[Serie A] Verona 2-1 JUVENTUS [February 8th, 2020] (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter Hust
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I just noticed that in each of our serie A defeats we scored one goal. That goal was always scored by Ronaldo and the assist always came from Bentancur.
Bentancur made 3 more assists this season, but none of them to Ronaldo.
So, the next time Ronaldo scores on a Bentancur assist, bet heavily on Juve to lose
Bentancur made 3 more assists this season, but none of them to Ronaldo.
So, the next time Ronaldo scores on a Bentancur assist, bet heavily on Juve to lose
At"least" he didn't mention the pitch,the grass quality,the noise of the fans,lack of cigarettes for him as a reason for this humiliation.Idiot!Juve is his last big team that he is coaching.And I wish that to ends as soon as possible.These players can be coached alone much better than with the "advises" of this clown.
I am genuinely worried about the scudetto.
When people say that defense wins serie A, it's based on tough facts. For example, in the last 8 years that we won the scudetto, we always had the best defense.
In the last scudetti we won under Lippi, Capello, Conte and Allegri (total of 15 scudetti), after 23 rounds we NEVER conceded more than 20 goals, and in 8 of those 15 seasons we conceded 15 or less.
Now we have 23 after 23 rounds. Do you know when in the last 20 years we conceded 23 or more after 23 rounds? In 2010/11 when we ended up 7th; in 2009/10 when we also finished 7th; in 2003/04 when we finished 3rd; and in 1998/99 when we finished 6th.
In the last 50 years, only on 1 occasion the scudetto winner conceded 23 or more after 23 rounds. It was us in 1983/84 when we had 23 after 23. Same as today. So... that's a hope.
The point is, unless we fix the defensive phase of our game, from Higuain down to Bonucci and De Ligt, we will most probably lose this scudetto. Especially since our attack isn't scoring for fun.
When people say that defense wins serie A, it's based on tough facts. For example, in the last 8 years that we won the scudetto, we always had the best defense.
In the last scudetti we won under Lippi, Capello, Conte and Allegri (total of 15 scudetti), after 23 rounds we NEVER conceded more than 20 goals, and in 8 of those 15 seasons we conceded 15 or less.
Now we have 23 after 23 rounds. Do you know when in the last 20 years we conceded 23 or more after 23 rounds? In 2010/11 when we ended up 7th; in 2009/10 when we also finished 7th; in 2003/04 when we finished 3rd; and in 1998/99 when we finished 6th.
In the last 50 years, only on 1 occasion the scudetto winner conceded 23 or more after 23 rounds. It was us in 1983/84 when we had 23 after 23. Same as today. So... that's a hope.
The point is, unless we fix the defensive phase of our game, from Higuain down to Bonucci and De Ligt, we will most probably lose this scudetto. Especially since our attack isn't scoring for fun.
I'm not sure that we have time to fix the defense. It should have been done already. It's gonna be harder with CL midweek matches, lack of options in defense and midfield for rotation and tired legs.
Perhaps if we get Khedira and Giorgio back and they don't suffer a repeated injury. It's an unpopular opinion, but I'd gladly have Khedira and Matuidi in the line-up in serie A. Fuck it, we play shitty with or without them, so better get some boring solidity and discipline.
Perhaps if we get Khedira and Giorgio back and they don't suffer a repeated injury. It's an unpopular opinion, but I'd gladly have Khedira and Matuidi in the line-up in serie A. Fuck it, we play shitty with or without them, so better get some boring solidity and discipline.
Yeah. Few expected us to continue with Conte's and Allegri's defensive records under Sarri, but the expectation was to score (much) more.
These 44 goals after 23 rounds are our 3rd worst record in the last 9 seasons (we scored 43 in 15/16 and 34 in 11/12). The 15/16 season was the season after we lost Tevez, Vidal and Pirlo and we made a terrible start of the season, while in 11/12 our starting attackers were Matri and Vucinic.
Now we have Ronaldo, Dybala and Higuain.
