Who are all these great Italian players we're missing out on? You can argue that we should have made a play at Barella. I would also take Verratti in a heartbeat. We were never going to make Chiesa a priority as we already have too many attackers. Italy isn't strong at right back, our weakness, as evidenced by the fact that de Sciglio still gets consideration. We already have the starting central defending duo among our players. Who are we missing out on? I understand the logic for bringing on Italian players if we had the same crop of players from the 80s, 90s and early 2000s. However, Italian football hasn't produced the same level of talent in some time and only now are we starting to see the reemergence of Italian players with promise. If they continue to develop, you will see us start to sign those players.
Coaches have switched because man marking has resulted in more goals per corner/crossed set piece relative to a zonal scheme. Juve were giving up such goals for the last 12 months when man marking. On that last situation in particular, they just looked disorganized. It's clear they are still getting acclimated to a new way of defending corners. I think over time this will all balance out. Juve are on a particularly awful run in terms of conceding on set pieces. They were never this bad. I bet they go a string of weeks where this tilts back in their favor. I'm not an expert on corners at all, but it seems like the most successful set up is to have a player on the far post where the keeper positions himself centrally and is aware of the open front post. By having one on each, obviously there is one less player picking up a man or this increases the spaces in zone scheme.
This is what I said... Where is the disagreement here? I'm confused. As for your criticism of stats, clubs will take advantage of EVERY aspect they can. If you think all levels of clubs aren't using big data and analysis to better understand how to win and perform better than I don't know what to tell you.
The other problem we have is, unlike Bayern in Germany where everyone will sell them their best players, we have many teams who refuse to deal with us. It is hard to assemble a mainly Italian team when clubs either refuse to sell to us, jack up the prices, or demand better players in return. One of the weaknesses of Serie A today is all the petty BS that goes along with all the ego first owners and idiotic fanbases we endure with so many clubs now.
Most definitely, problem with that is PSG is basically holding him hostage for the foreseeable future. There definitely isn't an abundance of Italian talent, the state of the national team being evidence of that. However, I would've gone for a potential gem like Sensi....
The point is that Juve can't compete at the highest level like they could previously fielding 6/7 Italians in their starting XI. Before calciopoli, you had Buffon, Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Camoranesi, and Del Piero playing key roles for a top level Juve side. You can't do that with the current crop of talent Italy have.
Sensi, Barella, Veratti, Jorginho, Politano, Zaniolo Yea its not 90s and 2000s but these guys are pretty good.....most other countries are same too, talent isnt as much as it used to be worldwide Spinazzola shoulda never been sold...he at least gave us depth and flexibility. I get it we had to sell to make a profit before June ended but again this is many of our managements bad decisions. Just look at fiasco of bonucci caldara higuain...and now Emre can...question is why do we sign all these players when we still wanna keep khedira and matuidi? Maybe one of Rabiot or Ramsey shoulda never been brought. We are paying about 24m (?) of salary for these 3 (per year) and neither are starters (one isnt even in CL) This is bad planning but we keep excusing the decisions cuz of money. Well we need to plan wiser
Juve have become a kiss of death for italian youth, they just rot on the bench and then are sold, regardless of how much talent they have or dont have, no one prospers here any more. Berna had 13 goals and 5 assists for a weak Fiorentina side before he came over, the year prior to that break out year, he had 6 goals and 4 assists. Then he sat for a long time and never found that firm, plus we dont know what instructions he was given when he could play... they cant just go on the field and do what they are good at, they have to play according to the managers orders. Moise Kean is another example, set a record for most goals per shot attempt for all of europe... then he was sold for light change. A competant front office would build on that, use him as a super sub.. then sell him for 50 million or more since the market for talented youth always yields higher transfers then what is deemed realistic. A smart club would hold on to him and grow him into the next big star, soccer is all about growing your club now and gaining more fans in emerging markets, a star black player is a huge asset. It was strange to watch zzola take over the entire left flank in the CL game and then never really be used again, he was phenomenal that match and he was feeding Ronaldo all game long, plus playing box to box the entire match. He looked very confident on the ball too when he had it, it was like the opposite of how Pjanic is when he has the ball. Barella is going to be extremely good, but he only wanted Inter. I am glad that Conte went over to Inter because he is going to make Barella and Sensi grow immensely, they will be future stars for the national team... can see them having a career like Mauro had. its a shame that Caldaras career has fizzled into what it is now, i know hes an intellectual and he does not love soccer, that he would be content pursuing his education further... he will probaly end up working for a large hedge fund, politics, or maybe even working front office for a club.
