Juventus vs Benfica (EL semi final 2nd leg)

It's pretty clear 3-5-2 against fast, wing based teams struggles. Speaking of struggle, great game by Bonucci. If he keeps up this form he could easily get a spot on the bench in my local non-league team



We're playing an extra CB at the expense of an attacker to accomodate.... Bonucci

He's not good enough defensively, never has been. He manages in Serie A where he has no pressure and 30 yards of space to operate in. Against 1 lone striker who's often as slow as a slug.

Marchisio was invisible in the first half but he was probably our best performer after Tevez in the second. Should have scored his sitter though..

Vucinic and Bonucci have cost the Great One the unbeaten title   

still laced up for the home thread tho(haters burn)

if we could line up 4-3-3 next week Tevez-Gio behind llorente we should kill them within 20 mins, Gio's pace, Tevez's ability, and Llo's aerial presence considering Luisao and Garay were sh*t tonight, imagine how sh*t they will be when faced with the Turin crowd

however watch Conte play his masturbation formula
Conte-5-2..... and deploy Bonucci once again even though its proven time and again he is sh*t in every defensive system.......

if Benfica score in our home (which I bet is 50% likely cos we'll deploy sh*t 3-5-2, and their players are really fast) not to mention their injured players will be there..... it will be an uphill task.....

i really hope we sell this clown off to Parma for the Paletta guy or even add him for Cerci or something..... waste of defensive space...

Bonuccis pathetic attempt at stopping Garay on the corner was hands down the most pathetic, disgusting piece of defending i've ever seen a first choice CB achieve at this club.

With Pogba out for the 2nd leg I hope that Vidal recovers from his injury or else Asamoah will have to play in the midfield and Peluso as a wing-back 

Pogba isn't out. Not according to the ITV commentators after his yellow

My bad.

It's ok, had me worried for a second there

Nah, he's good to play I think. Barzagli should be too but Vidal will not be fully fit. He may need a minor operation with fluid in his knee.

He, himself said it's painful to shoot or even to pass. So whatever condition he's in he won't be performing at a high level.

elm_baraja_shaman wrote:Vucinic and Bonucci have cost the Great One the unbeaten title   

still laced up for the home thread tho(haters burn)

if we could line up 4-3-3 next week Tevez-Gio behind llorente we should kill them within 20 mins, Gio's pace, Tevez's ability, and Llo's aerial presence considering Luisao and Garay were sh*t tonight, imagine how sh*t they will be when faced with the Turin crowd

however watch Conte play his masturbation formula
Conte-5-2..... and deploy Bonucci once again even though its proven time and again he is sh*t in every defensive system.......

if Benfica score in our home (which I bet is 50% likely cos we'll deploy sh*t 3-5-2, and their players are really fast) not to mention their injured players will be there..... it will be an uphill task.....

LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, you actually made me laugh in real life for like 20 seconds. The Masturbation Formula killed me, and the pic of Bonucci LOOOOOOOOL.

If Vidal plays next game, I hope he's at his best and his knee isn't gurting him. Also, do you guys think we should play 4-3-3 from the start next week, and do you think we will? I really hope we beat Benifca and advance next week, then go on to win the Final, I wanna see us play in the Super Cup.

Also, if we are switching to 4 at the back, selling Bonucci isn't the worst idea, even though at times I think he's very good, plus he's still pretty young especially for a CB. But selling him would get us like 20-25 million, so Idk. You never know, he can develop into a WC CB in the future, maybe he just needs time.

If we fail to qualify, and having in mind that World Cup will soon start, I believe that Vidal should definitely be rested and protected with the best possible way for the remaining games of the season. I'd hate to have him crippled for the next season.

In the first half Conte knew that since Benfica was playing at home they would start strong. He wanted to soak the pressure in the early stages of the game, counter-attack with Vucinic and Tevez and as the game progressed and Benfica stopped their bombing we would slowly take possession with our 5 man midfield and control the tempo. Everything went the other way around and he lost the gamble. The early goal destroyed all of our plans and we needed time to come back from that. There's not much to be said about the 2nd half. We were far better and organised compared to the first half and Benfica did us a favor sitting in their own half not caring about scoring another goal up until the equalizer of course.

As for the next game, Benfica having the goal advantage will most probably try to defend well and hit us on the counter and I expect us to do to them what they did to us tonight. If we concede on a counter we're done. I also feel that Conte liked what he saw today from Tevez and Giovinco and he might start with them in the 2nd leg. He understands that Benfica's center-backs are heavy and he wants to take advantage of that. Expect us perform better than we did in the 2nd half of the 1st leg.

About the 4-3-3 formation. Yes, against teams with heavy strikers like Cardozo we can play that system. Dealing with strength isn't a problem for us, it's speed and explosiveness that we can't handle and unfortunately no combination of the center-backs we currently have can create a quality 2 men partnership that can function under all circumstances. If only Barzagli was a bit faster or Caceres wasn't that clumsy, either would do a perfect partner to Chiellini in a 4 men defense, Conte wouldn't have any hesitations to play 4-3-3 and Bonucci who I disliked since his debut season would be long gone.

We will go trough but why the hard way as always ?? damn...

Bonucci needs to be benched Pogba to

Why not play Marchisio in Pirlo position, what do you guys think?

Marchisio in pirlo position
Pogba in Marchisios
Pogba would not have missed that chance, granted Marchisio was done for by then

Bonucci hate is a bit excessive guys

352 hate is fine

Forza bonnuci

Screw the haters -,- we all make mistakes, even gigi cost us some games ok? So its not bonnuci's problem that we lost. The whole team is responsible for conceding after we scored, and its the team's problem that we didn't score right after they scored the first goal.

Calma guys. Conte can do it. In conte and baraja we trust

Time and time again the 3-5-2 has failed us in europe. I think we need to change formation sell pogba and take a risk or i can't see us doing anything in europe until then( to state the obvious). This Juventus side reminds me of Mancinis Inter, solid in Italy but doesn't have the right attacking players to break foreign teams down. In an ideal world i hope we get big money for pogba and invest it in sanchez, di maria type wingers or this club and team will not progress with the 3-5-2

Yes. And its really a myatery whether we will deploy a 433 next season.

salmano9 wrote:

salmano9 wrote:Yes. And its really a mystery whether we will deploy a 433 next season.

It would just be annoying to see the 3-5-2 next season knowing probably the best we will do in europe is round of 16/qf's, we just don't have the flair to go beyond that. Also 4-3-3 will make llorente a more effective player he is best as a false nine in that system. the only issue is where is tevez gonna play? and will he take llorentes spot? I don't really trust tevez as a winger but he is quality player so he might adjust to the spot better then i expect him too. This might sound crazy I am not doubting Tevez's ability but it could be in our best interest to sell him to fund a move to change to a new formation along with Pogba. I love watching him play but i have my doubts he could be a central striker in a 4-3-3 due to his height.

Actually it was Marchisio who missed the greatest chance in the match. Also Chiellini but you can't blame him he is a defender xd

Anyone else noticed how Pirlo failed to get a simple good cross from corners? Every time he was booed and their crosses were short, then he just went on to play short corners.

Yep I noticed that dronte. Even though march missed the chance, I forgive him, because he was the engine the match.

Where you guys surprised by how much Siqueira (left back) dominated licht? always said he was a great player

Licht raped him quite a few times after a poor first half. In fact, 80% of our successful attacks were down his side. Him and Pogba had the beating of him completely in the 2nd half.

@Nick
Nope. He didn't do a lot. Lichtsteiner managed to get through him most of the time.