What's Missing? 2016-2017 Edition

Given that it is nearly the end of June and we have (just about), completed two fantastic signings, while have sadly lost one fantastic player it seems like an appropriate time to reflect and ask the question: what's missing? How do you complete this squad to make it as competitive as possible?

Signings:
Pjanic
Dani Alves

Departures:
Morata

Possible/probable starting 11s



Obviously as the summer progresses we still have a couple key questions left to be answered in the squad:
-Pogba: stay or leave (I won't discuss this here since we already have a thread for it and the topic has become boring)
-The search for a forward
-Other departures in the squad

Looking back over the past 5 years, the weakest spot still remains the attack. The 3-5-2 does you no favour in breaking down stubborn defensive teams as you are basically down an attacker always, and on top of that, it's remained our weakest area in terms of talent. Dybala has been a revelation, I hope he gets even better because the team needs that. I love what Mandzukic does, but he's not the most prolific scorer (his numbers throughout his career are rather average), and on top of that, I am unsure if he is the man to lead us forward. Morata's exit is a huge blow, his numbers can be replaced (again, very average return for a striker), but his talent cannot be replaced as easily. Zaza, I feel about him how I feel about Mandzukic, I love what he does, I love his energy and aggressive nature, but he's not prolific and has a very poor first touch (almost Matri-like).

I think the attack, yet again, is what is holding us back. Between the formation and genuine lack of talent up front, that's what I believe is missing from making this team an unstoppable force in Italy and Europe. Could you imagine if we had a world class #9?

What do ya'll think? How would you complete this squad?

Fun scenario:
-Random EPL team wants Zaza for 30M
-Balotelli is available for 10M (lets just say)
-Do you trade Zaza for Balotelli +20M?
I would with hopes that main man Max can unlock his powers

Our sole problem at this moment is that we miss a forward. Sanchez would be my first choice. We need to buy someone who is reliable, even with Morata or better.

Yes: Sanchez, Cavani, Gameiro, Kane

No: Balotelli, Lapadula, Batshuayi, Jonas


I hope the rest of the squad remains the same

Lapadula has already signed for Milan
Kane I can't ever see for Juventus
Cavani will not be sold this summer

I do not think Sanchez is available and I also don't believe in a Sanchez-Dybala partnership

Well it's another flop for Milan, i guess.

Anyway, there's someone out there who will come by our side. I don't know who they will choose, but i stated my preferences...

My personal belief is that Dybala makes most players around him look good. Him and Mandzukic are very different players in their style of play, i guess we can say they complement each other perfectly. However, i don't think Dybala has to be necessarily paired with someone who is the absolute opposite to perform well. I suppose that in a 433 they could be spectacular and efficient together. (Talking of Dybala + Sanchez)

+ a Sanchez/Mandzukic duo upfront is also very interesting while Dybala rests.

The main problem, i agree, with a Dybala-Sanchez pairing, is that you have no heading game.

Balotelli is definitely available for 10m.

He's also available for less than that.

i would not really use the word MISSING< as if we are incomplete team

but I would say ADDING even more to it

I remember AC MILAN on PIRLO days they used to have PIRLO, KAKA, SEEDORF so it was 3 extreme creative midfielders supported from someone like SERGINHO and SHEVCHENKO, so it was 5 extreme creative players

now we have POGBA and PJANIC I would like to also add ANDRE GOMES and SANCHEZ

so we end up having lots of creative players : SANCHEZ, DYBALA, GOMES, PJANIC, POGBA, ALVES, SANDRO

so that makes you a super-power when you have lots of players who can attack good not necessary mean dribbling but to have good qualities to attack : CROSSING, SHOOTING, TEAM_WORK and so

instead of having lots of defensive minded players who cannot really attack good enough

you want to have as many players as you can who are capble to do ATTACKING MINDED - Midfielder role to make assists, score goals, make a beautiful pass and so

so I don't think we are incompleted team I think we have some really good players and we can be good even with no addition at all

but adding even more players with high qualities would not do any harm

We need to bring De Sciglio even if Licht stays.The fact that he can play on both sides and our wing backs are most over 32 years old mean he can get his chances soon.With his performances for Italy I'm sure Allegri put his career back on the right track.

We need a proven striker upfront,if Zaza is to stay we need a SS for sure.My favourite would be Sanchez but idk if we can bring him.We can also play Sanchez - Dybala with Paulo as CF like he was at Palermo,maybe just in injury emergencies.

Finally we need to sort out the situation with our midfield subs.We must get rid of Hernanes and possibly one more player,one between Asamoah/Sturaro/Pereyra with Sturaro being a failure for me and the one who should go if Asa and Pereyra are fit for next season.

if we keep CUADRADO? and we bring SANCHEZ
I think that would be another good way 4-3-3 formation


----- SANCHEZ -- DYBALA --- CUADRADO ----
-------------- POGBA ---- PJANIC ----------
------------------ MARCHISIO -----------
SANDRO --- CHIELL ----- BONUCI --- ALVES

Cuadrado isnt staying. Its been said a few times.

The starting 11 isnt missing anything for me, unless we plan to replace Mandzukic who is fine.
We just need a good Cuadrado replacement to change the game or be Dybala's alternative.

De Sciglio has been amazing in the Euros, he even benched Darmian. Would to have him although that maybe would mean that Litchsteiner is gone.

I would sign De Sciglio, only if Lichtsteiner was leaving. He can cover both sides and will get a decent amount of games as Allegri can also use him on the left, sometimes he throws Alex Sandro higher up the field, so it would not interfere with that at all.

