We must score more, says Pepe

Simone Pepe has warned his Juventus side that they need to be more clinical in front of goal after wasting numerous chances against Fiorentina.

Juve dominated the first 45 minutes against the Viola, but only went into the break 1-0 up. They were then made to fight for their 2-1 victory in the second period.

“We played a fantastic first half and it could have quite easily have ended with us being two or three nil up, given the many opportunities that we had,” he stated.

“What we mustn’t do, however, is hand the first 10 minutes of the second half to Fiorentina – we had a black out.”

Pepe was used in a slightly different role by new boss Antonio Conte and he insists he’ll play anywhere for the Bianconeri.

“Any formation is fine when there is willingness from the players,” he added. “The Coach asked me to cut inside to allow Stephan Lichtsteiner to get forward.

“In this way I was also able to attack the area and have some good opportunities.

“We’ve worked heavily on tactics ever since Bardonecchia [their pre-season retreat], hours and hours every afternoon. And this has greatly paid off.

“The Coach was a winner as a player and he wants to be the same as a tactician,” the former Udinese winger added.

“He manages to give us a great boost ahead of the games and it was seen today, when Fiorentina weren’t in the game for 45 minutes.”