Juventus : I know what you did last summer...

With the Coppa Italia over and 180 minutes of football played, what exactly have we learned about Juventus chances of holding onto their crown as champions of Italy? After all, in case anyone has forgotten, Serie A for the Old Lady kicks back into action in 3 days time. . . 

Going into the current season (2019/2020) Juventus had a squad of 23 players, and three main competitions in sight to win, now, does a 23 man squad sound big enough to deliver on three fronts? Right now, the answer is no. As of writing Juventus have three injuries to three key players, Giorgio Chiellini, Gonzalo Higuain and most recently Alex Sandro. With a congested fixture list ahead that includes a match every 4 days this leaves Juventus in a very tough position and it all goes back to decisions made last summer. 


“WE'VE CHANGED A LOT, BUT ITS NOT A YEAR OF TRANSITION"


Those are the words Pavel Nedved said back in August 2019, words that sound very hollow after what has transpired since the beginning of the season. With the arrival of Maurizio Sarri, many saw it as a move by the club to distance themselves from the more pragmatic style of football that had been seen under Massimiliano Allegri during his final two seasons with the club. Instead the Old Lady would embark on a make over to entice new eyes on a more appealing brand of football, 'sarri ball'. Unfortunately the Old Lady very much looks like she is still in the process of wearing a new face, as despite some flashes of 'sarri ball' the style of play has for the most part remained the same, frustrating and ugly on the eye. Naturally when a new manager arrives there will always be a period of transition before their ideas are fully understood by their players, but at no point during the season has player and manager looked to even be speaking the same language in terms of football. Cast your mind back over the season so far and count the number of times that Juventus have won and won convincingly, not many instances come to mind do they? And is it any surprise when Sarri delivers quotes like this post game, “We are struggling to get past opposition players when taking men on, we have a team built on individuals who can usually do that very well." A team built on individuals is the most worrying part of this admission from Sarri, if the team is built on individuals rather than tactics and football philosophy, then it goes a long way as to explaining why we are yet to see consistent signs of Sarri's brand of football and raises the question, what exactly does the Italian coach do with his squad during training sessions? 


LACK OF OPTIONS IN ATTACK

It was decided that there was no place for Mario Mandzukic in the squad despite combining well with Cristiano Ronaldo during the previous season, which very few fans objected to given the strikers age (34 years old) and a need to inject the squad with some much needed fresh faces. The manner of the Croatian strikers departure however is a completely different story. Mandzukic exit could be explained by the clubs need to reduce the wage bill, especially with the likes of Rabiot & Ramsey arriving on big contracts. Rabiot earns a reported £116,000 per week, but that is dwarfed by Aaron Ramsey's earning's of £400,000 per week, so you can understand the club's need for departures. So Mandzukic leaves the club, all be it midway through the season in January on a free transfer, but still, the wage bill has been somewhat reduced for the Old Lady. Fans should have been looking forward to seeing young Italian striker Moise Kean get more minutes on the pitch in the Croatians absence, but instead he was also sold during that summers transfer window, joining Everton for a reported £36m. These decisions meant that Juventus had to heavily rely on Gonzalo Higuain to play as striker in Maurizio Sarri's preferred 4-3-3 formation, with Dybala regularly trading places with his compatriot. Now with Higuain injured Juventus are reduced to having only one player available that is comfortable playing the role of striker, a player that spent most of the past couple of months testing positive for Covid-19, Paulo Dybala. Cristiano Ronaldo is also an option for this role, but if the previous two games against Milan & Napoli are to go by, it is not a position that Juventus big name favours playing. Either way recent events have exposed a worryingly lack of depth in this position for the Old Lady. Speaking of a lack of depth...


WHERES THE FULL BACKS?

Once again, rewind back to the summer of 2019 and potential problems for the upcoming season become clear as day to see. If the clubs handling of the striker position looked odd the dealings at full back were completely baffling. Outgoings included both Leonardo Spinazzola, who left for Roma at a cost of £26.55m and João Cancelo, who departed for Manchester City in a £58.50m deal that included Danilo coming to Juventus. Also arriving would be Luca Pellegrini, however fans wouldn't get a chance to see the Italian left back play for Juventus as he was quickly loaned out to Cagliari. These decisions left Juventus with only 3 players that could naturally play the position of full back, Alex Sandro, Mattia De Sciglio and new arrival Danilo. To address this, the solution was to convert Juan Cuadrado from a right winger to right back, and to the Colombians credit he has performed well in his new role. However one player that has somewhat suffered from this predicament is Alex Sandro, with no competition (similar to last season) the Brazilian full back starts the majority of Juventus games as left back, racking up a tally of 33 starts for the club. By comparison the other left back in the squad Mattia De Sciglio has 12 starts to his name. That's less than Sami Khedira with 18 starts to his name, a player that has been injured since December 2019. This highlights a serious lack of options in the full back position, which has further been compounded by Alex Sandro's injury, which has been reported to keep him out of action for at  least 3 weeks. With hindsight the club should not have went into the season without properly addressing the lack of options in the full back position, but that should have been obvious from the beginning.

LACKING IN FITNESS, OR SOMETHING ELSE?

As expected Juventus recent showings in the Coppa Italia can be described at best as average, and that's the polite version. But this was always likely to be the case as the team's last competitive game of football came on the 8th of March, and since then not only has football changed but also the world around it. A lack of match fitness, rustiness, call it what you want was always going to be an issue for returning teams, as unlike a normal season when there is a break that break is quickly followed by intense training sessions focused on fitness and pre-season friendlies to get the team accustomed a season of football, neither options have been available in these extraordinary circumstances. So is that the reason for going 180 minutes without scoring a goal? No, no its not. If that was the case, then why have other clubs around Europe fared better than Juventus on their return to competitive football? Simple unlike other clubs like say Manchester City for example, who comfortably won their first game after a long lay off 3-0, Juventus are a side without an identity, no clear plan and no structure. To take the words right out of Sarri's own mouth, Juventus are "a team built on individuals", and when those individuals are severely lacking in fitness and match sharpness you have problems, big problems. The task for Sarri is taking the pieces available to him and fitting them together in a match winning formula, instead of relying on moments of individual brilliance as a get out of jail card because that individual brilliance could take some time to return, and time is not a luxury Juventus have.

PogBACK?

It's that time of year again for Juventus fan's, summer is around the corner & not even a postponed football season can prevent this transfer rumour from rearing its familiar head once more. Paul Pogba, a Juventus return. POGBACK!

