For those of you who have read my work throughout my tenure here at Forza Italian Football you will know of a phenomenon I refer to as the “January Blues.” This is the historical – as in, over the past half decade – tendency of Juventus to suffer a huge dip in form during the month of January, and sometimes into February.
Granted, Juventus have won two Scudetti while also suffering from the Blues (though the 2013 case was much lighter than that of 2012 which almost derailed the side’s Scudetto hopes) but with non-Antonio Conte managers we have seen this syndrome completely destroy entire seasons.
That said, one would have a hard time applying the “January Blues” label to this year’s Juventus side. Through their first three games of 2014, Juve had won all three by a combined margin of 11-3. Then came the Coppa Italia loss to Roma and the draw against Lazio. Those two results, plus the most recent 2-2 draw to Verona – more notably coming after the club went up 2-0 – highlight a worrying dip in form, although perhaps not a dip by general standards.
However Juve have done rather poorly in the past four games if you compare their form to some of their competitors. In their last four, Juve have won one match, drawn two, and lost one. Roma have won two, drawn one, and lost one. Roma’s crosstown rivals Lazio have the same record as Juve in this period, while Napoli and Fiorentina both have two wins and two losses a piece. Finally, Milan and Inter both have one win, one draw, and two losses.
So Juve are towards the head of the pack but their recent slowdown is worrying. The Europa League returns next week, which means Juventus will once again be competing in more than one competition, and their Serie A fixture list is filled with potential “trap” games for the next few weeks.
Chievo aside, as I think Conte will have his men very ready after the collapse against Verona, the second leg against Trabzonspor is bookended by league matches against Torino and Milan. To be honest I am more worried about Torino with the in-form Ciro Immobile than I am worried about Milan. However, Clarence Seedorf will be looking to make a name for himself as a manager in his debut half-season, and a win against Antonio Conte would be a big testament to Seedorf. Of course, Andrea Stramaccioni also boasts a victory over Conte on his resume and we saw how much good that did him.
Perhaps I am being too alarmist. After all this year’s Juve is certainly the best Juventus side we’ve seen in the Conte era. However, this year’s Roma reeks of the kind of grinta and good fortune that the 2011 Juventus side had. The dip in form isn’t worrying because of its severity, but rather the fact that Roma are there ready to shock Italy and overtake Juventus.
Even if Juventus pounded Roma in their Serie A match up, that’s only game. In the table that’s not necessarily very much and if Roma can go on another tear like they did at the start of the season, they can keep up a steady amount of pressure on Juve. Rudi Garcia’s Roma side are not Scudetto rivals in the sense that last year’s Napoli side were, they will pounce on any mistakes that Juve make.
Fortunately Antonio Conte doesn’t make many mistakes, and his players are as hungry for that third straight Scudetto as he is.
