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Conferences. Conferences. Conferences.
The final month and a half was stuffed with a dizzying variety of conferences, a lot in order that it has turn into a working joke on this web site. I’m shocked we haven’t provide you with some sort of knock-knock joke about conferences*.
However after drowning in an infinite variety of conferences wherein we efficiently secured a long-coveted transfer target and are nonetheless engaged on a seemingly never-ending contract negotiation, we lastly turned to the actual enjoyable: the beginning of the brand new season!
However … was it truly any enjoyable? Let’s see!
*I’ll go first. “Knock knock!” “Who’s there?” “Assembly” “Assembly who?” “I don’t know, you inform me!”
That’s all I obtained of us. I’ll present myself out.
Juventus performed three pleasant and two aggressive matches in August. The 2 pleasant video games had wildly contrasting outcomes: the primary was a thumping 3-0 loss against Barcelona within the most likely imaginary and fully meaningless Joan Gamper Trophy. Memphis Depay, Martin Braithwaite, and Riqui Puig scored the targets for the Catalans.
The subsequent pleasant was a lot, significantly better. Juventus performed a few of its greatest soccer in a very long time when it beat Atalanta 3-1 at home. Paulo Dybala put Juve forward early on after a blistering counterattack that concerned Federico Chiesa and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Luis Muriel equalized from the penalty spot simply 10 minutes later, however a surprising objective from Federico Bernardeschi and a tidy counterattacking objective by Álvaro Morata within the 94th minute accomplished a strong 3-1 victory for the Bianconeri. The ultimate pleasant of the pre-season was the customary Juventus v Juventus U23 game: Dybala, Alvaro Morata, and Aaron Ramsey scored the targets to present Max Allegri’s facet a cushty 3-0 victory.
However sufficient of the pleasant stuff.
On Aug. 22, it was lastly time for the intense enterprise. Within the first Serie A recreation of the brand new season, Juventus confronted Udinese away from residence. The sport was off to a horrible begin earlier than it even began due to some off-the-pitch shenanigans (extra on that later). Fortunately, Juve regained its composure and performed a wonderful first half: targets from Dybala and Juan Cuadrado (after a improbable help from Dybala) put the Bianconeri 2-0 forward after a cracking first half efficiency.
Because it usually does, nonetheless, issues fell aside within the second half. The reason for this implosion was, surprisingly, one particular person: Wojciech Szczęsny, The Polish keeper had arguably his worst ever recreation in Juventus colours as his two errors (his second one a very embarrassing one) gifted Udinese two targets. Regardless of Ronaldo’s greatest makes an attempt, his headed objective within the dying seconds of the sport was disallowed by VAR as a result of a subatomic particle in his toenail was offside. Ultimate rating: 2-2.
For those who thought that that was a miserable method to begin the brand new marketing campaign, don’t fear as a result of it will get worse!
Within the first residence recreation of the season, Juve was so diabolically dangerous that I’ve run out of adjectives to explain what has turn into a humiliation of a membership and staff. The Bianconeri deservedly misplaced 1-0 in opposition to Empoli in a recreation that, frankly, was purely Allegri’s fault. So many gamers had been performed out of place and had no clue as to what their obligations had been, which you could nearly perceive why they performed so poorly.
So right here we’re in September with a global break upon us (already!?) and it’s wanting prefer it’s going to be one other disagreeable season for Juventini. Pleasure!
At the least the Champions League group stage draw wasn’t too dangerous. However who is aware of, we would simply discover a method to screw that up, too …
Juventus Ladies additionally spent roughly half the month taking part in friendlies and the opposite half in aggressive fixtures. Joe Montemurro began his reign as Juventus coach with two very contrasting pleasant video games: a good 2-1 victory over Montpellier and a chastening 6-0 loss in opposition to Barcelona.
However the staff brushed apart its demoralizing loss in opposition to the Catalans with a thumping 12-0 (!) residence victory over Kamenica Sasa of Macedonia and a 4-1 victory over St. Polten of Austria within the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Ladies’s Champions League. (Sidenote: I don’t actually perceive how the qualification stage of the Ladies’s Champions League works, so forgive me for being temporary on this part.)
Arianna Caruso (3x), Martina Rosucci (1x), Cristiana Girelli (2x), Barbara Bonansea (1x), Annahita Zamanian (1x), Andrea Staskova (3x), and Agnese Bonfantini (1x) scored the targets through the embarrassingly straightforward recreation in opposition to Kamenica, whereas Bonansea (2x), Girelli (1x), and Hurtig (1x) — contemporary from the penalty shootout heartbreak in the final of the Olympics in opposition to Canada — had been the objective scorers in opposition to St. Polten.