So with no football to talk about (for the time being at least) lets revisit this persistent rumour and discuss the obvious, no not if its realistic, but if it's a good or bad move, and more importantly, who benefits the most?


THE GOOD :
Lets start off on the positive side, Juventus fans have been clamouring for a big name signing in midfield for several years now. Whilst the signings of Aaron Ramsey & Adrien Rabiot got pulses slightly racing last summer, an injury prone 'Gooner' & an unwanted Rabiot weren't exactly high on Bianconeri fan's wish list. So doe's Paul Pogba fit the bill of a 'big name signing'? Sure, of course he does. Along with a heavy dose of nostalgia from when Juventus had a complete midfield. But is he what Juventus currently need? Well, when it comes to talent he is certainly better than whats currently available, in fact he would walk into the old lady's midfield. Pogba is also familiar with the surroundings of Juventus, as he once played in the black & white stripes almost five years ago. But is he the same player that Juventus fan's once cheered for? Or is he something else completely?


POTENTIALLY SOLVES MIDFIELD PROBLEM :
Pogba without a shadow of a doubt is a big name signing, and one of the most known players in football. There can also be no argument that he walks into the current Juventus midfield without much effort (Sorry Khedira), but could he lead it? Pogba's best years were spent with two of Pirlo, Marchisio or Vidal beside him in a three man midfield. The idea being that Pogba works best when he is free to go forward with little defensive duties, the problem arrives however when you look at the current batch of midfielders that can contribute to the team defensively. Ramsey? Rabiot? Nope, Khedira? Sorry, doesn't have the legs, Matuidi? Sure, Pjanic? nope, unless it involves a pass back to the defence. Which leaves us with Bentancur, a talented 22 year old midfielder who has yet to fully establish himself into the starting 11 since joining the club, but the Uruguayan can, when called upon help out with the defensive side of the game. Can you see Pogba being a game changer alongside any of those names? Didn't think so, which means a bit of wheeling and dealing would need to be done to ensure that the club gets the best out of Pogba. But could Juventus financially pull that off? 


COMMERCIAL VALUE :
Ok I know, football is played on the pitch and few (if any) fans care about a players value away from the pitch, but a football club most certainly does. In fact, its part of the reason that Manchester United came calling for pogBACK (sound familiar?). Pogba has a sponsorship deal with Adidas, who are the current shirt manufacturers for Juventus, a deal that is worth £31m, so you can see the appeal of why Adidas would want to see Pogba playing for one of 'their clubs'. Pogba also has a large presence on social media, with over 40 million followers of his Instagram account. Again, this doesn't mean anything to the average football fan, but when it comes to getting your clubs name 'out there' in the social media world, there's no better way to do it than by signing a player that has an established social media presence, just look at some of benefits that signing Cristiano Ronaldo had on Juventus social media accounts. Expect more of the same if Pogba returned to Turin.



THE BAD :


LONG TERM INJURY
Paul Pogba's name hasn't been far away from the news this season, but for all the wrong reasons. Pogba began the current season as first team regular for Manchester United, no surprise there, and registered two assist's in their opening game against Frank Lampard's Chelsea. So far, so good. However, from then on it all began to go downhill for Manchester United, as well as pogba, as the Frenchman suffered an ankle injury 4 games into the season. And since then it's been a guessing game of not only when, but if Man Utd fans would see Pogba regularly touch a ball again at Old Trafford, as the signals being sent out from Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær were mixed at best.

SEPTEMBER 2019 : "He (Pogba) twisted his ankle, I think, but he'll go away and hopefully it's not too bad and he can play for France because I know how much he loves his country and playing for them."

OCTOBER 2019 : “I don’t think we’ll see him before December. He’ll be out for a while,” 

NOVEMBER 2019 : Pogba post's a picture on instagram of his injured ankle as proof of being injured, amid speculation that the injury is 'fake' due to an earlier Instagram post showing Pogba playing basketball with an NBA player. Once again, Solskjær was questioned on the status of his star midfielder. “He’s not ready to train. He had another scan at the start of the international break and his ankle has not healed up yet. He is stepping up the recovery so he doesn’t have to have the cast on. When you are out for six or seven weeks, you do lose loads of muscle."

JANUARY 2020 : Pogba is ruled out for at least a further 4 weeks with a new ankle injury after returning from his original injury to play two games. “Paul came back after a long spell out, played in two games, had a reaction, and couldn’t go to Burnley." said Solskjær, "He felt his ankle was sore, so we did a scan. It’s not the same injury, it’s a different injury.”

The point in highlighting this? Just how serious really was Pogba's ankle injury? And whichever angle you look at it, the answer doesn't look good. If the injury was serious then how will it affect the 27 year old midfielder? And could it be a sign of things to come in the Frenchman's future, after all, Since September 2019 Pogba has barely been seen on a football pitch, in fact, he has so far missed a total of 39 games from 47 fixtures, which is a whooping 82% of the fixtures played so far. Not exactly the statistics to entice a club into splashing big money to sign a player, especially in the current circumstances. So it's serious right? But what if it wasn't? And the injury was a way for Pogba to keep himself out of a Manchester United kit? Crazy I know, but entertain the idea for just a moment. If that was the case, then it speaks volumes about the character of Paul Pogba, and potential problems down the road should Juventus welcome their former player back with open arms. Whats to stop Pogba from pulling a similar stunt with Juventus if Barcelona or Real Madrid show interest in him? After all, it wouldn't be the first time that he got a move away when it suited him. It also doesn't take much to fuel this conspiracy theory when taking into the account that Pogba wanted a move away from Manchester last summer, and comments from the players notorious agent Mino Raiola, “Everyone knows the willingness of Paul to move on. We are in the process of that. Everyone knows what the feelings of Paul are." Is that really the type of player that Juventus want back at the club?


RISK VS REWARD
Lets cut to the chase, in order to sign Paul Pogba its going to cost A LOT of money, and that's before even getting into wage demands. Keep in mind that Pogba currently earns roughly  £290,000 per week at Manchester United, a figure that would see him become Juventus second highest earner above Higuain & Dybala. Pogba currently has a market value of £72m (according to transfermarkt), a value that was once £90m the previous year, so you can begin to imagine how much a transfer deal would cost to bring Pogba back to Juventus. If a worst case scenario takes place, in which Pogba doesn't fully recover from his persistent ankle injuries, then it would be tough to move Pogba onto another club for a profit, thus Juventus would be handcuffed with yet another, expensive, injury prone player (I'm looking at you Aaron Ramsey). It would also require at least one big earner going in the opposite direction, and the most sell able asset that Juventus have is Paulo Dybala, as seen by the clubs failed efforts to sell the player during the previous summer. Of course in a perfect world Juventus would sign Pogba, his injury woes would be a thing of the past & no assets would be sold to accommodate his return. But even then, would you really expect Pogba to remain in Turin for an extended period of time? Or use it as a springboard to one of the big two clubs in Spain?


