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| | Monday 6 October, 2008 | | Blog: What crisis? | |
Talk that Juventus have been plunged into crisis is somewhat premature, says Giancarlo Rinaldi
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This was supposed to be the season when Juventus were truly back among the big boys. With their Calciopoli sentence served and a few big name additions they were ready to challenge for the Scudetto again. At present they sit 11th in Serie A.
One of the side-effects of this wide open League season is that a couple of slip-ups start to look like a crisis. The Bianconeri are still only four points off the top of the table. Nonetheless, defeat by Palermo has to start a few alarm bells ringing.
The biggest concern must be an attack which has singularly failed to fire. Five goals in the opening six weeks of the season is not what was expected of a line-up including Alex Del Piero, Vincenzo Iaquinta, David Trezeguet and Amauri. On paper it would strike terror into the heart of most defences – in practice it has been virtually toothless.
Of course, it has started the old Tinkerman debates which always seem to surround Claudio Ranieri. Does he really know what his best team is? And, if he does, why does he sometimes decide not to play it?
The man himself has been swift to defend his troops and claim the media is trying to make more of this “crisis” than there really is. Prior to the Palermo defeat, Juve had put together a run of three draws between Serie A and the Champions League. Not brilliant, but hardly disastrous.
One bad result should not be allowed to cloud the season. However, Juve do face a key run of games when they return after the break for international fixtures. An away day to Napoli and the derby with Torino will represent an important test for their Scudetto credentials. Failure to come up with at least four points would deepen the misery around the club.
It is not time to panic just yet for the Bianconeri. There were some major changes made in the summer in the belief that the Turin giants could be turned into title contenders. This League is so well-balanced it would only take a couple of wins to put things back on track. A couple of defeats, however, could turn up the heat on Ranieri’s reign.
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I would really like to hope you're right on this, but I just can't see where the turnaround is going to come from with our current midfield. Nedved is really starting to look as though age has finally caught up with him, and unfortunately Marchisio doesn't look like he can cut it at the top level.
Palermo had by far the better of the game yesterday and Giovinco can't do it all on his own. The transfer decisions of Secco over the past two seasons are really starting to hurt us now, since there is now no money to strengthen a distinctly average midfield, with Tiago and Almiron still on the books. I'm just hoping that we can regroup during the two-week international break and try to get a settled and fit side ready for Napoli.
Tommy, Ireland
Normally I might fully agree with Mr Rinaldi, we do seem to scream 'crisis!' at every opportunity in this modern day of football, and on the face of it, a run of three draws and a defeat shouldn't warrant someone's job on it's own.
The problem is, the crisis started as soon as Cobolli Gigli, Secco and Blanc were put in charge of the club affairs. They sanctioned some awful moves in the transfer market – losing Mutu and selling Miccoli for peanuts amongst them. They hired, then were responsible for losing Didier Deschamps, with their all too heavy involvement in the transfer strategies.
Then worst of all, they decided that Claudio Ranieri was a suitable head Coach for this great club back in the big time in a time of transition. How they came to that decision, I'll never understand.
Ranieri is a woeful tactician and his ugly brand of football and utter reliance on a rigid 4-4-2 filled with athletes rather than footballers might be suitable for a team struggling against relegation, a la Parma, but he gets found out time and time again while at Juve.
His 're-strengthening' has been absolutely appalling, no team is ever going to win major honours with the a central midfield pairing of Poulsen and Sissoko (a pairing that cost £15.7m, but are unable to either tackle or pass properly). It was also obvious to anyone that defensively we got away with murder last season, Ranieri's way of strengthening the defence was to bring in Knezevic on loan and Mellberg on a free transfer. Farcical.
The current team inadequacies are not the fault of the strikers, they need service in which to score. There is absolutely zero service through the centre of the pitch which puts the emphasis on the wings.
Camoranesi has been below his usual high standard this season, Nedved is in the twilight of his playing career and showing it (especially with Ranieri's insistence on playing him so much), Marchionni is a decent option when he's not injured and Salihamidzic just isn't good enough for this stage.
I usually hate any talk of replacing managers at such an early stage of the season, it seems a by-product of this modern and over commercialised era of football, but as someone who has been against the decision to employ Ranieri from the off, I'd be happy to see the back of him as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, I get the feeling that this club will only truly move forward when the board are replaced, cutting off the true source of the disease. Until then, give me Prandelli or Marino. Talented tacticians who know how to build a competitive team of players.
Mark McGowan
You forgot to mention the injury plague as well. It is hard to challenge in games when your deadliest striker is out for five months, Buffon was sidelined for nearly two weeks, Chiellini has battled fitness issues with his knee, Legrottaglie also not fully fit, Zanetti their key to midfield creativity hasn't featured for them all season and now Iaquinta was down last weekend and let's not forget Camoranesi.
If you look closely at those numbers Juve are missing key players in all areas. Because of this they are having to reshuffle the deck every game with absolutely no consistency for a team to gel. How can Ranieri find a starting XI when a third of the usuals are out for illness or injury? There is no crisis yet at Juve, this I agree but there is a serious injury problem that needs to be addressed.
Cameron, DC
Whilst my supported team Juve's dream start to season has been halted by some unexpected and unwanted few results, I am confident, as many above have mentioned, that the international break will refresh both the minds and bodies of the squad.
Those key and unfortunate injured, will have a chance to recoup and gain fitness and even those away internationally will have a change of environment and hopefully return having had successful results.
I wasn't totally convinced by the summer arrivals – mostly the arrival of Poulsen. The past losses of Miccoli and Palladino, coupled with various other signings and sales doesn’t make the squad one of the strongest. Add Diego and/or Podolski in January and hope that injuries are a distant memory and I can see them being back at the top.
The current plight, to me, somewhat mirrors Tottenham's, albeit not as disastrous, but with many proven great individuals who need time to gel. Give Ranieri at least till Christmas. Forza Juve!
Rob, Nottingham
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