Within the final piece of motion for the month, Juve began life after Rita Guarino within the Serie A with the season opener in opposition to Pomigliano. Montemurro’s first style of Serie A soccer began with a banger as Rosucci put the staff forward within the fifth minute of the sport. Caruso put the sport past any doubt with a second half brace, along with her first coming within the 54th minute and the second within the 83rd minute. Ultimate rating: 3-0.
Not a foul begin to the brand new season!
There was a bit of extra motion within the transfer window final month as Juventus lastly wrapped up the long-awaited Manuel Locatelli signing and surprisingly signed the young Brazilian starlet Kaio Jorge. (We’re nonetheless attempting to determine how one can pronounce his identify, though that most likely received’t matter for some time because he’s injured anyway.) In different switch information for the month:
Ronaldo has divided opinion because the day that Juventus accomplished his sudden blockbuster switch from Real Madrid in 2018. Whereas he has been an undoubted success on a private degree for the Bianconeri after scoring a surprising 101 targets in 134 video games — no different participant in Juventus historical past scored 100 targets for the membership as shortly as he did — there has all the time been the nagging query of whether or not his contributions to Juventus had been value spending all that cash and destabilizing the tactical stability of the staff.
After which there’s, after all, how he left the membership. He had your complete summer time to inform the administration about his intentions to go away the membership or, on the very least, his doubts about staying.
And but, he selected to go away it till eight days earlier than the shut of the switch window to inform us about his plans. Not solely that, however he waited until a couple of hours before the first game of the new season to throw us this curveball.
There was completely no want for that in any respect, however such is life.
Identical to along with his arrival, Ronaldo’s departure doesn’t change the truth that this staff remains to be significantly poor. Our backline has been crumbling for years (with solely Matthijs de Ligt’s switch partially addressing this drawback), we’re nonetheless sorely missing within the fullback place, and, whereas Locatelli’s switch has improved the scenario, our midfield remains to be a group of people that don’t match collectively as a unit. (How lengthy have we stated that Rodrigo Bentancur-Adrien Rabiot in central midfield DOES NOT work?)
We’re completely going to overlook Ronaldo. He was by far probably the most gifted participant on the staff and steadily bailed us out along with his truckload of targets.
With or with out Ronaldo, although, Juventus stays a subpar staff. Sadly, I don’t know when that can change.
So who will succeed Ronaldo now that he’s gone? It’s doubtless that the load of the crown will likely be divided between two gamers: Dybala and Chiesa.
Why? As a result of they’re the one two gamers on the staff with anyplace close to the extent of expertise essential to fill Ronaldo’s sneakers. Chiesa confirmed that he will be (and is) absolutely the celebrity of the staff, each by himself and with staff round him. Dybala, however, is a participant who has seemingly been ready for years for a coach to construct a facet round him in order that he can play to his full potential.
Now that every one the large, flashy superstars have left the staff, may this lastly be the time that Dybala can take middle stage (together with Chiesa) and eventually, lastly make this Juventus squad his?
Whether it is, this may doubtless be his final, and a few would argue solely likelihood ever to take action.
The return of Max Allegri to Juventus will doubtless see necessary tactical adjustments within the squad, one experimental and the opposite fairly regular.
First, we have now probably the most formidable experiment of all of them: resurrecting the much-maligned Juventus reject Ramsey by taking part in him in the regista place. To the shock of many, I argued in the season preview podcast episode that this might develop into a masterstroke, akin to Christian Eriksen’s outstanding turnaround in type when Conte moved him to regista.
Sadly, although, it looks like this was a case of the ol’ commentators curse as a result of simply as I made this daring prediction, Ramsey injured himself yet again and can miss “a number of weeks” of motion. This is the reason I solely make my predictions after an occasion.
The second experiment is a much more conservative one. Particularly, shifting Bentancur away from the regista place and into the mezzala place, which is clearly his greatest place. It ought to assist the Uruguayan put a tough season (or two) behind him and use this season to lastly transition from the “nice potential” to the “realized potential” class.
We all know what Bentancur is able to, we’ve simply been unable to see it as a result of he’s been ping-ponged round completely different midfield positions for too lengthy.
It’s time to attract Excalibur from the stone, Rodrigo, and take your house as king. You bought this.
I’m well-known! Kind of.
I used to be lately a visitor on the podcast The Different Facet by Scot Kirk of the Columbus Dispatch. We talked about racism in soccer and the issues that black gamers face within the sport. It was enjoyable explaining the scenario to somebody who doesn’t comply with soccer and it positively made for an amazing dialogue. Check it out here!
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