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| | Friday 22 August, 2008 | | Blog: All-out attack | |
Juve ‘keeper Gigi Buffon and ex-star Fabrizio Ravanelli believe the Bianconeri’s attack is the best in Europe. Does Dave Taylor agree?
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Are we really supposed to take Juve’s seemingly myopic Gigi Buffon and former striker Fabrizio Ravanelli seriously when they claim that the Old Lady has the continent’s finest strike force? “This year, they can count on the best attack in Europe,” insisted Ravanelli, with the Bianconeri goalkeeper, alarmingly, echoing similar sentiments.
There’s certainly no doubt that few teams have four individual strikers of the stature of David Trezeguet, Alex Del Piero, Vincenzo Iaquinta and Amauri, but collectively the best attack in Europe?
For all his past heroics Pinturicchio is nearing 34 and with games in Europe, Serie A and World Cup qualifiers to contend with, it all could prove to be just a little too much for him. Former Palermo striker Amauri is a good player, but unproven at the very top level. Iaquinta’s appearances were limited last season and with the arrival of Amauri his chances will be even more limited. Meanwhile, Trez’s dour performances in pre-season don’t bode well.
The best attack in Europe undeniably belongs to the European champions Manchester United, with Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Ronaldo scoring more than 70 goals between them last season. And can Bayern Munich’s Luca Toni, Franck Ribery, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski be discounted so easily? Let’s not forget Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona’s front lines either. I mean Lionel Messi versus Del Piero – there’s sadly no contest.
In reality it’s highly debatable whether La Vecchia Signora even has the best attack in Italy. Milan have added a reinvigorated Ronaldinho and Marco Borriello to Kaka, Pato, Alberto Paloschi and Pippo Inzaghi. Inter are also currently blessed with a top attacking line up with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Julio Cruz, David Suazo, Hernan Crespo, Mario Balotelli, Adriano, Amantino Mancini and the ever skilful Luis Figo all in the mix.
Some critics believe Fiorentina’s Alberto Gilardino, Adrian Mutu, Pablo Osvaldo and Giampaolo Pazzini can be Serie A’s best attack, while Napoli’s dynamic trio of Marek Hamsik, German Denis and Ezequiel Lavezzi will also be ones to watch.
All in all Juve’s last sortie in Europe was in 2005-06 and this season Del Piero and Trezeguet will be three years older, three years slower and in all probability three years too late. The best attack in Europe if not the world? Ravanelli and Buffon need to check out Specsavers.
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Great goalkeeper, but he has often come out with such overblown statements about his teammates at both club and international level. A bit of psychology, nothing else. He should leave it to the Coach and get on with what he is best at. Such statements lead people to question his credibility.
Brian La Piazza
Is this for real? Juventus do not have the best attack in Europe, but certainly in Italy. I find it incredible that you label Del Piero (Capocannoniere last season) and Trezeguet (115 goals in 187 League appearances) as inferior and over the hill compared to Inzaghi! Your argument has scant logic when Trezeguet's goal ratio is unrivalled in Serie A.
Weren't both Milan teams interested in Amauri? And I think most teams would take Iaquinta as a third or fourth choice striker. To have the nerve to include Paloschi and Osvaldo in your argument and exclude Giovinco highlights its misgivings. And to claim Milan have a better attack based on a "re-invigorated" Ronaldinho – who had a poor Olympics and is looking very large – is just laughable.
Miguel Gonzalez
I am Juve fan and although I don’t agree with Gigi Buffon and Fabrizio Ravanelli, we still have the best strikers in Italy for sure. Last season our strikers scored 64 goals between them. Alex Del Piero 21, David Trezeguet 20, Vincenzo Iaquinta 8 and Amauri 15 in Palermo and I don’t see why they cannot repeat that this season.
Compared to Milan and Inter we have better strikers no doubt. There must be a reason why Barcelona let Ronaldinho go and as for Marco Borriello, let us wait and see what he can do in Milan. As for Inter they are one man show, without Ibra there is no Inter and Fiorentina is out of the equation. In Italy we have the finest strike force but in Europe we don’t.
Mohamoud
Oh come on…is it anything strange if a player praises his teammate or former club?? Everybody does that! This is not something scientific, it’s only based on how many goals Del Piero, Trez & Amauri scored last season. You also harshly compare Del Piero and Messi. That’s just doesn’t make sense! Do you know anything about a word named ‘age’?
Nathan Joseph
Once again the knives come out against Juventus. For starters Del Piero is much older than Messi, its hardly fair to compare Del Piero to a 21-year-old. To compare two players from different generations is a joke. Trezeguet is a great striker and pre-season means nothing, it’s just a way of getting match fit. I have had enough of people tearing shreds off David Trezeguet. Please take a look at his record over the last 10 years, I think that will prove my point.
How easily everybody forgets what happened last season, who had the two top strikers in Italy? Was it Milan, was it Inter? No it was Juventus, and for everybody to think that Ronaldinho will save Milan is the real joke!!
The Manchester United attack scored more than 70 goals last season of which more than 40 were down to Ronaldo, take him out of the mix and there is not much left. The Juventus attack scored 50+ goals last season and the majority of them was not down to just one player.
So to insinuate that the Juventus attack is either too old or will not have a chance to play is an insult, especially before a ball has even been kicked. I'm sure that Ravanelli and Buffon were misquoted by the Press when they said Juventus have the best attack in Europe.
Rodney
I agree with the writer, Juve's line up is far from the best in Serie A let alone Europe. I find it hard to believe Del Piero will be able to cope with Serie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League & the national team at his age, and I concur that Amauri and Iaquinta are unknown quantities at the top level for different reasons.
