It’s been a long and wild season for Juventus. In Serie A, they dominated amidst a record breaking Scudetto winning season. This is despite Roma having one of the best seasons in their club history.
Meanwhile in Europe things were less easy. Juve fell out of the Champions League group stage, and then made it to the Europa League semi-final where they fell just short of beating Benfica. The end of the season was then clouded by speculation over whether or not Antonio Conte would stay with Juventus. Spoiler alert: he did. Just as I wrote he would last week.
This season also saw some interesting changes in the strengths and weaknesses – relatively – of the side. The arrivals of Fernando Llorente and Carlos Tevez gave Juve two very talented strikers, and the goals flowed – at least in Serie A. The changes in Juve’s build up play were subtle, but this was the best Juve attack we have seen in years. Though we also saw the declines of Fabio Quagliarella and – to a lesser extent – Sebastian Giovinco and Mirko Vucinic as important parts of Juve’s attack. Finally, we also saw a reduced need for the midfielders to score goals, as Tevez and Llorente were scoring them by the dozen.
Speak of the midfield, the dynamic there shifted as well. Arturo Vidal, in my opinion one of the best players in the world, had a poor season by his standards. He wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t brilliant every match as we’ve come to expect. However, Paul Pogba continued his rise – in fact he led the team in appearances. It was due to Pogba that Juve were able to seamlessly move forward despite Vidal’s dip in form, though of course much credit is due to Claudio Marchisio and Andrea Pirlo. Pirlo, though not the end all be all of the Juventus attack like he was two years ago, had yet another great season with Juve, and his free kicks bailed Juventus out in numerous situations.
Then there is the defense, which is supposed to be Juve’s biggest strength. The defense did not start the season off very well, but they regained form – in Serie A – and managed to only get better in the league as the season went on. In fact, even when Andrea Barzagli was injured late in the season, Martin Caceres filled in and Juve kept a run of clean sheets. While that was a highlight – and Martin Caceres named himself as Barzagli’s eventual replacement – I can’t ignore Juve’s defensive woes in Europe.
Time and time again, they fell victim to a late goal after taking the lead, or a silly defensive error led to a goal that should not have been. Say what you will about formation and Antonio Conte’s ability as a manager, but the defensive woes in Europe have been under-looked compared to other aspects of the team’s play. However, the starting wingbacks had another stellar season, and Kwadwo Asamoah truly excelled down the stretch. Speaking of which…
Player of the Season
It’s a tie – between Kwadwo Asamoah and Carlos Tevez. Tevez was a revelation, not only did he score but he worked hard all over the field, hassling opponents and closing them down. He even broke his European scoring drought, even if it took until almost the very end. His form in Serie A was sensational, it was a nice upgrade from having a rotating cast of strikers who sometimes scored. I honestly do not know how Juve were able to win two Scudetti without a striker on the level of Tevez or Llorente. Tevez decided so many matches for Juve, and even if he didn’t score he was always contributing to the side’s total effort with his defensive work and help in the build up play.
Then we have Asamoah. He had been a fine wing back his first season with Juve, but just that. He started off slowly, playing well but not amazingly, until exploding in 2014. He had a fantastic run in the first three months of 2014, and he hasn’t looked back since. I had thought that perhaps Juve would need an upgrade in the left back or left wing back department, but Asamoah’s growth has proven me very wrong.
Goal of the Season
Many options for this one. Pirlo had a number of free kicks that decided games – including the one versus Genoa – and Tevez and Llorente both scored their fair share of game winning late goals. However, I’m going with flair for this one. When Juve played Napoli in November, they scored early via Llorente. They stayed in control, and Pirlo added a second goal later on. It was a standard Juve beat down of a Serie A side, until THAT Pogba goal. Pogba received a pass, flubbed the first touch – thus launching the ball in the air – and then volleyed the ball in for a fantastic goal. It was some beautifully fast thinking by Pogba, and it showed what he is capable of at any moment.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwqXDovXS2A[/youtube]
Best and Worst Signings
This is a tough decision. On the one hand, Tevez was huge for Juve this year. On the other, Dani Osvaldo was quite the bargain! Just kidding, Tevez is my choice for best signing. Fernando Llorente deserves a shout, but more so for the fact that he was signed on a free. Tevez only cost 12 million euros – compare that to the price Milan paid for Alessandro Matri – and he has re-invented both himself and Juve’s attack.
I will stress that this is mostly due to the money spent – but – Angelo Ogbonna. He could very well develop into a strong centerback, but he had an inconsistent first year at Juve and the club spent 13 million euros on him. Time will tell for this signing, but in the meantime it has to be Juve’s worst this season.
That’s all for this year folks, until September.