And, even more, we are generally satisfied with our attackers, so the lack of goals is not due to them.
A lot, both in regards to our defensive record and our attacking record, comes down to the midfield.
Now, the midfield is more or less the same in the last two years (last year Pjanic-Matuidi and Bentancur were the three most used midfielders; the year before it was Pjanic-Matuidi-Khedira). Could it be that we're using our midfielders wrong this season?
These 44 goals after 23 rounds are our 3rd worst record in the last 9 seasons (we scored 43 in 15/16 and 34 in 11/12). The 15/16 season was the season after we lost Tevez, Vidal and Pirlo and we made a terrible start of the season, while in 11/12 our starting attackers were Matri and Vucinic.
Now we have Ronaldo, Dybala and Higuain.
And, even more, we are generally satisfied with our attackers, so the lack of goals is not due to them.
A lot, both in regards to our defensive record and our attacking record, comes down to the midfield.
Now, the midfield is more or less the same in the last two years (last year Pjanic-Matuidi and Bentancur were the three most used midfielders; the year before it was Pjanic-Matuidi-Khedira). Could it be that we're using our midfielders wrong this season?
as for the post-allegri expectations, i hoped for the same pragmatic sarri who orchestrated napoli's best defense that got them those 91 points. (those who say that it was the attack that managed to collect those 91 points are completely wrong: they scored a lot less than in sarri's 2nd season, yet managed to be a much better team.) at chelsea, sarri also played a fairly defensive, safe football with that mediocre squad with 1-2 very good players.
now we're neither attacking enough, nor is defense is effective. yeah, it's partly due to the midfield. pjanic regressed a lot, he's having the worst run of form since his arrival, and so did matuidi unfortunately. but our poor defense is mainly down to the team as a unit: the high defensive line, the stubborn tactics ("i'd rather concede on the attack than park the bus for a second", fucking great idea), the obviously rusty zonal marking at set pieces, the fact that our fullbacks get confused after crosses, the predictable one trick pony tactics (no long passes, because they are risky, oh, the irony, like he would care about the risks of the high defending line), and of course the mental preparation. conte can motivate the running machine barella, that turd lukaku and epitome of mediocrity d'ambrosio, gasperini can get the best out of players nobody ever heard of, but sarri only improved bentancur and - to an extent - dybala (who got the last season completely wrong on an individual level, and changed his own attitude after the transfer saga). i get that the team was hard to motivate last season, and this got allegri fired, but in that case, a proper motivator might have been a wiser choice probably.
i'm not blaming sarri exclusively. having so many injuries, the lack of rotation options for bonbon, sandro, the weak right backs aren't sarri's fault. but during the previous seasons, the club faced the very same challenges every single time.
i agree, time is an issue. let's hope players like pjanic, sandro and bonucci get their shit together, and the old man at charge changes his attitude a bit. he shouldn't force what isn't working (fruitless possession, passing for the sake of it, high defensive line, too much distance between defense and midfield, zonal marking, wrong use of fullbacks, players played out of position just because 4-3-1-2, etc). okay, that's a lot, i admit. damn...
now we're neither attacking enough, nor is defense is effective. yeah, it's partly due to the midfield. pjanic regressed a lot, he's having the worst run of form since his arrival, and so did matuidi unfortunately. but our poor defense is mainly down to the team as a unit: the high defensive line, the stubborn tactics ("i'd rather concede on the attack than park the bus for a second", fucking great idea), the obviously rusty zonal marking at set pieces, the fact that our fullbacks get confused after crosses, the predictable one trick pony tactics (no long passes, because they are risky, oh, the irony, like he would care about the risks of the high defending line), and of course the mental preparation. conte can motivate the running machine barella, that turd lukaku and epitome of mediocrity d'ambrosio, gasperini can get the best out of players nobody ever heard of, but sarri only improved bentancur and - to an extent - dybala (who got the last season completely wrong on an individual level, and changed his own attitude after the transfer saga). i get that the team was hard to motivate last season, and this got allegri fired, but in that case, a proper motivator might have been a wiser choice probably.
