There is no meeting with Cannavaro on the agenda,” commented Ranieri.
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