Juventus’ inconsistency this has drag their position into the trouble zone for a supposedly Scudetto candidate before the start of the season and after their latest defeat against Bologna on Saturday, many football fans suggested that the current Juve is as mess as last season.
However, this suggestion is being rejected by the Bianconeri’s defender, Giorgio Chiellini, who claimed that this season his team are actually much more unity in the locker room and it’s the enthusiasm that they’re actually lacking.
“I must say the situation is very different from last year, though. There is a unity in the locker room and we’re all working in the same direction,” Chiellini stated. “It’s not an easy time for us, as we are lacking enthusiasm and it becomes difficult to get out of the situation.”
Chiellini’s statement pretty much reflecting the way the match goes for Juventus in their game against Bologna, where they actually managed to dominate the game and create some goal scoring chances but two counter attacking goals scored by Marco Di Vaio killed the game. That’s pretty much what mostly happened to the Bianconeri this season, especially against mid table and small sides, which is once again a contradiction considering the fact they get plenty good results against the top teams such as Ac Milan, Inter Milan and As Roma.
Adding to Chiellini’s explanation about what actually happened with the Bianconeri, the club’s director, Beppe Marotta, stated that the players seemed to be having some kind of mentality problem as they always get in trouble once they concede. This suggestion can be seen from the good results that the team had against the big team, on those matches Juve always managed to score first and eventually managed to hold on until the final whistle.
“I think we have a mental block, as once we concede a goal, the players get sucked into this vortex of fear and can’t get out of it,” Marotta stated.
Moreover, in big games, Juve are usually the one that take a more defensive approach compared to their opponents which simply not giving a lot of space in the defense, something that’s completely the opposite in matches against weaker teams. This kind of character is really not helping their cause at times as just as it was shown in recent matches, the teams seemed fragile at the back when playing a much more attacking system as they probably isn’t accustomed in doing.
photo credit: mitsurinho