i'm not blaming sarri exclusively. having so many injuries, the lack of rotation options for bonbon, sandro, the weak right backs aren't sarri's fault. but during the previous seasons, the club faced the very same challenges every single time.
i agree, time is an issue. let's hope players like pjanic, sandro and bonucci get their shit together, and the old man at charge changes his attitude a bit. he shouldn't force what isn't working (fruitless possession, passing for the sake of it, high defensive line, too much distance between defense and midfield, zonal marking, wrong use of fullbacks, players played out of position just because 4-3-1-2, etc). okay, that's a lot, i admit. damn...
Could be, but I don't see any difference in how Pjanic and others are playing compared to previous years, other than their form is awful. Specifically, I don't see Pjanic moving to different areas of the pitch, and the RCM whether it be Bentancur or someone else isn't sitting back more or going forward at a different rate than before. I don't really see any difference other than Pjanic and Matuidi having terrible form, and I'm also not sold on Cuadrado at RB -- I'd much rather have Cancelo there.
Rabiot isn't a box to box player IMO, so he should be swapped with Pjanic so the latter can move forward more. This is completely obvious, too -- as obvious as moving Bonucci to the left side of the defense so that De Ligt can play on the right. Yet it took Sarri several months to figure out something a poster on an internet forum could quickly identify as an issue.
At the end of the day, the midfield is stale and needs to be revamped. And no, Jorginho isn't the answer either.
Rabiot isn't a box to box player IMO, so he should be swapped with Pjanic so the latter can move forward more. This is completely obvious, too -- as obvious as moving Bonucci to the left side of the defense so that De Ligt can play on the right. Yet it took Sarri several months to figure out something a poster on an internet forum could quickly identify as an issue.
At the end of the day, the midfield is stale and needs to be revamped. And no, Jorginho isn't the answer either.
Sarri's best Napoli had a good defense covered by 3 all round midfielders who ran hard, could create, could score and assist. On top of that, his wingers were actual wingers. I remember that game Napoli played Juve at the end of the season and they beat us, Allegri's Juve managed zero shots. Yeah they screwed up the next game when Koulibally got sent off but I don't think Sarri is that bad.
Only Bentancur can play 4-3-3. Pjanic is too passive to boss a midfield, he needs Matuidi protection and he can't pass for toffee. Its all about the right players for a system. Higuain is totally wasted so far, he's always been so dependable for us. Dybala riding the bench for what?
Juve hired Sarri wanting him to play his attacking game but it's like they had no idea about his style and system. The fact that he plays wingers and they got him Ramsey and Kulusevski tells you that our management is expecting miracles from quite a rigid guy.
For Sarri to win with us he just needs to drop his attacking philosophy and go for boring wins because he doesn't have the means to play his Napoli style. Then Juve will be upset like they were for Allegri to win without playing beautiful football so he'll get sacked. We'll get Pep and he'll fail to win the CL and he gets sacked. We need an identity and a vision of where we want to go. Nobody will succeed here unless given the correct support, I want Sarri to be given the chance to succeed at least.
Only Bentancur can play 4-3-3. Pjanic is too passive to boss a midfield, he needs Matuidi protection and he can't pass for toffee. Its all about the right players for a system. Higuain is totally wasted so far, he's always been so dependable for us. Dybala riding the bench for what?
Juve hired Sarri wanting him to play his attacking game but it's like they had no idea about his style and system. The fact that he plays wingers and they got him Ramsey and Kulusevski tells you that our management is expecting miracles from quite a rigid guy.
For Sarri to win with us he just needs to drop his attacking philosophy and go for boring wins because he doesn't have the means to play his Napoli style. Then Juve will be upset like they were for Allegri to win without playing beautiful football so he'll get sacked. We'll get Pep and he'll fail to win the CL and he gets sacked. We need an identity and a vision of where we want to go. Nobody will succeed here unless given the correct support, I want Sarri to be given the chance to succeed at least.