CLOSING THOUGHTS 
Pogba is a talented footballer, and would improve what is currently on offer in Juventus midfield. A highlight reel of Pogba's goals during his time at Juventus alone would tempt any fan into day dreaming about seeing the name Pogba on the back of next season's Juventus shirt, but with any dream, there is also the possibility of it becoming a nightmare. Pogba left Juventus at 23 with his prime years ahead of him, now at the age of 27 Pogba has shown little sign of becoming the player that many expected him to be by now. Instead he is a player regularly criticised for his performances by fans, pundits & former Man Utd players, and now is coming off his first serious injury. Many players before Pogba have lost a step or two after enduring a long term injury, the question is, how many steps has Pogba lost? And is it a risk worth taking by Juventus?

JUVENTUS : TEAM OF THE DECADE (2010 - 2020)

Well, it really has been an incredible decade to be a Juventus fan. From entering the decade as, lets be honest, a punchline for the rest of Serie A's favourite joke, to punching back with a vengeance and dominating Italian football. We had the Conte era, followed by another era of success under Allegri. There were cheers, and yes there were also tears, but in the end when history is once again revisited it will read that this decade in Italian football belonged to one club, and one club alone, Juventus.

*Only appearances & stats from the past 10 years are counted, not the overall total*

• MANAGER : MASSIMILIANO ALLEGRI (2014 - 2019)
• Games : 271
• Win : 191
• Draw : 41
• Lose : 39

Arriving in 2014 after Antonio Conte promptly decided to leave the club, its safe to say that Allegri was far from an ideal replacement in the eyes of many Juventus fan. Despite early concerns, Allegri would take the club within 90 minutes of a historic treble in his debut season, winning Serie A, Coppa Italia (a trophy the club had failed to win since 1995) but falling at the last hurdle in a Champions League final to a heavily Favorited Barcelona. The following season (2015 - 2016) began horrifically as the club could only register 3 wins in the opening 10 Serie A fixtures, many teams would fail to bounce back from such bad form, but Juventus is not like most clubs and instead would go on an incredible winning streak, beginning with Torino in an eventful 2-1 victory and registering 26 wins over the remaining 28 games. More success would follow as Allegri would lead the club to three more Scudetti, four consecutive Coppa Italia, and becoming the first manager in Europe's top five leagues to win four consecutive double (League and domestic cup). When Allegri arrived at Juventus, Antonio Conte had once said of the club "You cannot go to eat at a €100 restaurant with just €10 euro in your pocket”, well Allegri not only took that €10 euro club to a Champions League final, but has restored the clubs name on the list of VIP guests at said restaurant on a yearly basis.

• GOALKEEPER : GIANLUIGI BUFFON (2001 - 2018 // 2019 - Present)
• Appearances : 320
• Clean Sheets : 164

This one is a no brainer, as will the majority of Juventus defence. Always in the conversation for best ever, Buffon remained loyal to his old lady throughout his career, and before the letters P S G leaves your lips, that was down to the clubs decision not to renew Buffon's contract, and as a result Buffon went on vacation to France for a season. During this decade Buffon would become club captain on 11 August 2012, and remain so for 6 seasons up until the end of the 2017 - 2018 season. Amongst the collection of team trophies obtained during this period of time, Buffon would add several personal achievements to his name, two appearances in UEFA team of the year (2016, 2017), becoming the first ever goalkeeper to win the Golden Foot award (2016) and also the first ever winner of The Best FIFA Goalkeeper award in 2017. No doubt before the current season is over Buffon will add one more personal achievement to his long list, he is one league appearance away from passing Milans Paolo Maldini as Serie A's all time leading appearance holder. 

• LEFT BACK : ALEX SANDRO (2015 - Present)
• Appearances : 175
• Goals : 10
• Assist : 24

Arriving from Porto for £23m, Alex Sandro would almost immediately become a first team regular, competing with Patrice Evra for the left back role in the Brazilians debut season, and cementing his name into the starting 11 with Evra's departure the following year. Alex Sandro's best season so far at Juventus came in 2016 - 2017, notching up 4 goals and 6 assists as the club once again reigned supreme in the domestic game, only to lose out on a historic treble by losing in the UEFA Champions League final. When the starting 11 for a Juventus game is announced, you can almost guarantee that Alex Sandro will be named in the line up.

• CENTRE BACK : ANDREA BARZAGLI (2010 - 2019)
• Appearances : 281
• Goals : 2
• Assist : 6

Juventus paid £270k to sign Barzagli from Wolfsburg, thats right, a member of Juventus renowned 'B.B.C' cost under £1m, and looking at Barzagli's career its fair to say that the move was an absolute bargain for the old lady, Andrea Agnelli himself claimed that Barzagli has been “the best signing we ever made". Arriving midway through the 2010-2011 season on January 26th, Barzagli would make 16 appearances in a season to forget for fans, but along with Giorgio Chiellini & Leonardo Bonucci the foundation's for a solid defensive unit that could shut down any attack was already in place. In Barzagli's first full season, Juventus would go on to win the first of 8 straight scudetti and do so in impressive fashion, remaining undefeated in the league for the entire season. Barzagli would remain a first team regular in the Juventus defence for most of his 9 season's at the club, before age & injuries would persuade the defender to hang his boots up and retire from the game in 2019. Barzagli would play his final game in black & white inside the Allianz Stadium against Atalanta, ending the game on the 61st minute as a second half substitute, and leaving the pitch to a standing ovation. It was well deserved.

• CENTRE BACK : LEONARDO BONUCCI (2010 - 2017 // 2018 - Present)
• Appearances : 383
• Goals : 27
• Assist : 10

Arriving for £14m from Bari in 2010, Bonucci flourished in Antonio Conte's 3–5–2 formation alongside Barzagli & Chiellini. Bonucci could best be described as a modern centre back, competent in defence & comfortable with playing the ball out from the back, a ball playing defender. Ever present in both Juventus & Italy squads, Bonucci would possess an impressive range for passing & striking ability that any striker would be proud of, scoring 27 goals during the decade, more than any Juventus centre back during that period of time. The decade hasn't been perfect however, as Bonucci would spend one season with AC Milan for the 2017 - 2018 season, it was a move that left a sour taste in the mouth of many Juventus fans. Despite this, Bonucci would return to once again play regularly in the Juventus defence, and with the absence of Chiellini during the current season (2019 - 2020) take on the role of club captain, and prove himself worthy of the role with performances to remind fans just how good Bonucci really is.