I would disagree with the opinion of Trezeguet however, in my opinion he will continue to batter in goals for the Old Lady this season, simply because he always does. He is a natural goalscorer and Juve will come to rely on him as they invariably do every year.
K Gilmour, Glasgow, Scotland
It would have been a lot better if there were some statistics and intangibles to back up the argument. For example – what’s the cumulative total scored by the Juve trident say last year against other clubs? What’s Del Piero and Trezeguet’s total Champions League record?
The best Serie A argument is weak too. Again some stats and more up to date facts would be good – how good is Adriano at the moment, and Ronaldinho, and Paloschi. Isn't Suazo on his way out? Hasn't Crespo been released? Isn't Hamsik a midfielder? Figo a winger – if so can't you add Giovinco, Nedved and Camoranesi to Juve's attack then?
Adam Dewar
Saying Man Utd have better attackers than Juventus is ridiculous. Take away winger Ronaldo and his 40 goals last season, and Man Utd have a highly average front line. Has Tevez or Rooney ever scored 20 League goals in a single season? I doubt it. Juventus had two of those last season alone. Saha would get exactly zero minutes off the bench for Juve, and he’s their third option. And if you’re going to include all these wingers and offensive midfielders on other teams, Ribery, Messi etc, you might as well include Camoranesi, Nedved, Giovinco for Juventus as well.
Duck Manson
Dave Taylor is clearly not a Juventus fan but does not seem to be able, in football terms, to put things into perspective either. Everybody knows that Juventus doesn't really have Europe’s best attack, as such a notion will always be debateable. Are you so shocked that a Juventus player and an ex-Juventus player might compliment Juventus? I agree with him when he rightly credits Manchester United for having Europe’s finest artillery, but the rest of this article is...well, bitter and laughable.
How can you compare a 21-year-old winger, not yet at his full potential, to a 33-year-old trequartista/striker whose finest years are obviously behind him? Ma dai, why don't you compare Cristiano Ronaldo to Luis Figo as well?
Furthermore, how can you use arguments such as form and "top-level proof" when you directly contradict yourself later on in the article? For example, how can you question Amauri for not being proven at the top level and then defend your argument with among others a player like Alberto Gilardino, who had four years to perform at the top level and failed?
I've got news for you – Del Piero, Trezeguet and Iaquinta are all international winners and are all proven for their clubs at top level. That is not debatable. Amauri is a new signing, yes, but he arrives having had a great season at Palermo where he made a real impression on Europe’s elite, which is more than you can say about your "reinvigorated" Ronaldinho and his last season at Barcelona.
Your problem is that your article is not based on facts, it is based upon a dislike towards Juventus and an inaccurate favouritism towards certain players. Take everything on evidence – who was Serie A's top scorer last season? For any club, does pre-season form really matter in the grand scheme of things? No.
I have followed Football Italia for over 10 years. Please think before you write as this article is the worst I have ever read on the site. It shows very little football knowledge, and is the only article that has forced me to actually write to you.
Alessandro, Roma, Italy
It seems that Juve fans have been affected by Dave Taylor’s piece. To use his own words their myopic view of the world is obviously through black and white glasses and no can write objectively about their precious little Old Lady.
It’s a blog of course and he can write what he likes and so can his critics, but at least he was realistic. Any fan worth his salt knows Del Piero’s goal tally and Trezeguet’s too and to expect Mr Taylor to write in the obvious would be underestimating the reader.
Mr Taylor asked can they do it in Europe and never said they couldn’t, he only questioned the views of two Juventini, Buffon and Ravanelli who claimed it was the best attack in Europe if not the world and obviously regardless of age it is not.
Did Rav or Buffon put any riders about age? Read it properly Juve fans and know the truth. Whichever way you look at it from a Juve point of view or not as a whole, as a complete attack, they are unproven in Europe, whereas Man U, Bayern, Milan etc are.
Milan have won the European Cup twice and been runners up once since Juve stuttered over the line in 96. Keep it up Dave, a writer not afraid to take on the myopic Juve masses and win. In my view it is the best piece of writing I have seen for a long time, only bettered by some from Labbate and one or two by Steve Wilson, but I have a feeling it’s a wind up.
Anyway it got me and Mr Alessandro writing in and got our brains in motion which most blogs don’t whether you agree or not.
Matteo, Rotherham
I am quite shocked after reading Taylor's comments. He might as well have spat on a Juventino's face! The blog reeks of hatred at Juventus. Otherwise why would you compare the four Juventus strikers with other teams’ whole midfield and strike force combined? So, Mr. Taylor it’s time for you to put on your SpecSavers…
Varun Sadh, New Delhi, India
Whilst it maybe a bit far-fetched to suggest that Juve have the best attack in Europe, they do have four very talented attackers. The reason why Juve will fail both at home and in Europe this season will be due to a severe lack of creativity in midfield. Zanetti, Sissoko and Poulsen are all workhorses who destroy rather than create. The only creative central midfielder they have is Tiago. However, for one reason or another, Ranieri has decided that he is surplus to requirements without giving him a proper chance.
Kevin Gunn
The article was nice, but stuff like “I mean Lionel Messi versus Del Piero – there's sadly no contest" was way out of your league. What are you thinking that all readers are here to just sit on their couch, eat chips and let go of your comment?
I agree Juve won’t have the best attack in the Europe, in fact the whole team is very mediocre compared to Barcelona, Chelsea etc. But to comment on Del Piero, one of the most naturally gifted players ever like this was purely biased or just stupid.
I guess since your name sounds like a Briton and also of the fact that you are a football lover from Britain, you must be under the category of latter. Anyway, I’d appreciate it if you try to be a little more genuine next time.
Dennis Robert
Well Man Utd don't have the best in Europe either, take away Ronaldo's goals and Rooney/Tevez did not do that well did they?!
Mark
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