Palladino looking for a goal
Raffaele Palladino is preparing for a special match: the striker is one of the many Naples-born players in Juventus' squad, and for them Saturday evening's match is different from all the others. Besides, Raffaele has never played at the San Paolo against Napoli and Nedved's absence could mean a place on the team for him, even though, if he was to replace the Czech player, he'd have to play in midfield: “I hope it's my turn, Saturday's match is very important to me, because playing in my city would be a special thrill. I'm training well and I know I must take any chance I get, no matter how small, playing on the right wing or on the left, wherever I'm asked to. If I look at the first team regulars, I realize it isn't easy to play consistently, and with four strikers, as we're not playing in Europe, we have to learn to await our turn. I'm lucky in that I can adapt to different roles, even if I remain a striker at heart. I covered different positions in the matches I played up until now and last year also, I think I played more often in midfield than up front. It's not easy to adapt, to chase and mark opponents, but if it means playing in the first team I'll do it with pleasure”.
Apart from everything else, Raffaele also has a bone to pick with Napoli, as when he was very young he was rejected by the Club after a trial: “I was 13 or 14, and they didn't pick me, but I don't hold a grudge. It was better that way, as then I joined Juventus… Will I celebrate if I score? No, out of respect for my city and for the people I know there, but that doesn't mean I won't be trying to score, far from it, in fact I hope I do score! I and the other players from Naples like going back to our city, but we're aware that we're Juventus players and the respect that's due to the colours we wear, so, on the pitch, we'll only try and do what's good for Juve”. Analyzing the opponents, Palladino identifies two players to keep a close watch on: “Lavezzi is very good technically and can make life difficult for a lot of defenders. And then I also like Hamsik a lot, he comes from Serie B and he's young so I have a special eye for him. He impressed me on a technical level and for his speed”.
Saturday's game will be another important step towards the 4th of November, but Raffaele urges everyone not to focus exclusively on the game against the Nerazzurri: “Inter Milan have a great squad, with a lot of players and they can switch around. That's their advantage, but I'm convinced that the team with more stars doesn't always end up winning. We have the stars, but also other assets such as determination, desire to win and the fact we're close as a group. I'm awaiting that match anxiously, but in the locker room we say to each other that we mustn't only concentrate on the 4th of November; that would be a negative thing for us because it could make us underestimate other matches and that mustn't happen, because every game is worth three points”.
It's precisely thanks to this mentality that Juventus have immediately reached the first places in the League: “The Manager did well in giving us responsibility. We knew we could do well playing only once a week and being up there makes us very proud. Not playing in Europe is an advantage: we train real hard at the beginning of the week, then we recover near the end and on the Sunday we're in great shape and we have energy up to the very last minute, like in the derby”. Finally, a thought for Del Piero, who has recently renewed his contract and become a father too: “We congratulated Alex because he deserved a new contract: he's our captain, our leader and it's important to know that we can still have him with us for another two seasons. I can only learn a lot from a champion like him. As for Tobias' birth, that's more of a private thing; it's a happy event for Alex and for the future of Juventus... maybe a new champion was born”.