There can be no two ways of saying this, I am very disappointed with the way that Juventus have approached this last part of the season. Gaining only three points in the past four games is certainly below the standard that a serious title contender should be setting.
Admittedly the alibis that one can put forward to justify such a slump in form are not in short abundance. To begin with the quality and depth of the squad were manifestly not up to the levels of the other title hopefuls as Inter and Milan. And due to the necessity of playing the Champions League qualifying round, Juventus had to anticipate its training thus necessarily having had to anticipate the players individual and collective preparations.
And to worsen an already bad situation, the incredible number of injuries - 66 at last count - many of which have necessitated players to absent themselves from first team football for months, is a factor which undeniably has had a very negative impact. The fact is that such absences of first team players such as Buffon, Amauri, Zanetti, Camoranesi, Chiellini, Sisoko, and Trezeguet has meant that the rest of the squad had to double its efforts for a significant part of the season, the physical and mental stress of which are now being felt. To compound matters still, the plague of injuries did not even spare the so called reserves, players such as Manninger, Knetzevic, Salihamidzic, Marchisio, De Ceglie, Thiago, Poulsen, and Marchionni, thus denying Claudio Ranieri the ability to have a healthy turn-over amongst the players affording tired players with some breathing space to recharge their batteries.
The compound effect of these injuries has been that many players today find themselves completely burnt out. This is manifest to all those watching Juventus play with the team being increasingly outplayed by squads that in the first round received a soundly beating from Juventus.
As a true fan, however, my disappointment is not confined merely to the squad and the sporting results. Rather I have been taken aback by the seemingly irrational backlash that there has been during these past three weeks by many Juventus fans both in Italy as well as locally who have been calling for the sacking of Claudio Ranieri. Respectfully, I disagree.
For me, all those advocating for Ranieri's dismissal are not being fair to the Juventus coach. With the material that was placed at his disposal, injuries and all, he has steered Juventus to the top end of the table and with a small measure of luck the gap might truly have been smaller. Let's try to be honest about this, it certainly was not Ranieri's fault that Juventus trice hit the woodwork against Sampdoria dropping two precious points, or that Fiorentina managed a last minute equalised in the season's opener. And most certainly it cannot be Ranieri's fault that Reggina's Halfredsson found the shot of his life to beat Buffon in yesterday's clash thus earning his side a precious point. Had Juventus has a small dose of good luck in these matches, those would have been six more points, effectively implying a gap of only four points from Inter.
I believe that as fans we are also duty bound to evaluate things more rationally and be fair with those whose task it is to serve us. As Ranieri has repeatedly stated, when he was appointed coach he embarked upon a long term project with the management unequivocally stating that the intention was to bring the club to its former glory within a period of five years. It seems to me that Ranieri is on track with the pre-set agenda. Honestly, I would be very disappointed to see a man of the calibre of Claudio Ranieri walk away from the club simply because the hardcore Juventus fans cannot be happy with a mere Champions League placing.
For those that have a short memory, it might not be unwise to piont out that it took Sir Alex Fergusson years before his now seemingly unbeatable Manchester United landed its first silverware, and that Carlo Ancellotti who was so unceremoniously dumped by Juventus after two consecutive second place finishing in the Italian Serie A has gone on to reach the Champions League final three times with Milan, winning it twice, and more importantly still in one of these finals beating Juventus. I really do hope that Juventus will not go on to repeat their past mistakes, coaching wise!
Admittedly the alibis that one can put forward to justify such a slump in form are not in short abundance. To begin with the quality and depth of the squad were manifestly not up to the levels of the other title hopefuls as Inter and Milan. And due to the necessity of playing the Champions League qualifying round, Juventus had to anticipate its training thus necessarily having had to anticipate the players individual and collective preparations.
And to worsen an already bad situation, the incredible number of injuries - 66 at last count - many of which have necessitated players to absent themselves from first team football for months, is a factor which undeniably has had a very negative impact. The fact is that such absences of first team players such as Buffon, Amauri, Zanetti, Camoranesi, Chiellini, Sisoko, and Trezeguet has meant that the rest of the squad had to double its efforts for a significant part of the season, the physical and mental stress of which are now being felt. To compound matters still, the plague of injuries did not even spare the so called reserves, players such as Manninger, Knetzevic, Salihamidzic, Marchisio, De Ceglie, Thiago, Poulsen, and Marchionni, thus denying Claudio Ranieri the ability to have a healthy turn-over amongst the players affording tired players with some breathing space to recharge their batteries.
The compound effect of these injuries has been that many players today find themselves completely burnt out. This is manifest to all those watching Juventus play with the team being increasingly outplayed by squads that in the first round received a soundly beating from Juventus.
As a true fan, however, my disappointment is not confined merely to the squad and the sporting results. Rather I have been taken aback by the seemingly irrational backlash that there has been during these past three weeks by many Juventus fans both in Italy as well as locally who have been calling for the sacking of Claudio Ranieri. Respectfully, I disagree.
For me, all those advocating for Ranieri's dismissal are not being fair to the Juventus coach. With the material that was placed at his disposal, injuries and all, he has steered Juventus to the top end of the table and with a small measure of luck the gap might truly have been smaller. Let's try to be honest about this, it certainly was not Ranieri's fault that Juventus trice hit the woodwork against Sampdoria dropping two precious points, or that Fiorentina managed a last minute equalised in the season's opener. And most certainly it cannot be Ranieri's fault that Reggina's Halfredsson found the shot of his life to beat Buffon in yesterday's clash thus earning his side a precious point. Had Juventus has a small dose of good luck in these matches, those would have been six more points, effectively implying a gap of only four points from Inter.
I believe that as fans we are also duty bound to evaluate things more rationally and be fair with those whose task it is to serve us. As Ranieri has repeatedly stated, when he was appointed coach he embarked upon a long term project with the management unequivocally stating that the intention was to bring the club to its former glory within a period of five years. It seems to me that Ranieri is on track with the pre-set agenda. Honestly, I would be very disappointed to see a man of the calibre of Claudio Ranieri walk away from the club simply because the hardcore Juventus fans cannot be happy with a mere Champions League placing.
For those that have a short memory, it might not be unwise to piont out that it took Sir Alex Fergusson years before his now seemingly unbeatable Manchester United landed its first silverware, and that Carlo Ancellotti who was so unceremoniously dumped by Juventus after two consecutive second place finishing in the Italian Serie A has gone on to reach the Champions League final three times with Milan, winning it twice, and more importantly still in one of these finals beating Juventus. I really do hope that Juventus will not go on to repeat their past mistakes, coaching wise!
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