Where Juve Have Gone Wrong
Friday 3rd November 2000
As a player, Carlo Ancelotti was a furious box-to-box midfielder blessed with vision, technique and blistering work-rate. He didn't run around like a maniac just to win a place in the side. He was an automatic selection on talent alone.
No, he did the dirty work because he was an incredibly driven man who wanted to make the biggest possible contribution to the side. To some degree he sacrificed personal glory for results and that is what made him arguably the best Italian midfielder of his generation.
Alas, he was far from invulnerable. His style, coupled with a healthy dose of bad luck, made him prone to injuries. He regularly played through pain, but any knock, no matter how slight, would have a serious effect on his performance.
It's uncanny just how much Juventus have assumed the characteristics of their manager.
When the Bianconeri's puzzle fits properly, when everyone is fit and working together, they steamroller the opposition. The delicate tactical balance of their 3-4-1-2 formation allows them to smother opponents defensively while providing enough juice and manpower at the other end to create plenty of chances.
This is a legacy of the Marcello Lippi regime and it is what gives the impression that Juventus, already more technically gifted than most, runs harder, faster and for longer than their opponents. Alas, like Ancelotti in his playing days, it only takes a small hitch to send the whole house of cards crashing down.
And that is what has been happening in recent weeks. Just witness the embarrassing Champions' League performances (three draws and one defeat in five group games, with nine goals conceded along the way) or the Serie A home loss to Udinese last Wednesday.
"Juventus, more than most clubs, relies on perfect chemistry," said Arrigo Sacchi, former Italy and AC Milan manager and a guy who knows Ancelotti well. "Like a well-oiled machine, if you remove one or two cogs or if you replace them with other cogs, it simply won't work as well."
Juventus's system relies on precision movement and exchanges. It is not easy to learn and it is even more difficult for a newcomer to fit in, especially at the back and in midfield.
Things weren't supposed to turn out this way, especially since Juventus were fairly conservative in the summer transfer campaign. On paper, they didn't buy any starters, but simply strengthened the squad with talented youngsters who could slowly be groomed in the system.
Under-21 starlet Marco Zanchi and veteran defender Michele Paramatti were supposed to provide further options in defence. The talented Fabian O'Neill was Zinedine Zidane's alter ego designate, while midfielders Matteo Brighi and Enzo Maresca (since loaned to Bologna) were long-term projects.
And nobody expected striker David Trezeguet to have an immediate impact, beyond filling in occasionally for Alex Del Piero or Filippo Inzaghi.
The plan, logical on paper, was scuppered by a combination of three factors: a terrifying loss of form from goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar, a rash of injuries in defence and a general physical and psychological malaise which has wreaked havoc in the midfield.
Last season Van der Sar conceded fewer goals than anyone in Serie A, though he still had his critics. The criticism of the big Dutchman - confirmed by a scouting report leaked from another Serie A club - was that he only made the saves he knew he could make and that he was incapable of diving low to his
left.
Until three years ago he was widely hailed as one of the top two or three goalkeepers in Europe, but his final season at Ajax was easily the worst of his career. This year he has looked shaky, having made at least half a dozen serious errors of judgement. On top of that, there is a lingering sense that his defenders are no longer blindly confident in his abilities. This goes
some way towards explaining why Juventus are considering acquiring Uruguayan wonderkid Fabian Carini in January.
The back three have also suffered, though mostly through injury. The trio of Mark Iuliano, Paulo Montero and Ciro Ferrara were close to flawless last season, but the former two have had their share of physical ailments, while Ferrara, at 33, may have lost a yard of pace.
The likes of Zanchi, Paramatti and Igor Tudor are competent understudies, but they lack that innate understanding which Juventus' first-choice threesome enjoys and which the system requires.
Juventus have struggled further up the pitch as well and that has only compounded the problem. Ancelotti's system calls for the two central midfielders (Edgar Davids and Alessio Tacchinardi) to act as virtual stoppers when Juve are defending. Davids has had fitness worries and, judging from his silly sending-off against Hamburg, disciplinary problems as
well. As for Tacchinardi, his form has dipped so much that he has been dropped from the side.
It's a similar story down the flanks, perhaps Juve's most demanding position as the wide men are required to be full-backs and wingers rolled into one. The iron-man Michele Pessotto appears to have run himself into the ground after years of gut-busting performances whereas Gianluca Zambrotta, a recycled striker no less, looks slower and heavier.
The fact that Zidane and Del Piero, whose pressing and harassing of opposing defenders is Juve's first line of defence, have both appeared star-crossed (the Frenchman has already been sent off twice, the Italian still victimised by endless debates over his ideal position) ensures the picture is far from pretty.
"All the ingredients are there," added Sacchi. "The question is whether some of them have gone sour."
