At a time when betting enthusiasts are tipping Juventus coach Luigi Del Neri to get the sack at the end of the season, I cannot help but wonder whether the experienced boss is the main reason behind another disappointing season for the Bianconeri.
Having been eliminated from the Europa League group stage while missing out on yet another Champions League qualification, Juventus are set for another long summer, during which the Bianconeri chiefs will be searching for magic formula for a return to old glory days.
This is exactly what president Andrea Agnelli and general manager Beppe Marotta were doing last summer, but as we can now safely say, without any success.
Summer arrivals
The Juventus chiefs invested significant funds in new players last summer, having bought Milos Krasic, Simone Pepe, Marco Motta, Jorge Martinez and Leonardo Bonucci, while bringing Fabio Quagliarella and Alberto Aquilani on loan deals.
Apart from Krasic and Quagliarella, who missed out the big part of the season through injury, the other players failed to live up to the expectations, just like the entire Juventus squad.
The Bianconeri started the season well despite being under tremendous pressure and kept the rich vein of form until the turn of the year, but heavy defeats to Parma and Napoli in Serie A at the start of January completely destabilized the squad and the Old Lady spent the remainder of the season trying to rediscover their form.
Pressure
Whenever Luigi Del Neri’s side played with confidence they had no problems matching even the best sides in the league, but coping with the big pressure surrounding such a high profile club proved to be the biggest problems of them all.
Boasting impressive tradition and history in addition to the largest fan base in Italy, Juventus have constantly been under pressure from the media and fans, which is something the new players have learned the hard way.
Slip-ups
It wasn’t easy for the new signings to gel, with the media constantly raising doubts over their ability and it is this lack of confidence that was responsible for several unexpected slip-ups. How else can you explain the fact that Juventus squandered two-goal leads against sides like Cesena, Catania and Chievo in the space of just two months?
Numerous injuries to the playing squad definitely made life difficult for coach Luigi Del Neri as he would often be without at least five or six players who would normally compete for the starting places, but that was only part of the problems.
New season
With chairman Andrea Agnelli announcing that he would invest considerable funds in the playing squad for next season, Juventus will have a chance to make things right and finally build a squad capable of challenging for honours.
However, they cannot afford to repeat the mistakes from this season and have got to be very careful when choosing summer reinforcements. Instead of searching for young and promising players with little experience at the highest level, the Bianconeri should rather look for already proven players who can cope with the tremendous pressure that is a fixture at Olimpico.
Character
Even top players like Diego and Felipe Melo largely struggled in their first season at Olimpico, but while the former admitted defeat and moved away, the latter learned to cope with the pressures of playing for such a big club and went on to become one of the key players this season.
The Bianconeri desperately need players with strong characters and the ones so confident in their own abilities that they won’t allow a couple of poor showings to get them off track. It is only this kind of approach to the transfer market that can make a real difference to the club’s fortunes and every Juventus fan can only hope Agnelli and Marotta will learn from their own mistakes and help the Old Lady finally return to where they belong.
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