• CENTRE BACK : GIORGIO CHIELLINI (2005 - Present)
• Appearances : 341
• Goals : 19
• Assist : 13

When it comes to choosing a team of the decade, there is one name that instantly comes to mind, and that name is Giorgio Chiellini. One of the best defenders of his generation, Chiellini embodies what it means to be a Juventino, shedding blood, sweat and tears during his career in black and white, sometimes literally in the case of a 2015 meeting with Real Madrid in 2015. Great positional sense, excellent in the tackle and relishing any duel that comes his way, just take a look back at the celebration's between himself and Buffon whenever they have prevented an opponent from scoring against them. Always a leader in the team, that role would become official when Chillini was made captain and given the armband in 2018, it was a decision no one could argue.

• RIGHT BACK : STEPHAN LICHTSTEINER (2011 - 2018)
• Appearances : 259
• Goals : 15
• Assist : 30

'The Swiss Express' arrived in Turin from Lazio for £9m, and like many others on this list played a big role in Juventus decade of dominance. Since the departure of Gianluca Zambrotta all the way back in 2006, the club had never really added a reliable player in the right back position, but that changed in 2011 with the signing of Stephan Lichtsteiner. Marking his debut with the first goal scored inside the Allianz Stadium in a 4-1 win over Parma, Lichtsteiner never looked back, not only capable of defending but providing an assist too with his crosses. One occasion that perfectly describes Lichtsteiner's character would take place during the 2015 - 2016 season, missing out a full month of football due to undergoing heart surgery, Lichtsteiner would return on November 3rd to not only play, but score what would later be voted as one of the goals the season in a 1-1 draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Champions League. Despite the names that have come in since, and in the case of Dani Alves during Lichtsteiners time at the club, none have gone on to make the position there own quite like he did.

• CENTRE MIDFIELD : ARTURO VIDAL (2011 - 2015)
• Appearances : 171
• Goals : 48
• Assist : 25

Signed for £11m from Bayer Leverkussen, Vidal would go on to prove that he was worth so much more than the fee paid. Vidal was an engine for Juventus, contributing in attack and also not afraid to get stuck in by tackling the opponent too. An aggressive box to box type midfielder, Vidal brought attitude and sheer determination into the team, attributes that had been missing for quite some time, yet he was also skilled enough to worry opponents defence when Vidal came forward for a shot on goal. The fact that Juventus are yet to find a suitable replacement 4 seasons after his sale to Bayern Munich in 2015, tells its own story of how important a player Vidal was for Juventus.  

• CENTRE MIDFIELD : ANDREA PIRLO (2011 - 2015)
• Appearances : 164
• Goals : 19
• Assist : 38

Milan considered Pirlo as damaged goods, the Maestro thought otherwise. Arriving at Juventus on a free transfer, something that would become a trademark for Juventus over the decade, Pirlo would go on to show Milan just how wrong they were to let him leave on a free transfer. From his debut season Pirlo pulled the strings within the Old Lady's brand new orchestra, providing two assists in a 4-1 win over Parma, the first game played in Juventus brand new stadium. Time & time again Juventus fans would admire the Maestro at work, spraying passes all over the pitch, passes which 9/10 reached their designated target. Not only did Pirlo create goals, he could score them too, especially when it came to delivering from a set piece. During his time playing in the black & white stripe's Pirlo would win 8 trophies over 4 seasons, and in the process proving to the football world that he was far from being finished back in 2011 when his story with Juventus began.

• CENTRE MIDFIELD : CLAUDIO MARCHISIO (2005 - 2018)
• Appearances : 296
• Goals : 31
• Assist : 35

Where do you begin when talking about Claudio Marchisio and Juventus? Not many players can say they have been promoted from the clubs youth system, and even fewer can say they went on to cement their name in starting 11 of the senior team, Marchisio did both. Often underappreciated outside of Juventus fans, when it comes to talking about the players Juventus have had over the years in each squad, there was one consistent name that appeared in the midfield, Marchisio. The Italian was Juventus most complete midfielder during his time with the club, he could contribute defensively, dribble, pass and score the occasional goal too. 

• CENTRE FORWARD : GONZALO HIGUAIN (2016 - Present)
• Appearances : 127
• Goals : 61
• Assist : 14

Breaking a Serie A goal-scoring record that had remained intact since 1949-1950 season, with 36 league goals, Higuain's next move was to break another record, leaving Napoli to join Juventus for what at the time was a league record transfer fee of £81.00m. Higuain was not only a high profile signing, he was the goal machine that Juventus had been craving since Tevez left the club for a return to Argentina. 'Pipita' immediately improved the Juventus front line, Prior to his arrival Juventus relied on Mario Mandzukic, Paulo Dybala & Alvaro Morata to match the 29 goals Tevez had scored in his final season at the club, none of the 3 came close. Higuain however wasted little time in finding the back of the net, scoring on his debut against Fiorentina in a 2-1 win, it would be the first of 32 goals scored during the season by Higuain. To further emphasis how the Argentine's arrival impacted the club, the previous season's (2015-2016) top goal scorer was Paulo Dybala with 23. Higuain has also scored some big goals too for Juventus, most memorably a match winning header against Inter in a must win game for the Bianconeri, as Juventus came back from 2-1 behind to win 3-2 in the dying minutes of the match. When it comes to picking a pure goal scoring striker for Juventus there can be only one name at the top of that list. Gonzalo Higuain.

• CENTRE FORWARD : PAUOLO DYBALA (2015 - present)
• Appearances : 204
• Goals : 87
• Assist : 29

So who should partner Higuain up front in team of the decade? Some might say Cristiano Ronaldo, but he has only been with the club for the final two years of the decade, Carlos Tevez? Arguably the clubs first 'big name' arrival in 2013? No, neither will partner Higuain in this team, instead that role is taken by 'La Joya' the Jewel, Pauolo Dybala. Arriving from Palermo for £36m in 2015, like his compatriot Higuain, it didn't take Dybala long to hit the ground running. Dybala scored on his first full 90 minutes for the club on match day two against Roma, ending the season as top goalscorer for the club & without doubt the teams most creative outlet. Over the past 4 seasons Dybala has etched his name into the hearts of Juventus fans, scoring goals on some of the Old Lady's most memorable European nights and also just as important taking on the weight of the clubs number 10 shirt.

