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“We got off to a good start but weren’t able to add a second and then we disappeared from the game a little."
“We must do better defensively in our own half. We take too many things for granted. We assume we’ll score two or three goals every game, but we can’t always do that."
The statement delivered by the Juve manager reflects the lacklustre performances and their unconvincing wins by the league leaders this season.
Though the Bianconeri are the table toppers in Serie A currently, their football is way beyond that of a true champion. As the manager said, they are allowing the opponents to make a come back in the game by slackening the strings when they should hold it tight and kill off the game.
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Defensively, they are having moments of complacency, and as a result, the team is shipping in unwanted goals. Allegri is well aware of the fact that these errors may prove costly in their endeavour of the European dream.
According to Allegri, Barcelona have better chances of winning the Champions League and he might be correct in many ways. Blaugrana has a supporting cast that the likes of Real Madrid, Liverpool, PSG, and Manchester City would envy. Their midfield, spearheaded by Ivan Raikitic, and Sergio Busquets, and Arthur creates umpteen chances to score.
The frontline of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Philippe Coutinho are fearsome enough for any defence and have the calibre to convert even half chances into goals. They are already cashing in on those created chances.
The presence of Umtiti, Jordi Alba, Pique, Lenglet, Sergi Roberto, and Semedo along with Ter Stegen between the sticks consolidates the defence enough to feel secure at the back in most of their games.
Cagliari warning at the weekend
Against Cagliari, Juventus seemed relaxed after Dybala's goal and, therefore, were given a well-deserved scare of losing points by the visitors. However, an own goal and a goal from Juan Cuadrado following a counter-attack led by Cristiano Ronaldo saved the day for the Old Lady.
Juventus can not score 2 or 3 goals all the time but they should prepare for it and score as early as possible so that they have something to defend.
In the match against Cagliari, Ronaldo was not involved much in the game. The midfield could have tried to connect with him more. He is the player who can change the course of the match on his own which he had showcased against Empoli.
After watching the last few matches of Juventus, it could be confidently stated that Bianconeri should work on improving in the following fronts:
1. Crosses from the wing
Juventus are unbeaten so far in their campaign in 2018/19. However, during this unbeaten run, one thing that has not gone unnoticed is the imperfect and insufficient number of crosses into the penalty area. The midfield consists of Miralem Pjanic, Juan Cuadrado, Douglas Costa, Blaise Matuidi and Bentancur but has failed to deliver defence-breaking crosses into the box where the foxes in the form of Cristiano Ronaldo and Mario Mandzukic are waiting to pounce on the chances.
2. Piercing passes from the midfield
More often than not, a unique calibre of a great midfield is that they can pierce the midfield and the defence with threaded passes making way for the forwards to fire home the killer blows by beating the goalkeeper. Pjanic and co. though they are good enough for some opponents, have failed to deliver these kinds of passes this term. This is asking Ronaldo, Mandzukic and Paulo Dybala to drop deep and get the ball forward. This shows that there is a lack of proper connection between the midfield and the forward line.
3. Reliance on Chiellini and Bonucci in defence
At times the sleeping defence of Bianconeri is creating a doubt that whether or not they are over-reliant on Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonnuci. The fullbacks, Joao Cancelo and Alex Sandro, are good as they support the midfield in creating attacks. However, this leaves a huge task on the ageing shoulders of the centre back pair. The supporting cast doesn't seem to be at the same level.
4. Fatigue
The fatigue factor may play an important role in the second half of the season. The average age of the squad is 28.2. This leaves Allegri with no option but to rotate the squad in next 2-3 months to keep them fresh for the knock-out rounds of Champions League and the deciding months of Serie A.
The need of the hour for Juventus
Though the Juventus team looks very strong, the aforementioned points must be taken with a serious note by the management and the players if they are willing to rule Europe. As they are not killing off the game, when they should, by holding the game at the midfield, this might backfire against best teams like Liverpool, Manchester City, Barcelona, and PSG.
Bianconeri have roped in Cristiano Ronaldo with some purpose. Cristiano is a proven goalscorer and the best of all time. They should try to involve Ronaldo, Mandzukic and Dybala in as many attacking moves as possible. The wingers should practice and provide inch-perfect passes into the box. The midfielders and the fullbacks should notice the 'off the ball movement' of the trio and try to provide threaded passes.
Juventus should find out a right balance between defending and scoring to clinch the Champions League. A little trade-off of the formidable defence with the ruthless attack might send spine-chilling signals across Europe. If Ronaldo, Mandzukic, and Dybala at the front start scoring more, any team across the continent would have a headache in how to compensate for the shipped in goals against a rock solid defence.
Last but not least, Allegri should rotate the squad and give rest to key players whenever possible. As we have seen in the past two seasons, Ronaldo was supremely effective at the business end of the campaigns when rested and rotated effectively.
Manchester United is going to be an opportunity for Juventus to seal the knock out spot, and do the necessary experimentation, keeping the remaining half of the season in mind.
