Cassano would disrupt Juve spirit: Del Neri

Juventus manager Luigi Del Neri insists the club does not want to bring in characters like Antonio Cassano, but would welcome Palermo star Javier Pastore to his team.

Cassano has been frozen out of the Sampdoria first-team and may have his contract terminated after his disrespectful behavior towards club president Riccardo Garrone.

And Del Neri, who dropped Cassano last season after the forward’s performance levels dropped, says Juve are working on keeping the spirits high within their squad and Cassano would not fit in.

The former Sampdoria boss told Tuttosport: “I had my experience with Antonio last year and after that ‘incident’ [when Del Neri dropped him], our relationship improved a lot and we often hear from each other.

“He is an outstanding player where he makes the difference. Sure he is unpredictable in all senses and right now [at Juventus] we are establishing a philosophy that goes beyond football, a philosophy about the internal workings of the group and we don’t want there to be anything that can break the spirit of the team.”

Meanwhile Del Neri would welcome in-form Argentine winger Pastore while expressing his admiration for the in-demand player’s natural talents.

“Sure, as a second striker. He is a phenomenal player when it comes to freeing himself in between the lines. It’s something instinctive that no one has taught him.

“In some ways he is similar to Cristiano Doni. I could use him like I used Doni at Atalanta in a 4-4-1-1 or, better, in a lovely 4-2-4 with two real wingers.”

Meanwhile Del Neri spoke about his reign at Juventus to date, saying that he is happy with the constant evolution in the team’s displays: “I don’t want to say that we are still a work in progress because it’s not like that.

“But we are in continuous evolution in the sense that the team is growing, also taking into account the injuries and the continuous commitments that make work difficult.

“But we are making continuous progress: the improvement of the defence is indicative in this sense. In the first part of the season we conceded nine goals in five games. In the last seven we have conceded only four.

“In terms of results we could instead have four points more.”