Dom Berardi is currently leading Serie A with 5 goals scored.. thats not an easy thing to do playing for Saussalo who have lost 2 of their 3 games so far. Lorenzo Pellegrini is currently leading Serie A with 3 assists Orsolini is behind him in 2nd place with 2 assists and he scored one goal too. Petagna has 2 goals and an assist for Spal who have lost 2 of 3 games. Sensi has scored twice Zaniolo is playing very well cristante has a goal and an assist so far tonali has 1 assist Meret had a great game against liverpool. older players... Baselli also has 2 assists to his name, tho hes 27 years old. Donnarumma has 3 goals for a the recently promoted Brescia, he is 28 years old Ceppetelli has 2 goals over at Cagliari
Of the players that have been mentioned, only Verratti is an established world class player. Barella, Zaniolo and Sensi could get there....but this is hardly the same level of guys we had in the past. The decline of Serie A is evidence of that. The fact that of the Italian teams only Juve have been relevant in Europe in recent years is further proof.
He's so overrated. He's a big fish in a little pond. That he felt he "wasn't ready" for Juve and wasn't willing to compete for a place is an admission that he knows this. Further, he's dog shit every time he plays with better quality players on the national team, hardly ever making an influence on the game at that level. For me, Pellegrini is going to be an above-average player. Playing for a side like Roma is probably where he should be...nothing wrong with that but he'll never be a great player. You can probably say the same for Cristante. Orsolini is young so I'll reserve judgment but the fact that Juve passed on him is telling. Petagna?! Seriously? He couldn't even cut it Atalanta. It will be interesting to see how guys like Sensi and Tonali develop but we can hardly say that they are guaranteed world class players. Point is, the quality presently isn't what it was and the future is very much speculative....you can't fault Juve for not targeting these guys if they are vying to be the best team on the planet.
i never said any of them were world class, I stated that this is the new crop of talented players... if your starting and scoring goals or assists, you are talented, not just potential ridden. This is also interesting... Totti said, “I am not surprised by Pellegrini's improvement, as I've always known Lorenzo was phenomenal. Now it's up to him to keep going at this level. Read more at https://www.tribalfootball.com/arti...king-italy-impact-4295960#EPg9HtPGEcHeHHRm.99 The whole world class argument has kind of digressed over the years, lately in all leagues, its more that you have players who are streaky, there are exceptions ofc like Mbappe, Salah, Ronaldo, De Bruyne, Messi, Griezmann, etc Then you have guys like Pogba who are considered world class, but his stat line is pretty underwhelming for France and United given his surrounding peers. Neymar is another one( especially considering he often prefers to dive, rather then beat his man(messi never does this), these guys fit the more streaky category, regardless... many consider these two world class. but yes... Italy currently has none of these players in that category, Verratti is probaly the closest, but he never produces stats for the azzurri so he is just considered a system baby at stacked psg... I do believe that coming out game against Barca where he dominated the midfield makes for a serious argument in his favor. However, you do see other clubs playing their youth and letting them grow, this does not really happen at the big clubs in Italy, the current Roma and Inter project is probaly the most recent experiment in a long time.
Ill take Verratti... Sensi ... Pellegrini ... Barella... Jorginho in place of anyone currently starting in our midfield. They are no worse than the foreigners we are throwing out there game after game ... and at least we would be an Italian team again.
Pjanic is better than Jorginho. Ask Chelsea who they'd rather have. The only one of those guys that could start is Barella in place of Matuidi. The others, at best, are rotation options. If you want to be critical of Juve for not pursuing Barella, fine. However, we must keep in mind that they had two players of comparable to better quality in Ramsey and Rabiot that they brought in on free moves. You can certainly understand the business there.