But if Lichtseiner stays, it's a bit of overkill. I would hate to see a young talented player rot away on the bench. There were even rumours of Rugani leaving prior to January.

Maybe I'm overthinking when it comes to Mandzukic, I definitely am a fan of his and I hope Pjanic helps with his productivity.

Many times on this Juventus forum, i read people who want to get rid of 1, 2 sometimes even 3 midfield subs... What's wrong ?

Let's say Marchisio, Pjanic, Pogba, Khedira are untouchable. 2 out of 4 are often injured, that's why i support the fact that we keep all of them. Ok maybe not Hernanes, who sucks, but apart from that i think Pereyra deserves an other chance (i think last year was a bad season for him, but in 14-15 he was better).

About Sturaro, he's pretty much a good but not great all-around player. I don't see no major flaws in his game. I feel kinda confident to start him in some Serie A/Coppa matches, the ones against a weak opponent, of course.

Btw, do you think Pogba will stay ?   I feel like RM buying back Morata create a tension between our 2 clubs. I can't imagine the board sending him there, even for a hundred mills. MU has prestige, money and everything...but i believe NOT playing the Champions League is something Popo doesn't want.

IMO, the only thing we need right now is a back up CB, like Benatia and a replacement for Morata. And then we will be complete. If possible, offload the deadweight like Asamoah, Pereyra.

Balotelli is probably Crotone level right now. Don't need an absolute bidone like him. Zero determination to succeed and casually strolls around the pitch with zero work ethic. He's a lost case and is exactly the opposite of what Juventus players stand for. Id be insane to swap a superior Zaza + cash for someone like him.

As far as the attack goes, Mandzukic-Dybala as a combination works very well as described above so ideally id get a forward who can come off the bench and make instant impact. Doesn't necessarily have to be a CF, even an SS will do. Someone with that burst of acceleration and capability to carry the ball forward like Morata.

The Balotelli idea was just to cause a stir and see if people actually read the entirety of my post

Good bait

Thank you.

What do ya'll think of Lacazette? I've been a fan for a little while. Not sure how he would fit at Juventus and I've never seen one report linking him, he seems England bound if he leaves Lyon but I just wanted to throw his name out there.

Luca wrote:Thank you.

What do ya'll think of Lacazette? I've been a fan for a little while. Not sure how he would fit at Juventus and I've never seen one report linking him, he seems England bound if he leaves Lyon but I just wanted to throw his name out there.

Slowed down after that injury (he got injured if I am not mistaking and I think it was knee injury?).

I think we are focused on SS who can play AM/LW, so he can cover for Dybala if needed but be deadly. I am thinking of Gotze.

DeviAngel wrote:

Luca wrote:Thank you.

What do ya'll think of Lacazette? I've been a fan for a little while. Not sure how he would fit at Juventus and I've never seen one report linking him, he seems England bound if he leaves Lyon but I just wanted to throw his name out there.

Slowed down after that injury (he got injured if I am not mistaking and I think it was knee injury?).

I think we are focused on SS who can play AM/LW, so he can cover for Dybala if needed but be deadly. I am thinking of Gotze.

I doubt we sign Gotze at all, especially to be cover for Dybala. He earns too much, would cost too much and he doesn't look like a super motivated player these days.

Berardi for that role seems to make much more sense to be honest.

We'll see what happens

S wrote:Balotelli is probably Crotone level right now. Don't need an absolute bidone like him. Zero determination to succeed and casually strolls around the pitch with zero work ethic. He's a lost case and is exactly the opposite of what Juventus players stand for. Id be insane to swap a superior Zaza + cash for someone like him.

As far as the attack goes, Mandzukic-Dybala as a combination works very well as described above so ideally id get a forward who can come off the bench and make instant impact. Doesn't necessarily have to be a CF, even an SS will do. Someone with that burst of acceleration and capability to carry the ball forward like Morata.

After careful deliberation, I, now, am serious about my Zaza for Balotelli swap scenario.

Pelle - Zaza upfront and Balotelli behind them would be devastating...

It will devastate our chance to finish above 10th place in the league

Thigh injury for Big Khed yesterday, ffs this pal is ALWAYS injured... I suppose even while waking up he worries about breaking something

If we could turn time back to 2011 and create a Serie A all star squad. What PSG tried to do actually

Are we potentially looking at this starting lineup this season ?

I would be ok with that. I'll reply here instead of in the post Pogba thread.

I think Matic is very realistic and would be a great vice-Marchisio/Khedira at the same time.
After Matic I would look to move a couple of our central midfielders and maybe go for a more creative time as a back up- someone like Saponara if he can be properly managed because apart from Pjanic, our midfield lacks some creativity. I mean, unless you think Hernanes can be that player but unfortunately, I don't share that belief.

Up front is where the real question marks raise. Higuain would really complete the team but I can't imagine, even if Zaza and Pogba are both sold, that we would pay 94M for him. I'm honestly trying to think of names but I can't right now. All the players I can think of, like Lacazette, I know are not set to move this summer and I'm also not sure if they would be an improvement over Mandzukic. We could take a chance on a player like Felipe Anderson (although more of a CAM to be fair). Icardi seems like a flirt, nothing but gossip. In Italy, and Europe, I don't think there's a lot of options in the quality forward department and especially if were looking to improve on Mandzukic (displace him from the starting 11), there's even fewer.

With a war chest of $165 million after the sales of Pogba, Zaza and Pererya we should comfortably afford to do this and retain our super club status...

                                        Buffon
                       Barzagli   Bonucci   Chiellini
            Alves   Khedira   Pjanic   Kroos   Sandro
                          Higuain   Dybala