Losing Chiellini was huge and he was in charge of the entire defense. As opposed to years past when Juventus and the rest of Italy had an abundance of great Stoppers , Sweepers, Fullbacks and Centerbacks, Chiellini is by far Italy's and/or the serie A's best. Leonardo Bonucci and Mattia De Sciglio by comparison would be average at best and never would be able to compete with Juve's great defenders of yesteryear.
The point I was trying to get at is that we are making excuses for the fact that we have no great defender bar Chiellini where Ajax is in a similar boat after De Ligt.
I don't know him that much other than what I see once a year in an odd CL game. I remember his dad, Danny Blind who played for Ajax and he was ok but nothing like the traditional Italian defender.
Again, I'm not using injuries as an excuse. However, it's definitely something that should be consider when thinking about all the factors that went into Juve's elimination. Chiellini statistically is about a goal less per game. He alone over two games would likely have been the difference. Unsurprisingly Juve's winning percentage with him jumps compared to when he is out. It shows just how Chiellini dependent this team has become defensively. If that doesn't change, when he is hurt next spring during the KOs, we shouldn't be shocked when Juve are eliminated. As for payroll, yes if teams consistently play each other multiple times then the one with the highest wages and general financial prowess will likely win the majority of the team. On the other hand, in a one-off match, it comes down to form on that day, starting line up on that day, luck/randomness. Juve may have a bigger squad and better budget than Ajax, yet on that particular match Ajax were the ones with more quality on the field in key areas (CB, CM, and attack). Fan's can't expect Juve to beat a quality CL side with the likes of Bonucci, Rugani, De Sciglio in defense, a solid but technically limited and thin midfield, and a lack of healthy/consistent attackers.
Exactly except that one crucial defender was present while the other was not. If the roles were reversed and De Ligt was the one injured and Chiellini played, I'd put money on Juve winning perhaps even comfortably. Instead De Ligt was fantastic in both matches. So many times he alone prevented a breakthrough (particularly on Bernardeschi a few times). The CL is all about fine margins. Juve are in the very tough position of having to replace a player that is absolutely fundamental in Chiellini. Although he certainly must continue with Juve, the club simply can't depend on him being healthy next year in important moments.
I'm not sure I agree given that they dominated play and we rarely tested them. We did not lose the Ajax fixture because of Chiellini's absence. We lost because we were out-coached and outplayed in basically every aspect of the pitch.
Ajax based on how they played merited to advance. With that said, Juve are a much worse defense statistically with Chiellini out. Despite Ajax's authoritative play in the 2nd half in Turn (game was 50/50 in the 1st), qualification did come down to one goal. That's why I say Chiellini was the difference. So with that game aside, I'm with you in the sense that this Juve side were poorly managed overall this season. The medical/training side resulted in a third of the squad being consistently injured. That's never going to be good. Management in this regard also deserve blame for relying on Mandzukic, Chiellini, Khedira so much when all are on their last legs. Juve can't expect any of them to definitely be there when this team absolutely needs them. Allegri deserves a slight pass for this team's lack of fluency. It's not possible to build an understanding when so many players had physical problems. However, after 5 years we know that his style relies on individual talent rather than a style to create chances. I doubt Juve can win that way even with Ronaldo unless their defense is nearly perfect. That's why I prefer a coach at this point that can improve Juve's midfield and attacking play. So although it's tough for me to blame Allegri for the Ajax tie, I do still feel that he has taken Juve as far as he could.
Also, as to your other post, one thing that surprised me a bit it how compressed the final couple of rounds are. In the last round both games were played in less than a week, in our case. That means if you are unlucky enough to have a couple of injured players at that point in the schedule there is little chance they will be fit for either game not just one. Earlier rounds were played over longer periods so a bad patch of injuries was not as fatal.
Yup. We judge an entire season now based on one competition where all it takes is a string of injuries within one week to severely decrease the odds of qualification. It's very frustrating and makes the entirety of the season somewhat pointless given Juve's domestic dominance. Still, management really shouldn't be relying on some of the older players next year. They are just too likely to be injuried when the season is on the line. Now again, this doesn't excuse Allegri & players for being very poor on set pieces, awful when counterattacking, lacking clear ideas in possession, and porous in defense when Chiellini is out. Those are still problems that need to be resolved. One aspect that isn't often discussed is how awful Juve are when counterattacking opposition. Their coordination in that aspect is pretty bad to watch.
This is our problem, not injuries so much. If anything we have more depth than most teams. Ive always said these since last year, good CL winning teams usually have certain aspects to them that punishes their less experienced opponents...and those are usually punishing them on set pieces and counters. Bad games happen where u cant get anything going offensively but its the good teams who usually find a way to score even if they have a shit game. The fact that our counter attacking is so weak is actually pretty embarrassing. Half of Ronaldo's goals for RM over the years were from counters. No wonder his goal scoring (this year) is half of what it normally is.
Juve's depth turned out to be a mirage. CB: Bonucci, Rugani, and Chiellini played nearly all matches. LB: Sandro was the only left back for most of the campaign. RB: Cancelo and MDS split time when the other was injured. CM: Pjanic, Matuidi, Bentancur played the most. Emre Can missed half the season. Attack: Ronaldo and Bernardeschi were the only ones consistently present. Dybala/Mandzukic were each missing half the time. That's a very thin squad. Although I do agree that Juve's attacking play needs improving and that in part is why scoring doesn't match other big teams, it's also because Ronaldo is literally the only one who has consistently produced. Mandzukic was in great scoring form then got hurt and hasn't scored in 2019. Dybala hasn't been a consistent goal threat since late 2017. Berna has few goals. That's about it.
Certainly the midfield lacked technical quality and depth. It was three sometimes four players featuring in a 3 man set up. That's too few players. That said, I'm not confident that improving the mid will solve all of Juve's issues. It's hard to say. This isn't the BBC defense. Juve's 2015 midfield was class, but they were playing in front of a historically great defense. I worry about Juve post Chiellini just as much of not more than the CMs.
Once Buffon left and then Marchisio, there really isn't anyone left other than Chiellio to implant Juve DNA into new players. That is nearly as big a loss as the players themselves. When Chiellini leaves there will be a gaping hole both in team spirit and on the field as a defensive player. We don't have anyone on the roster than can do what he does in either area. Buffon was a big loss but at least we had a couple of decent GKs for cover. We don't at CB. FB either for that matter. As to CM's none score any goals anymore. We always had MFs who scored, but not now. You can't rely solely on forwards to score to have a well rounded attack. Free kick scoring has dropped to nearly zero despite having Pjanic, Dybala, Berna and, of yeah, Ronaldo. How do you explain that?
Well management made some bad decisions at the CB position for sure. Renewing Barzagli & Bringing Bonucci back messed everything up. Same with midfield, they didnt sort out Marchisio situation until the day the season started so we were short 1 mid all season. Signing injury prone and average player like MDS was a mistake too.
I honestly don't think bringing Bonucci back is as bad as people say. Bonucci is a decent defender and reads the game well. Maybe Caldara had potential but is very injury prone, and didn't play much this season because of it. The big mistake was selling Benatia though. Terrible.
Benatia is worse than Bonucci. No big loss there. Bonucci is good in the 3-man back line where he has less man marking responsibility and plays like a libero. Since we went back four this season, his marking deficiency pops up every once in a while. It seems that Allegri is looking at Can as a potential defender and will likely experiment with him as the season winds down.