TALKING JUVE

LOKOMOTIV MOSCOW:

On paper a home game against Lokomotiv Moscow should have been a straight forward win for Juventus, but as the old saying goes the game of football isn't played on paper. Lokomotiv Moscow made their intentions known early on, restricting space for Juventus to play into and make life difficult for their hosts, perhaps even nick a point too. If a draw sounded good to the Russian outfit pre-game then imagine how it would feel to take a lead against the Bianconeri, and that's exactly what happened. With almost half an hour played Juventus won a free kick that was delivered into the Russians penalty area, where an unmarked Bonucci was waiting to head the ball just wide of goal. The problem for Juventus began straight from the re-start as Guilherme took his goal kick long into midfield where an on running De Ligt challenged for the high ball, he failed to connect with the ball along with Eder, Miranchuk took advantage of the situation and shrugged off Bonucci who failed to deal with the threat, Miranchuk then found former Inter player Jao Mario inside Juventus penalty area but his effort was saved by Szczesny. Unfortunately for the Juve number one he could only palm the ball out to an unmarked Miranchuk, who was directly in front of goal to blast the ball high into the net for a shock lead. Once the Russian outfit had a lead to defend it doesn't take a genius to figure out what would happen next, defend defend and defend again. For the remainder of the match Lokomotiv Moscow made life very difficult for Juventus, limiting Juventus route to goal with crosses from out wide due to a lack of space to pass in central positions. However, Sarri wasted little time in making adjustments in the second half as Khedira made way for Higuain on the 48th minute and again on the 65th minute with Matuidi replacing Rabiot. Finally as the game approached the last ten minutes of normal time, Paulo Dybala took centre stage and struck a quick fire double to put Juventus ahead for the first time in the game, the first goal being the pick of the bunch, curling the ball into the back of the next from just outside the 18 yard box in trademark fashion. Despite winning the game and remaining top of group D, Lokomotiv Moscow highlighted some potential problems that Juventus could face down the line, especially against 'lesser' quality opponents. When an opponent restricts the space available on the pitch with compact defensive football, 'sarri ball' generally becomes nullified, as seen through out the game against Lokomotiv, resulting in Juventus being frustrated when trying to play their usual passing game and resorting to hopeful crosses from wide. This could be an effective method with Ronaldo on his A game, but if like against Lokomotiv CR7 isn't firing on all cylinders then there aren't many other options for a headed effort on goal, unless Bonucci or De Ligt are waiting inside the 18 yard box which would create it's own problems defensibly for Juventus. Thankfully Juventus ended the night with another 3 points, but it certainly wasn't easy and neither will Juventus next Champions league fixture, same opponent, different venue. The Lokomotiv Stadium, in Russia.


STAT FACT : Prior to Dybala levelling the score, Juventus had 20 shots on goal, with only two hitting the target, this stat alone tells its own story about this game

MANDZUKIC SITUATION : 

The fan favourites days as a Juventus player have looked numbered for some time now, and with links of a move away from the club in January a departure looks incredibly likely. Early September the Juventus registered their squad list for the champions league, and a few eyebrows were raised when Mario Mandzukic was omitted from the squad. The omission was also confirmation that the Croatian was well and truly not needed by the club anymore, and at 33 years old you could understand managements line of thinking. However whats less understandable is how a player that just signed a contract extension during April of this year, can suddenly become surplus to requirements. So lets look at this one objectively. Once players start to creep above the age of 30 its probably a good idea to start planning ahead for replacing them, also if a club wants a decent return from a transfer fee when the player does move on, then extending that players contract is also a good idea, unless of course that deal includes an increase in salary, which is exactly what happened with Mandzukic. Why is this a bad idea? Well, for a start it becomes more difficult to sell a player that is on big wages, as seen during the summer when Mandzukic stayed firm & rejected moves away from Juventus. Now that its become crystal clear that Mandzukic has no place in the Juventus squad, never mind the starting 11, the question now is where does he go? And who would even want him? The ideal destination for Mandzukic would be a club in need of experience and lacking in options when it comes to strikers, basically the opposite of what Juventus have, step forward Manchester United. The Premier league club currently reside in 14th position, far away from where they want to be, and who better to turn to than Mandzukic? A proven player that is available and more than ready for some game time, and who can also play in wide positions if required. After all, the previous time Man Utd signed an aging but physical attacker in the form of Zlatan Ibrahimovic it worked out pretty well. Despite residing in the lower half of the Premier league it would still be a better move for the Croatian than say AC Milan, who have also been linked with a move for Mandzukic, don't believe me? Just take a look at how moves to Milan worked out for Higuain and Bonucci.


CRISIS? WHAT CRISIS? :

the words Injury crisis and Juventus tend to go hand in hand, and whenever one comes around the usual feeling tends to be more 'here we go again' rather than a feeling of surprise. Losing captain Giorgio Chiellini after the opening game of the season against Parma was a big blow, however with the exciting prospect that is Matthijs de Ligt in the squad the absence of Chiellini was less harsh than it would have been without the young Dutch defender. The real serious blow to Juventus wasted little time in hitting, and hitting the Bianconeri hard, as the Old Lady suffered from a headache of an injury crisis in the full back position. During the summer transfer window Juventus sold João Cancelo and Leonardo Spinazzola who both played in the fullback position. Arriving in their places was Danilo and Luca Pellegrini who are also full backs, so far so good. However, the club decided to immediately loan Luca Pellegrini to Cagliari, which meant that Juventus would go into the new season with only 3 full backs in the first team squad. It was a strategy that didn't take very long to come back and haunt the old lady. First up was Mattia De Sciglio who would take a leave of absence with a thigh injury, quickly followed by Danilo who also suffered a thigh injury. This meant that the club had only one natural full back fully fit in Alex Sandro. So how would Sarri address his first big challenge of the season? Enter Juan Cuadrado, yes THAT Cuadrado. Usually Cudrado can be found playing out wide on the right hand side of the pitch as a winger with pace and as many tricks in his repertoire, though not always the best when it comes to his decision making, so with that description Cuadrado doesn't exactly sound like a good option to play as a right back, wrong. Despite having played as a right back only a handful of times during his time at Juventus prior to the current season (six to be exact), the Colombian has gone on to prove himself to be a solid option at right back. Contributing in attack with his usual forward runs out wide, and surprisingly coping well defensively as well. However, at the end of the day Cuadrado is more suited to playing as an attacking winger so he is always susceptible to a defensive error such as the one seen for Lokomotiv Moscow's goal (all be it not from his own creating, that falls on De Ligt & Bonucci). Still, despite Danilo returning from injury who is to say that Cuadrado doesn't remain as Juventus number one choice right back? After all the Colombian has more or less made the position his own since stepping up to the challenge.


