Deschamps: “We must hate defeat”
With Juventus’ injury troubles quickly becoming a thing of the past, Didier Deschamps is finally faced with some selection 'headaches’ ahead of the clash with Cesena. “It’s the best kind of 'problem’ - began the coach at this afternoon’s pre-match press conference - even if those returning to the team after three weeks out won’t immediately rediscover match rhythm. We have three games in seven days ahead of us and it’s unlikely that these guys will play ninety minutes in all three. I will have to be careful not to overwork either those who have played a lot recently or those who have been out for a long time”. The forthcoming engagements will require the coach to rotate his players. “Let’s just say that more than eleven players will be involved over the next three games. The next game is always the most important: right now we’re focused solely on Cesena as I know from personal experience that if you get too ahead of yourself, something can always happen in the meantime which throws your plans out of the window”.
And Friday night’s game will be far from straightforward; Juventus dispensed with Cesena in the Coppa Italia back in August but since then, the men from Emilia Romagna have made significant progress. “That was a pre-season game so an assessment of them today will be completely different. Even then, however, I saw a side that was disciplined, tactically well-organised and capable of making the most of its pace on the flanks. In the middle of the park they have Pestrin and Salvetti, both quality players who move the ball out well to the wide men. In turn, the two wingers, Papa Waigo and Lazzari, are also very good at providing support for the front man Pellè. In their last two games against Albinoleffe and Napoli they were more focused on defence, but the goals came never the less. When the opposition have possession, the Cesena players all get back so it will be difficult for us to find space in attack. We will also have to be careful in defence as they have players who can hurt us on the counter attack when they regain possession”.
The game with Cesena represents the Bianconeri’s first top of the table clash this season but having reached first place the standings, Deschamps was adamant there would be no lapses in concentration. “As I’ve said many times before, every game you win takes you one step closer to your first defeat. With that in mind, we have to do everything to win, we must hate defeat”. Inevitably the Frenchman was asked to respond to the comments of some of the top players on the need for reinforcements if the team wants to challenge for silverware in Serie A next season. “No one has asked the club for guarantees - Deschamps explained - they have simply said, and I agree with them, that if we achieve promotion, they will want to be challenging at the top and to do that we need the strongest team possible. It’s too soon to be thinking about next year though, first let’s secure promotion, then we’ll see what happens”.