The Official Dario Knezevic Thread (7 Viewers)

[Marc]

By the way, Knezevic is a decent/good defender and he will prove everyone who think this is useless and shit signing and average player wrong, especially Andy who already hates him. I can bet though he hasn't seen him 3 times, he just likes to jump to conclusions.

He was almost free, so we can't really lose anything with this transfer. The only minus is that we are not going to sign a WC defender but that was obvious since our managers are counting on Andrade's recovery. Maybe next season we will get that so long waited class defender.

 

Buy on AliExpress.com

[V]

P.S. Ranieri surely knows better than you. Sorry man, but if you think you know better than Ranieri you are dead wrong.

That's not a valid arguement. Theoriticaly Ranieri knows more than all of us, but that doesn't mean make him right.

By the way, Knezevic is a decent/good defender and he will prove everyone who think this is useless and shit signing and average player wrong, especially Andy who already hates him. I can bet though he hasn't seen him 3 times, he just likes to jump to conclusions.

He was almost free, so we can't really lose anything with this transfer. The only minus is that we are not going to sign a WC defender but that was obvious since our managers are counting on Andrade's recovery. Maybe next season we will get that so long waited class defender.

Couldn't agree more. I have feeling we're just what Knezevic needs to grow.

 

[The Arif]

He was almost free, so we can't really lose anything with this transfer. The only minus is that we are not going to sign a WC defender but that was obvious since our managers are counting on Andrade's recovery. Maybe next season we will get that so long waited class defender.

That might be necessarily true though. Knezevic was brought as a 5th choice CB, to replace Stendardo. We might still sign a new world class CB, but I'm not getting my hopes high on this one.

 

[Slow_Roll]

I really wouldn't want to jump to conclusions but if he's performances in games against dortmund and inter give some sort of signals of his class, we're in a dire need of a replacement, even if he's 4 choice.

 

[Red]

What was your problem with his performances?

I thought he was fine in both games.

 

[A_LAcki]

Actually, I was amazed by his game against Inter. Somebody compared him with Montero, and thats true. Nice tackles (Adriano was never really dangerous) and he was also good in the air. Still, I need to see more to judge him overall....

 

[Rollie]

I was actually surprised with how well he played today, given it's what, his second match? Not to mention, he's still working himself back into shape after getting injured at the Euro Championships. Mistimed a trap, but recovered for a nice sliding block... needed Chiellini to bail him out on another play when Adriano was threatening to break in alone. He was a little shaky, but on the whole, I thought he did a fairly good job against Inter today. Obviously room for improvement, but give him some time to work on his timing, positioning and cohesion with the rest of the defense. I was quite happy when we signed Knezevic, because the board had stated that we weren't getting another defender - AND WE PAID ALMOST NOTHING for someone who I've been told will probably be a first choice defender for Croatia in the future (I don't know a whole lot about the Croatian NT, so I'm optimistically accepting my Croat friends opinion here). This is a classic no risk, and potentially quite rewarding acquisition. If he proves himself as a solid 4th choice CB (or dare I say... better? I definitely just jinxed him), at the price we paid for him, that would qualify as a steal. Obviously we all want another WC defender... but we're going to have to wait on that.

 

[only-juve]

The 2 players that really impressed me today r Knezevic and rossi. That rossi boy is really talented.....

 

[Slow_Roll]

He mistimed offside traps all night, once Adriano was 1-1 against Buffon but it was called an offside which it wasn't. I'm not saying our 4th choice should be magical just that had it been Adriano with same pre-season fitness levels he would've been absolutely crushed and Adriano is I guess inters 3 or 4 choice. But as someone said we'll have to wait on clarification on is it a steal or waste of space. I also wouldn't actually call him a prospect as he is 26, so he should be pretty much as good as it gets.

 

[Slow_Roll]

The 2 players that really impressed me today r Knezevic and rossi. That rossi boy is really talented.....

It seems our youth system is among the best in Italy if not the world. I mean this kid is 17 and really showing lot of maturity in tracking back, making good tackles, running at defences, making crosses, passes. All he needs is experience and a bit on the physical side. I remember someone saying he played amr and amc for the primavera so I guess in a few years he could potentially succeed Camo.

 

[Rollie]

It's true, we were lucky that Adriano was wrongly called offside on that play.

However, I don't think it's fair to say that the reason Adriano didn't tear Knezevic apart is because he isn't fully fit etc., and then hold Knezevic to such a high standard when he's coming off of an injury AND playing for a new team - actually, I'm not sure how you figure Knezevic is at a higher fitness level than Adriano right now. Knezevic arrived at Pinzolo on the 15th of July, and I'm pretty sure he didn't start training with his teammates until about a week later, because he was still finishing up his rehab. His display today really didn't tell us much about his future at Juventus either way - I'm just saying that I was pleasantly surprised...

 

[Rollie]

There's no way that Knezevic should be labelled as a "prospect" at this point in time, but I think it's important to point our that defenders often mature later than offensive players, as they get more positionally savvy, etc (obviously some play better in different formations, or tactical situations as well). It's also key to point out that he'll now be training with, and playing against, better competition... quite often this leads to improvement. A jump from Livorno to Juventus and more playing time for Croatia suggests that this player is definitely still improving.

It was a lot of fun watching Rossi rip around today... he's definitely one for the future...

 

[Rollie]

The offensive/defensive maturity thing is really all about the particular player. I shouldn't have said that one position generally matures earlier than the other. My rationale for this was that many offensive players have lost that additional burst of speed that they had previously relied on, once they get into their upper 20's. Many maintain their pace. There really are no absolutes here... too many variables.

 

[Slow_Roll]

Well as said by Mourinho and Ranieri we're further in our pre-season due to our commitments in CL-preliminaries, but I'm not certainly suggesting that Knezevic is fully fit and Adriano hasn't trained in months. I know experience means alot for defenders but at 26 you should be pretty much on the level you're bound to reach. Also being 1st choice for Livorno or 5th choice for Juve is quite on the same level in my book. Don't get me wrong I certainly hope he proves me wrong and improves, just didn't like what I saw today.

 

[DelpieroForLife]

Rossi was very good, this is the 1st time I watch him.

 

[zann]

ahhh i see a prospect in rossi

 

[Lucky Luke]

where is this guy?are there any chances to see him in action?if he wont play against week opponents like cagliari then he wont play all imo...and btw he wasnt bad at all in the pre season friendlies

 

[V]

He's here as back-up.

 

[Lucky Luke]

He's here as back-up.

what do you think about him???

 

[drago9]

Not bad, but not good enough for the first team. Good back-up