ARGENTINE DUO PROVING THE DOUBTERS WRONG :

During the summer it very much looked like at least one of Dybala or Higuain would be playing their football outside of Turin. Higuain returned from a horrendous season at both Milan and Chelsea after failing to impress with either side, Higuain's time at Chelsea especially looked to have hurt any hope of remaining a Juventus player as the current manager Maurizio Sarri was at the time in charge of Chelsea. Despite this, Higuain kept his head down and looked a player determined to prove his worth during the pre-season friendlies with his selfless runs back, providing the odd goal and of course linking up well with Cristiano Ronaldo. Eventually the Argentine striker was deemed important enough to be kept on board for the season ahead, and his hard work and determination already looks to be paying off. As of writing Higuain has made ten appearances over 11 games, scoring 3 and one assist. Whilst this doesn't look overly impressive in numbers, all 3 goals have been scored in must win games for Juventus, coming against Bayer Leverkusen, Napoli and the match winning goal in Derby D'Italia against Inter. When Higuain has a point to prove he is a player you want on your team, and this season he definitely has a point to prove. Another player that has a point to prove is resident number 10 Paulo Dybala, who was deemed to be an expendable asset after a mediocre season by his standards. At one point it even looked like La Joya might even be wearing red in Manchester (Man United sure do like Juventus players lately) as according to reports in the summer a deal was agreed between Juventus and Man United that would see Dybala leave, and Romelu Lukaku arrive. Fortunately the deal never happened, as Dybala refused to join Man United or the club refused his wage demands, either way Dybala remained a Juventus player. Despite mainly spending his time on the substitutes bench during the opening games of the season, once the summer transfer window closed Dybala was finally given the opportunity to show Sarri that he could be an important player for the season ahead. So far Dybala has played part in nine of the the eleven games played so far, scoring three (a brace against Lokomotiv Moscow) and three assists. Now that Dybala is no longer being asked to play out wide (he can thank Douglas Costa's injury for that) his form and effectiveness for the team has increased, now playing in his more natural position as a support striker or centre forward. In order to maximise the Argentine's abilities he is best played closer to goal, and not further away in a wide position like seen time and time again last season. The question now is, what happens once Douglas Costa returns from injury? Will Sarri revert back to his original 4-3-3 formation? Or continue with the current variation of a 4-3-1-2 that has resulted in Dybala being more involved in play. With the current squad line up, namely the number of midfielders available, you would expect Juventus to continue playing 4-3-1-2, for Dybala it is a set up that he will be hoping continues throughout the season, Douglas Costa however is a different story.

JUVENTUS - VERONA : POST MATCH (21.09.2019)

It was a day for the new boys and familiar old faces to prove their worth, as Sarri made 5 changes to the starting 11 that faced Atletico Madrid a few short days ago. Paulo Dybala joined Ronaldo & Cuadrado in attack, the midfield saw two changes as Pjanic & Khedira took their place on the substitutes bench, replaced by Bentancur & Ramsey who would be making his debut start for the club. In defence De Ligt made way for Juventus other young signing of the summer, 21 year old Demiral who also made his league debut for Juventus. Buffon returned to his old familiar spot in goal for Juventus to make his 902nd Serie A appearance, now tying Milan legend Paulo Maldini for the most league appearances.


Throughout the first half fouls were committed by both sides that broke up play and slowed the tempo of the game down, no doubt favouring Verona who looked to frustrate Juventus. The main talking points from the opening 45 minutes would be two penalty decisions, one given and one not given. The first incident took place when Ronaldo appeared to have his shirt pulled enough to bring him down inside of Verona's penalty area, however the referee saw no foul and play continued. The second decision was made shortly after, and replays showed that it was probably the right decison, as Demiral tried to prevent Di Carmine from having a potential effort on goal and was too aggressive in putting his arms over the Verona player. What followed next was a bizarre sequence of events, Di Carmine stepped up only to be denied by the post, Darko Lazovic was alert enough to pounce on the rebound but was also denied by the frame of the goal, until Miguel Veloso finally volleyed the ball into the back of the net as Juventus failed to clear the ball out of their own area. 10 minutes later it would be Juventus turn to hit the back of the net, as Aaron Ramsey marked his debut with his first goal as a Juventus player, Ronaldo drawing the Verona players attention before passing to an Unmarked Ramsey who controlled the ball and struck from outside the 18 yard box to make it 1-1. Ramseys debut could have gotten even better, but he was not alert enough to see Ronaldo's deflected pass that was intended for Dybala but instead bounced past Ramsey who was well positioned for a strike on goal.


HALF TIME : JUVENTUS 1-1 VERONA


Early on in the half we would see the evenings second penalty, as minutes after the restart Cuadrado was brought down inside Verona's penalty area and Ronaldo did what he does best to put Juventus ahead for the first time in the game. Verona goalkeeper made the marksman job all the easier by giving away the position that he was diving early and Ronaldo struck the ball down the middle. With five minutes played the game would see its first substitution, Pjanic on and Bentancur coming off. On the 71st minute Dybala would cap off his performance in the first team with a round of applause from the Allianz Stadium, coming off as a substitute to make way for Higuain. Shortly after his introduction, Higuains first contribution to the game was to receive a bloody nose as he challenged for the incoming ball from a Pjanic free kick, not the introduction Higuain would have had in mind. As the game entered the final 10 minutes of normal play, Higuain would sit on the pitch and visibly show his frustrations, as the earlier knock that drew blood from his nose was causing him concern, but regardless Higuain would continue after some treatment from the medical staff. Despite trailing 2-1 Verona would continue to try and draw the scoreline level and almost doing just that in the dying minutes of the game, Buffon rolling back the years to keep his old lady ahead and denying Lazovic from close range before Veloso saw his effort only just hit the bar.


