Last week I was perhaps a bit over-dramatic. In a rather despondent column – coming after a 2-0 victory – I posed a series of questions relating to Antonio Conte’s Juventus and their “struggles” in European competition.
Now I feel silly about it. Even sillier is how the rest of this column is basically a huge flip flop from last week. Oh well there goes my shot at running for office.
Granted Trabzonspor are hardly European elite, but a 4-0 aggregate victory was a very fine start to the Europa League campaign. Plus, as I complained about last week the sides we have seen are mostly Juve’s “B” squad. Now, however, I think the rotation may actually be working very well. How lucky I am to be a columnist and not a coach, and to have the luxury of changing my mind.
Having said that many of the players that myself or others complained about starting (Federico Peluso, Mauricio Isla, and today Sebastian Giovinco as well) had very fine performances in the second leg. Giovinco was outstanding, easily the man of the match and perhaps his best performance in a Juve jersey. It was certainly his best game at Juve under Conte. I will also say the same for Isla.
Then there is Dani Osvaldo, who has now scored two goals in two Europa League games. The Osvaldo signing is becoming more and more sensible, especially as he continues to score. While it more or less means Fabio Quagliarella’s (and probably that of Mirko Vucinic) time with Juve is over, it looks like Osvaldo is filling in quite well for Quagliarella as the striker who scores consistently in European competitions.
The one area of the team that hasn’t seen much rotation is the midfield. Obviously, this is due to the fact that Juventus have four top choice quality midfielders, so any combination of them is pretty much first choice for most teams. That said, the continued emergence of Claudio Marchisio in the regista role allows Conte to comfortably rest Andrea Pirlo in many matches. A lack of a vice-Pirlo has been an issue for Conte in the past, but that issue is long gone now.
Meanwhile in defense we see further success of the rotation policy. Angelo Ogbonna has put in two fine performances in the two legs of the Trabzonspor tie, while Leo Bonucci was completely on point in the second leg and really organized the three centerbacks well. Martin Caceres hasn’t been the best, but he has lacked for playing time this season so it has been good to see him start. Plus, Caceres starting today gave Conte the chance to substitute in Barzagli, who was returning from injury and had the chance to shake off any rust he may have developed. The bonus is he doesn’t seem to have developed too much rust.
I have found it odd that Conte hasn’t rotated the goalkeepers, especially as Marco Storari is usually the starting goalkeeper for Coppa Italia games. With Juventus out of the Coppa Italia, why not start Storari in the Europa League? It’s possible that Conte is taking this competition a tad more seriously than the Coppa Italia, but Storari is no slouch. Either way, it seems a moot point with a tough Fiorentina side laying ahead.
The rotation policy is going to become more and more important as the season goes on. Especially in March, as Juventus have a jampacked fixture list. Don’t believe me? They play Fiorentina three times in ten days. And that’s just one team, they have other Serie A matches as well.
The busy season kicks off this weekend against Milan, in what should be a thrilling match. Between Milan’s tendency to always give Juve a tough fight, Seedorf settling in, and the first ever managerial bout between old midfield rivals Conte and Seedorf, I am really looking forward to the match this weekend. Let’s hope I don’t get let down.
Peluso sucks, he is one of the weakest links in Juve. Isla (though his performance in EL match saw much improvement) isn’t the player, that Juve needs… his passing isnt great and his dirbling needs a lot of work. Peluso out – Nani in