Coaches Take The Rap As Juventus, AC Milan Continue To Struggle
MILAN, Nov 5 (AFP) - Pre-season predictions of a return to former glories for Juventus and AC Milan are yet to be realised for the two most distinguished clubs in Italian football history and on Monday the coaches charged with forging the renaissance both admitted they were to blame.
Juventus had gone back to the future in June by naming Marcello Lippi as coach. In his first spell at the club Lippi led the Turin giants to three Champions League finals including one victory in 1995-6, three Scudetti, an Intercontinental Cup and a host of lesser prizes.
But although Juve are safely through to the second round of the Champions League, Sunday's 2-2 draw at Verona - only secured by David Trezeguet's injury-time equaliser - means Juve are now winless in six matches domestically and are six points behind surprise leaders Chievo in sixth place.
AC Milan, meanwhile, were defeated 1-0 by struggling Torino to leave the 'Rossoneri' five points behind Chievo in fifth.
Both coaches admitted the buck stopped at their desk. Lippi said: "It's down to me. I have not persuaded the team that we have to start the match at the same level that we finished the game at Verona. We need that same intensity we had at the end. Only this way can you be a great team."
Trezeguet's masterful strike - the Frenchman scored from a tight angle with a shot that beat Verona goalkeeper Fabrizio Ferron and no less than four Verona defenders who had thought they had covered all the angles - spared Lippi's blushes and finished the comeback started by Croatian defender Igor Tudor after Leonardo Colucci and Argentinian Mauro Camoranesi had put Verona 2-0 ahead.
AC Milan, meanwhile, had given their new Turkish coach Fatih Terim the task of rebuilding the citadel at the San Siro.
For the first time in years, club president and Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi had splashed out the cash, giving Terim a huge injection of talent with Portuguese midfielder Manuel Rui Costa and striker Filippo Inzaghi the biggest captures.
That led to talk of a new 'Grande Milan' - the name given to the team built by Berlusconi's cash and the coaching genius of Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello in the late 1980s and early 1990s with three European Cups, five Scudetti and two Intercontinental Cups the most notable achievements.
That promise has yet to be delivered and Rui Costa glared at Terim as he was replaced by Andrea Pirlo during the defeat by Torino while Inzaghi blazed a late penalty high and wide.
Terim was equally candid, saying: "I admit it. In the first half we played really badly. I tried to change it but it did not work."
Both clubs are failing to deliver and that is not good enough for supporters of Juve, with 25 Scudetti the most successful in Serie A history or Milan fans whose tally of 16 titles is second only to Juve but with a total of five European Cups, bettered only by Spain's Real Madrid, are the leading Italian club on the European stage.
But the pressure on Terim is stronger than that faced by Lippi who in the Champions League has
another major trophy in his sights.
The 4-2 Milan derby win a fortnight ago against Inter has been Terim's only domestic success in four games. Unlike Lippi the Turk has already been given two votes of confidence since taking power.
The former Galatasaray and Fiorentina coach knows that a slip-up against Piacenza at home at the San Siro in Milan's next game could be fatal - if he lasts that long.