FULL TIME : JUVENTUS 2-1 VERONA



STATS FACT :

TOTAL SHOTS : 
JUVENTUS 21 - 10 VERONA



ON TARGET : 
JUVENTUS 3-3 VERONA



COMPLETED PASSES : 
JUVENTUS 434 - 270 VERONA



FOULS :
JUVENTUS 12 - 19 VERONA

Alex Sandro ended the game as Juventus most creative outlet, with the most completed passes (71) and creating the most goal scoring opportunities (4)


ZONAL MARKING :
With the recent game against Atletico Madrid still in memory, Verona would also highlight Juventus concerns when it comes to their own method of defending against set pieces. Similarly to Atletico, when it came to Verona's best chances to score they looked more likely to come from a set piece, as on several occasions a yellow shirted player would find himself un-marked in front of goal with an opportunity to head the ball towards goal. Against Atletico the old lady's luck in defence run out, and had Verona taken advantage of their chances the scoreline could have been different today, what is evident is that Juventus need to do more work on the training pitch if they are to avoid conceding goals from set pieces.


PLAYER WATCH : DEMIRAL
started his first competitive game for Juventus, and it showed. Demiral showed enthusiasm & commitment when it came to approaching his defensive duties, but too many times crossing the line of whats regarded by officials as 'aggressive play', once a defender puts his arms around an opposition player they run the risk of conceding a penalty and that is exactly what happened during the first half for Verona's opening goal. Similar to Juventus other recent CB signing De Ligt, Demiral is young with time on his side to learn, but he will need to learn fast if he wants to play a role in the bigger games of the season. 


PLAYER WATCH : DYBALA
Given his first start of the season it was time for 'La Joya' to deliver and prove his doubters wrong, and there should be little argument that the Argentine did just that today. Linking up well with Ronaldo in attack, coming deep into midfield to help his team mates when possession was lost, more performances like this and Dybala may well see himself in the starting line up more often than expected.

ATLETICO - JUVENTUS : MATCH PREVIEW (18.09.2019)

CURRENT FORM :
ATELTICO : 2 WIN, 0 DRAW, 1 DEFEAT
JUVENTUS : 2 WIN, 1 DRAW, 0 DEFEAT

PREVIOUS RESULT :
REAL SOCIEDAD 2-0 ATELTICO
FIORENTINA 0-0 JUVENTUS


Its that time of year, hopes are high with expectations even higher. The champions league story for Juventus begins once again, and it begins with a tough away trip to a familiar opponent, Atletico Madrid. Last season's encounter provided a roller coaster of emotions for Juventus & her fans, following up a morale sapping 2-0 defeat at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium with a memorable 3-0 comeback in Turin to see the Bianconeri through to the quarter finals, the question is what emotion will Juventus be providing tonight?


THE RONALDO FACTOR :
There is no I in team, but when it comes to having Ronaldo in your team 9/10 he is the man to make the difference when it matters most, especially when the opponent is Atletico Madrid. Ronaldo has scored an incredible 25 goals over 33 fixtures against Atletico Madrid, and after scoring a hat trick during the previous meeting, Atletico Madrid fans will not be looking forward to the sight of Ronaldo once again on the oppositions team.


ONE TO WATCH : João Félix
Arriving from Benfica for a transfer fee of 120 million euros, so far the 19 year old Portuguese attacker has looked well on his way to proving a shrewd signing on Atletico Madrid's part, starting all of Atletico's league games so far and providing one goal and one assist over the opening 4 La Liga fixtures. If Juventus want to avoid conceding goals then nullifying the threat of João Félix must be a priority.


OLD LADY FLATTERING TO DECIEVE
So far during Juventus opening 3 games the old lady have looked far from convincing, especially away from home. A shaky start away to Parma that saw Juventus wasteful in front of goal, a Jekyll & Hyde performance against Napoli that saw the old lady throw a 3-0 lead away, and most recently leaving Florence (admittedly a tough away fixture for Juventus) with a very fortunate 0-0 draw. Lets focus on that 0-0 draw, there are many possible explanations for why the team performed the way that they did, early injuries to Douglas Costa & Pjanic in the first half didn't help, as this threw the original game plan out the window as well as using up two substitutions early in the game. But still, the overall performance was disappointing & not what fans want to see before a big European night. A similar performance tonight, and Juventus could be returning to Italy beaten and bruised.


SARRIBALL
Maurizio Sarri has a specific way that he wants his team to play, unfortunately for him his current team Juventus have not had very long to fully adjust to this style of play. Travelling away to Asia during pre-season didn't help but that's for another discussion. Also unfortunate was Sarri's absence from the side lines for Juventus opening two games of the season, as he was recovering from a bout of Pneumonia. What is clear when watching Juventus (and was to be expected so early in the season) is how the team are not completely comfortable having to play the ball out of defence, specifically Wojciech Szczęsny, who throughout the previous game never looked comfortable when on the ball & at times almost contributed to a Fiorentina goal. No doubt Atletico will look to press & take advantage similarly to how Fiorentina played, The Juventus defence will need to be alert & decisive in their passing, otherwise it will be very unlikely that the bianconeri will leave with a clean sheet intact. Also cause for concern is the long term absence of Giorgio Chiellini, who will remain on the injured list for a minimum of 6 months due to requiring knee surgery, long time followers of Juventus know how much of a difference Chiellini makes in defence, his presence & leadership is already being missed, and welcomed by every opponent Juventus will face during those 6 months. The bottom line is that the team will need time to fully adapt to a new method of playing their football, but with Atletico awaiting them in Spain, time is not on Juventus side.


CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM
Fortunately for Juventus, Atletico have at time's looked far away from the rock solid defensive unit that we have come to expect. Known in the past for being a tough, awkward opponent that frustrates their opposition, Atletico have uncharacteristically been conceding goals all over the place, even at home. Atletico surprisingly fell 2-0 behind against Eibar in their own stadium before bouncing back to win 3-2 thanks to a late stoppage time goal by Thomas. Atletico then followed that scare up with a 2-0 defeat against Real Socidad. Make no mistake Atletico will remain a very tough opponent for Juventus, as the old lady has displayed her own uncharacteristic flaws in defence, throwing a 3-0 lead away at home against Napoli before a Koulibaly own goal spared the old lady's blushes in a 4-3 win.


WHAT TO EXPECT
4-3-3 with both Matuidi & Khedira starting in the centre of midfield, despite Rabiot looking impressive during pre-season. Matuidi & Khedira can contribute to the team when called upon, but when both play together the midfield becomes slow & predictable. Slow and predictable are not descriptions you want to hear when the opponent is Atletico Madrid, who will likely ponce on any sign of indecisiveness on Juventus part. Any result taken from the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium will be earned & hard fought, and with Atletico Madrid conceding goals lately it isn't impossible to imagine Juventus leaving with a draw or win... If the right Juventus side turns up on the night. 

