Comments on: Dortmund 1-3 Juventus: Amauri & Iaquinta Whet the Bianconeri’s Appetite, Champions League Teams Beware!

By: Marco Pantanella

Marco Pantanella — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 13:21:36 +0000

Primavera is very unlikely (and I don’t think the player will take it kindly). He’ll be either loaned out or kept on the team, and my guess is that Ranieri will keep him (à la Ruben Olivera, though hopefully he’ll get to play a little bit more).

With all these youngsters around though (De Ceglie, Marchisio, Giovinco… and Fausto Rossi, whom I’m growing quite fond of actually), it’ll be tough to find playing-time at Juve this year.

By: alessio

alessio — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:13:58 +0000

No, I didn’t think that. I don’t think either are proper heirs to Nedved, I just brought that up because a lot of fellow Juventini I know think he’ll be Nedved’s heir, at least at the left wing position. His build and style of play are completely different.

Ekdal has been very interesting this pre-season..Primavera or loan do you think?

By: Marco Pantanella

Marco Pantanella — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:08:11 +0000

By the way, since you mentioned the “heir to Nedved” perhaps you are confusing Giovinco with Albin Ekdal. He’s the one newspapers have spotted as a possible replacement for Furia Ceca, even though technically he’s more of a center player (CAM).

By: alessio

alessio — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:56:47 +0000

I know Zanetti did the passing, but we rarely moved up the middle. Tiago was supposed to be our killer passer, but obviously he didn’t pan out so well. Zanetti is a great player, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not a good idea to try and make him our playmaker.

100% agreed on Giovinco.

By: Marco Pantanella

Marco Pantanella — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:07:01 +0000

Well… dictating play is kinda what C.Zanetti did last season though. Not Del Piero-style (in the sense of playmaking), but most of Juve’s offensives forward ran through his feet, be it direct passes towards the strikers (especially those killer long balls) or down the flanks for Camo and Nedved.

As for Giovinco, he’s no CM by any stretch of the imagination. Some sites even list him as a second striker, but in reality he’s a trequartista (or CAM if you prefer) that plays behind the offence. That’s how he played at Empoli last season and that’s how he plays for the U21 squad. Question is: does he have the maturity for a starting role just yet, the answer to which is probably no. Yet Ranieri will surely find it useful to have someone like him that can play as a “natural” trequartista (unlike Camo, who has to “adapt” to that role when Juve are playing a diamond formation).

And no, he’s not a heir to Nedved. Different roles.

By: alessio

alessio — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:47:31 +0000

C.Zanetti had some terrific passes this season, but they were mostly long balls. He is a great all around mostly-defensive midfielder, but I can’t imagine him dictating play, and with our forwards we need ‘em.

Giovinco’s an interesting situation. Is he going to play CM? I’ll admit I did not catch him too much this season, only the two Empoli games or so. My question about him playing CM is he seems too small to be able to play defense, and we know Ranieri loves a CM who defends. CAM I have no doubt he could play, but I’m not as sure about CM. That’s why I don’t really see him as heir to Nedved on the left, even if he replaces him it won’t be a like-for-like swap.

By: Marco Pantanella

Marco Pantanella — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:44:10 +0000

Dear me… asking if Cristiano Zanetti can pass is like asking if Del Piero can take free kicks… you’re kidding right?

And more than Marchisio, I think we both forgot a certain Sebastian Giovinco. If something is lacking in Juve’s central midfield, it certainly isn’t quality.

By: alessio

alessio — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:04:35 +0000

Haha, I don’t know how you can think Molinaro is good. I can find 4-5 instances off the top of my head where he just flat out made a big error. Against Genoa, a Zambrotta-style backheader to Buffon easily intercepted, against Milan he just stood there and watched Inzaghi get a tap-in from Kaka’, etc. His crossing has improved, THANK GOD. And he’s playing decent pre-season. But against CL teams I have little faith, he could easily-self destruct. He had a few good games this season but maybe it’s concentration lapses.

Sissoko, Zanetti and Poulsen are all quality midfielders. But can any of them really pass? Poulsen had that nice one but it remains to see if he can thread passes around other than do some long balls. Hoping for Marchisio to step on the plate on this one, just as I’m hoping for De Ceglie to oust Molinaro, unless he makes some rapid improvements. Pavel is god and I’d never disrespect him. He spent too much time this season backtracking to save Molinaro’s ass.

By: Marco Pantanella

Marco Pantanella — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:40:43 +0000

But our left-flank and center mid still are underwhelming.

You only say that because you think Molinaro’s worthless which is where you and I differ. He’s actually improved his crossing considerably lately… and there’s always that old fox Pavel Nedved on our left, how is that underwhelming?

Center mid I’m not worried. Sissoko = , Zanetti = and Poulsen has shown he might have Pirlo-esque qualities.

By: alessio

alessio — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:03:09 +0000

I’d still rather have had a great midfielder+defender than Amauri. Ranieri still has no idea how to incorporate all of our strikers and we shipped out yet another youth product. Don’t get me wrong, I’m down with Amauri now that he’s here. But our left-flank and center mid still are underwhelming. Decent, but underwhelming.