These discussions also assume that teams that owned all of these players would be willing to sell them to us. As we have seen that is certainly not the case.
The match against Madrid in the CL set a new record, for the first time ever, only one italian player was in the starting 11. It seems that the front office has sold their soul in a quest for the CL... this is a very big year for Juve, Max was let go, an offensive minded guru was brought into the club and years of CL failure have seemed to make the front office think that paying a massive amount of money for an old Ronaldo and a talented but unproven De Ligt is the answer to winning the CL. Juve have achieved dominance in Serie A through basically buying out some of the better players from top 5 italian teams( Pjanic, Higuain, Bernardeschi, Pirlo) seems that the CR and De Ligt transfers were based off that reasoning as each player eliminated Juve in the CL in the past 2 seasons.
idk about that...pjanic is good but hes not amazing. His long balls arent very good either, to me he's the type of mid who will look world class if he has a good supporting cast. If he was in the older midfield with pogba, vidal, marchisio, he would have looked better. I also still dont think where we are playing him is suited for him but we dont have many other options.
Thats the problem, if they sold their soul and actually got some world class foreigners then it would be ok, but they are bringing average foreigners with really high salaries.
he never has displayed the form he had at Roma, especially on set pieces. He is basically a discount Verratti, he gets around just fine in the midfield, he gets to open space, he receives pass, turns on the ball quickly, then plays a sideways pass or ground ball forward or to the wing... then he runs into open space to receive a back pass. He often looks forward for an option, then plays a safe ball sideways or if no options, back passes to cb or fullback. He lacks the finesse on his deep passes, he cant chip the ball forward into open space, his shooting is rarely top corner or side netting. He will get back and try to defend, but rarely dispossess the attacker, he is prone to giving up as well and just sitting top of the 18 or moving way to late to try and get in front of a shot. I really dont understand why these professionals do not jump in front of shots, i used to take so many balls to the gut, thigh, and even balls getting in front of shots back in high school, these guys all turn their back when they really try, often its a half turn and lazy stick one leg out... which is ripe for deflection own goals.
the Ronaldo transfer and wages have really put a huge burden on this team... i guess they thought they could use him as an easy goal scorer and that he would make everyone around him better. They neglected the fact that Real had an elite midfield and back line which could provide good service to him, in addition to having Benzema up top to basically just suck in the defender so that CR could shine. Kroos was probaly the worst midfielder on that team, then there was Modric who was arguably the best in the world in what he does. Pjanic cant even emulate him when playing against relegation tier teams. Khedira is a guy who gets around the field a good bit, the team does play better when hes on the pitch, but he really does not do anything special, he disappears in the big important games and he often misses on his shots, including ones that are easy sitters. Blaise is a very stiff player, he gets plays box to box, hes strong on the ball and does not get bullied, but his speed and acceleration have declined, so he has to overcompensate using his body, this has made him pretty one dimensional and predictable, which opposing players can read... he can get sloppy with his passes as well resulting in turnovers. Can does nothing special, Rabiot is built very similar to him and I think his performances will be pretty similar to what Emre puts out on the field. Betancur never turned the corner, his form is basically the same as when he came to Turin. Ramsey is the wildcard... he will need to stay healthy if this midfield is going to turn around, probaly the best transfer in midfield in a long time. I dont get why Federico is not given a chance at playing midfield, I think he could be sold in the winter or next summer.
Ramsey looked solid, if he stays healthy he is potentially closest to quality of our old mid It actually makes me depressed thinking how many mids we have signed and none of them are anything spectacular. Not bad players but not world class either. They have such high salaries we are basically stuck with most Our best bet is to sell Bentancur and Can this winter and splurge on a well known player this summer. Hoping by summer we will finally be done with Khedira and Matuidi as well.
Juve struggle so badly when pressed whenever Pjanic is not playing in front of the CBs. Bentancur was very poor vs Chievo never mind in a big match.