Allegri : End of an era

"You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain"


A popular phrase taken from Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy, it could also be applied to Massimiliano Allegri, but then again he never really was the hero to begin with, which sounds ludicrous when looking at the success that Juventus have enjoyed with Allegri in charge. However, rewind back to July 2014 and the feeling was anything but positive as far as the arrival of Allegri was concerned. Allegri arrived in Turin under a cloud of doubt (and literally pelted with eggs), previously losing his position as manager of AC Milan midway through the 2013/2014 season, after a dreadful run of results that saw the Rossoneri languishing in 11th place and a massive 30 points behind league leaders Juventus. But the Bianconeri were desperate and in need of a replacement after the sudden departure of Antonio Conte, who no longer wanted to dine at a €100 restaurant with just €10 in his pocket...


"It is an honour for me," said Allegri. "I'm very happy and I know what a big job coaching Juventus is." as for that '€100 restaurant' more commonly known as the UEFA Champions League  "We'll compete for the title all the way. As for Europe, we need to have a great run in the Champions League."


The Massimiliano Allegri era had begun, and what a debut season it would turn out to be. Juventus would once again maintain an iron grip on the Scudetto, only losing on three occasions over 38 league games, but this was nothing new, Antonio Conte had also delivered a Scudetto in each of his three seasons in charge. However, what Conte could not do, was achieve success in the domestic cup, where Conte failed Allegri succeeded with his first attempt, it would be the first of four coppa Italia trophies over five seasons. On the European front, Allegri also took the club on a memorable run to the final, creating memorable night's along the way such as defeating Olympiacos 3-2 on a rain soaked pitch in Turin, as well as eliminating Spanish giants Real Madrid in the semi finals. Of course the final itself was once again a step too far for the old lady, succumbing to the attacking talents of Barcelona in a 3-1 defeat, but still the signs were promising and fans were now the ones left with egg on their face for doubting Allegri's appointment. 

Back in the present day, on the 17th of May the club announced that after five seasons in charge, Allegri's time as Juventus manager had come to an end. so how did we get to this point? And more importantly what went wrong? 


LACK OF DIRECTION :

Despite ending every season lifting yet another Scudetto, look a little closer and the cracks were beginning to show. The main criticism of Allegri has been the style of play that he instructs the players to play, or more accurately the lack of style, as the man himself said recently this year “Beautiful football doesn’t pay off, at the end of the day you’ve got to just kick it away from your goal.” With a squad filled with several attack minded players, to ignore these options and instead opt for a 'safety first approach' should not, and ultimately was not acceptable. On several occasions Allegri would continue with this approach, opting to choose a defensive player such as De Sciglio in place of Cancelo in the starting eleven as an example, failing to find a starting place for Dybala, and alienating Benatia to the extent that the Moroccan defender left the club mid way through the season. The entire duration of the 2018/2019 season has been littered with sluggish performances and rigid football with only two game plans, crossing the ball from wide positions into the opponents penalty area, or simply giving the ball to Ronaldo. When it came to winning games this season the team heavily relied on individual performance's instead of focusing on a structured game plan. No structure, no game plan, and zero identity.


CARDIFF :

A painful subject for Juventus fans, but it could argued that this was the beginning of the end for Allegri. Tactically outclassed and unable to respond to Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid, Juventus crumbled in a poor second half performance to lose a second champions league final under Allegri, and that's not even discussing the rumours of a half time bust up in the Juventus changing room. Afterwards Allegri said “I thought about standing down because it will now be even more difficult [to win the Champions League] but I spoke with the club and then quickly made a decision. It will be a big challenge for us. We must improve.” with hindsight, perhaps he should have stepped down.


2017/2018 SEASON :

"We must improve" those were the words said by Allegri, but did Juventus improve after another champions league final defeat? No, not really. Although winning another Scudetto for the 7th season in a row, it could be argued it was a Scudetto that the old lady was fortunate to win. Not only losing to an exciting Napoli side 1-0 at home, but failing to even record a single shot on target during the 90 minutes. With four games remaining Napoli looked down on Juventus from the top of Serie A, and Juventus era of domestic dominance looked to be coming to an end, but instead it didn't, largely thanks to Napoli falling apart in spectacular fashion. The Champions League campaign wasn't much better either, throwing a 2-0 lead away against Tottenham at home as Allegri watched on from the sidelines, seemingly unable to respond to what was happening on the pitch. There was the 'what if' moment when Juventus almost took Real Madrid to extra time, had it not been for a last minute penalty, but remember Juventus were only in that position to begin with after losing the home leg 3-0.


CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FAILURE :

With the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo the objective was clear, win the Champions League. Somewhere along the line Allegri failed to get the memo, "It's not written anywhere that we're super-favourites for the Champions League. That would be madness." What followed was a group stage performance that resembled Jekyll and Hyde, from the aesthetically pleasing performance against Manchester United at old trafford, to a self inflicted defeat against the same club in the reverse fixture. In the knock out round it was a similar story, the bad, suffering a 2-0 defeat away to Atletico Madrid, and once again Allegri could do little from the sidelines to counter Diego Simeone's second half changes, followed up by the good, a memorable comeback to win 3-0 and progress to the quarter finals. Against Ajax however it was just plain bad, largely outplayed over two legs by a young Ajax side and deservedly knocked out, it would be a disappointing end for a club that stated its intentions to win the competition pre-season. Allegri also didn't do himself any favours by declaring that Ajax were "lucky", as anyone that watched both legs (particularly the second leg in Turin) could see that the Dutch outfit were far from lucky to reach the semi final stage at the expense of Juventus.



Despite this, it must be stated that overall Allegri's time as Juventus manager has been a success, overall Allegri delivered a total of 11 trophies during his reign, continually delivering a Scudetto year after year whilst also improving Juventus on the European front. Reaching two champions league finals is not something to be celebrated, but it is still an achievement none the less, especially when taking into context the position that Juventus were in prior to Allegri's arrival. When looking back, fans should remember the success that Allegri brought to the club, from the euphoric highs such as memorable wins against Barcelona & Real Madrid, and the 3-2 comeback against Inter last season that cannot be forgotten. Yes towards the end Allegri became flawed, and performances for the most part were far from satisfying, but the mans place in Juventus history cannot be denied.


Grazie for the moments mister, but the time for a new era to begin, is now.