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| | Monday 18 August, 2008 | | Blog: Are Juve Inter? | |
Some critics believe Juventus won’t win anything for years like the Inter of old, but James Horncastle is a little more optimistic
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Mauro Camoranesi isn’t backward at coming forward on and off the pitch. Ever forthright, the 31-year-old Juventus winger last week told journalists that it would take the Bianconeri 10 years to return to the level they played at under Fabio Capello between 2004 and 2006.
His former teammate, Gianluca Zambrotta, is also far from convinced La Vecchia Signora can realistically challenge for Lo Scudetto. “Momo Sissoko, Christian Poulsen, Mauro Camoranesi and Cristiano Zanetti are very strong,” he said. “But perhaps my Juventus with Patrick Vieira and Emerson had a bit more quality.”
Jumping on the badmouth Juventus bandwagon, some columnists have even had the cheek to compare the new post-Calciopoli Juventus to the Inter of 1989-2005, the comically inept loveable losers of Italian football. Ouch. Demist the smokescreen though and it’s clear Juventus are getting people hot under the collar.
Critics see the Inter of old in Juventus’ recent transfer market activity. The Bianconeri directorship has been reproached for prioritising quantity rather than quality, just as Nerazzurri President Massimo Moratti was in the `90s and early `00s. The worry is that this summer’s purchases will be as unsuccessful as those made a year ago. The failure of Sergio Almiron and Tiago has allowed Juventus’ detractors to compare them to the Inter that bought Vampeta and Stephane Dalmat in 2000 and 2001.
Last night’s humiliation at the hands of Milan in the Trofeo Berlusconi appears to vindicate the sceptics, especially given five of Claudio Ranieri’s six summer signings were in action. Should Juventini panic? Will they have to wait 17 years, as Inter did, for their next title?
I don’t think so. Their performance in 2007-08 and in last week’s Champions League tie, albeit against Artmedia Bratislava, suggest not. Every position is covered by accomplished if not exceptional professionals and the starting XI is home to several World and European Cup winners with the experience, goals and legs to win Serie A.
Even if Juventus’ transfer strategy does end up leaving them short this season, their outstanding youth policy will go a long way towards making up any difference between them and their rivals. Seba Giovinco and Fausto Rossi, not to mention Claudio Marchisio and Paolo De Ceglie, are players capable of bringing silverware back to Corso Galileo Ferraris in the not too distant future.
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I am a Juve supporter and one can only have respect for the way Claudio and his charges have gone about restoring the Old Lady’s place in world football. To say Juve will be trophy-less for a decade as Mauro recently stated is perhaps a little much, however there can be no denying the Juventus team of today wouldn’t hold a torch to that of the Capello era.
The key players that stayed following relegation are all the wrong side of 30 with the exception of Buffon. As such they will be playing at a lower level than they were during 2006-08. The players that have come in since that time would have been lucky to feature for Capello’s Juve and their true level is perhaps better gauged by the teams Juve had to beat in order to obtain their signatures.
In short none of Serie A’s top teams, like Inter, were quaking in their boots watching the comings and goings from Turin, let alone the other European big hitters. Juve’s ability to win a trophy in the next few seasons is as much a reflection of the weakness of Serie A as the strength of its side.
If you finish above Inter you will win Serie A. I doubt anyone has the squad to do it this season, even with their injuries and Juve will battle Milan, Roma and Fiorentina for second through fourth. In a few years time though it is feasible Juve could be back challenging for the title. The harsher reality is that if you put any of Serie A’s top four teams in the Premier League, perhaps with the exception of Inter, they wouldn’t finish in a Champions League spot. That is not good for Italian football.
ML
I think it's hard to compare the "new" Juve to the "old" Inter. Bypassing the obvious argument that clearly in the past Juve had underhanded, unfair advantages over Inter (and most other Serie A teams) the major difference is the quality of those around them.
When Inter were struggling to get to the top there was a super-strength Juve and Milan, capable of winning both at home and in Europe. Further down the table the quality was more evenly distributed too, with most top 10 teams capable of causing an upset in the title race.
That is not the case at the moment, Inter are not as strong as Juve & Milan were – at least not yet - simply because Serie A is weaker and even Inter will struggle to attract the worlds best players to Italy. Beyond this Fiorentina, Roma & Milan are not as capable as Inter, Roma or Lazio were in the past. So Juve will not have to overcome as many obstacles to win a Scudetto from Inter now as Inter had to from Juve in the past.
I don't think Juve are capable enough yet to win Serie A, as Inter remain very strong and I think Jose Mourinho's arrival will deliver the confidence to maintain their position, next season doesn't seem an impossible mission for Juve though. This inequality between past and present however will only help Juve in Serie A. In Europe the English teams have taken over and it could take Juve as long as 5-10 years to rebuild on that front as Serie A must also rebuild it's shattered reputation.
In the past there were three or four clubs from Italy that could win the Champions League, now realistically only Inter have a team strong enough and they are still outsiders to Manchester Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool.
Kevin G
First of all, Juve are 10 times the professionals that Inter are so there is not a chance Juventus can be compared to Internazionale. At this time in their history it is important to have the quantity of professionals higher than quality, Juve are not as financially strong as they once were.
Their comeback to Champions League, however, has given them a major boost in the transfer market so I plan on seeing some bigger signings in term of class versus world-class. Also as mentioned in your article, which is probably the best point in the entire piece, is Juve's youth strategies. They have such a wealth of talent that either this season or next will absolutely explode on to the scene.
Inter has no youth strategy, theirs consists of buying up the South American markets. Again, as I first mentioned, Juve have absolutely no chance of ever dropping down to the levels of Inter. Let us not forget, Juve did beat Roma, Inter, and Milan all last year with a weaker squad than what they have at their disposal this year thanks to Claudio Ranieri.
Cameron
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