Re: Juventus 2017/2018 Serie A and Coppa Italia thread

[Warrior]

Chiellini i don't think i ever saw him cry after a loss

Licht too though he didn't have as much drama in his career.

[rincon]

Cuadrado got injured with Colombia btw. Something to the thigh. He is back in Turin for exams.

I guess Costa or Bernardeschi for Samp on the right.

[Warrior]

Someone will get injured during the break, if not i might buy a lottery ticket.

Apparently everyone is supposed to be fit by the time the international break is over. Good news.

4 injuries inbound.

[DeviAngel]

Cuadrado got injured with Colombia btw. Something to the thigh. He is back in Turin for exams.

I guess Costa or Bernardeschi for Samp on the right.

Please god, YES !

[rincon]

So Cuadrado and Mandzukic are doubts for the game. They both might make it, or none.

The rest of the squad is fit and Pjaca and Benatia are available to be called up as well.

I would guess that at least if not both Mandzu and Cuadrado will be rested for the Barca game.

Maybe we'll go 4-3-3.

[Warrior]

It's a tricky game, unfortunately we have to separate the troops because we face Barca 2 days later. Time to use my beloved Christmas 4-3-3 with Bernardeschi & Dybala as AMs. Sczezcny will surely start since Gigi plays in Champions League.

I want to see Marchisio and Howedes more regularly.

[Luca]

Hard to imagine Howedes in either game coming up, given he hasn't played yet but I'm excited to see him

I really want us to roll with Chiellini and Rugani in all competitions as our primary pair at the back

After that, we have to figure out what our best midfield is. I know who our best midfielders are but which is the best combination

The attack, where you would expect the most rotation because of the talent we have is actually where we see the least. It is the same front four from last season that is relied on and whether right or wrong, that has been the narrative for the season up to this point and from a goal scoring perspective we have scored no more than with this

[Warrior]

Our best combination is probably Matuidi-Marchisio-Pjanic when everyone is fit.

For the double pivot idk, against proper opponents the midfield gets eaten alive.

[Luca]

Based on name or what? Those three haven't played a single minute together this season and starting those 3 also drops another oe of our forwards to the bench

[rincon]

In order of my preference in terms of performances that I've seen

Pjanic-Marchisio
Pjanic-Khedira
Marchisio-Khedira
Pjanic/Marchisio-Matuidi

Throw some Bentancur in ranomly for the kid to develop.

[Warrior]

Based on name or what? Those three haven't played a single minute together this season and starting those 3 also drops another oe of our forwards to the bench

Yes based on name, i have no proof of what i say.

I also like that it allows to play 4-3-3 christmas tree, in other words, it fits my agenda

[Luca]

Based on name or what? Those three haven't played a single minute together this season and starting those 3 also drops another oe of our forwards to the bench

Yes based on name, i have no proof of what i say.

I also like that it allows to play 4-3-3 christmas tree, in other words, it fits my agenda

I don't mean to question what you say to antagonize or confront you. In fact, I'm generally more in favour of a 3 man midfield, just as I was in favour of a 4 man back line when we brought the 3-5-2 to prominence. Unfortunately, we are built for the 4-2-3-1 (maybe not unfortunately but for my tastes).

I'm asking you the question because it's November 16 and we still don't know so much of this team. I feel like we've only played at half potential so far

[Warrior]

i truly have no proof of what i say

November 16 and we still don't know the potential of this team. But if you were coming back from the future only to inform me that we used Max dogmatic 4-2-3-1 all 2017-2018 season long, then i wouldn't have enough palms for my face

[rincon]

What's so wrong about the 4-2-3-1?

It has given us tons of success and 1 loss (away to Barca with a bunch of injuries). In fact, we haven't even lost a game yet with the proper 4-2-3-1.

[Luca]

I think its a good formation for most of our games but a lot of the major teams in Europe play with 3 in the middle and that can pose problems for us should we meet them. We probably win Serie A with this formation

Against Barca we actually played 3 in the middle, so in theory we only lost with Lazio with the double pivot

I think its difficult to pull off a double pivot. Not really surprised that were scoring more and conceding more, its how these games are going to go this season

[Warrior]

We also lost against Real Madrid, and we lost Superfloppa (or maybe we had other tactics ? frankly i don't remember)

My main problem is the current double pivot more than 4-2-3-1 on the paper.
Double pivot is not ideal for our best midfielders Pjanic and Marchisio, they are more comfortable in a midfield 3. Made for Vidal type of players.

edit:

but a lot of the major teams in Europe play with 3 in the middle and that can pose problems for us should we meet them

spot on

[rincon]

Against Barca we actually played 3 in the middle, so in theory we only lost with Lazio with the double pivot

Barca was the game I missed. Against Lazio we played 4-3-3 as well. It was the game where we rested Dybala. So we have no losses with it yet. But 2 losses with the 4-3-3.

@Warrior against Madrid we played 3-4-3. With BBC and Alves on the wingback. Cuadrado got benched.

We did lose the supercup but that's preseason. Fair enough, I just personally don't really care about that.

I also see the appeal of the 4-3-3 but I don't see how it is ridiculous to continue with 4-2-3-1. We have 7 forwards. All of which are awesome. Or midfielders ain't that good and tbh Pjanic looked like 3 times the players when we took him out of the regista role and into a double pivot. Marchisio is our only top regista and he is not available that often. We have no DM to play there either.

We are scoring TONS of goals. More than Napoli and more than we ever do.

The beginning of the season's with Allegri are always weak (this one is pretty good though) I expect us to keep improving and fulfill the potential of this awesome squad. Maybe without the 4-2-3-1, but it will still remain a valid solution.

I'll be surprised if we stop seeing it for most of the season.

[Luca]

Its definitely the formation we'll use, I've said that. It's how the team is composed, just as the team's before them were meant for the 3-5-2. We don't gain anything by switching to a 4-3-3 for anything but specific games or instances in games, we drop another attacker and we don't have the depth in the midfield that we do in the attack.

Really, all I want is more rotation up top and Rugani and Chiellini to be the prominent defensive pairing. I don't think playing both Higuain and Mandzukic in every possible game is a smart strategy with literally no back up striker on the bench. I don't like that Rugani hasn't been trusted in the "bigger" games. Rugani played against Milan, and he was immense.

[rincon]

I think we won't see Rugani against Barca. Allegri will probably trust Barzagli. I hope that he starts to play CL after the Barca game. In Serie A he is the man, only behind Higuain and Dybala in minutes played iirc.

I want the forward rotation to increase too. We need more Costa on the left, more Bernardeschi on the right (and middle) and more Mandzukic at CF.

I think it will come once we get going and the players click. Pjaca and Howedes are back now, more rotation should be necessary.

[Luca]

You know what I fear with the rotation?

Is that we don't rotate now when we should be and then later on, our players are burnt out, injured or not playing well and its like oh, well, you fools just played into our hand because we have Bernardeschi, Costa, Pjaca on the bench. Then these players don't make an impact because they're thrown into the fire without proper game play and expected to rescue us. So, then they get scapegoated as poor transfers.

This would be the extreme of all extremes mind you but I think of the worst case scenarios

[rincon]

I wonder when we'll see Pjaca again. I would in a few matches. Like Bologna or something like that

[rincon]

Cuadrado got injured with Colombia btw. Something to the thigh. He is back in Turin for exams.

I guess Costa or Bernardeschi for Samp on the right.

Please god, YES !

He is supposed to start today in Dybala's role.

[Luca]

Samp playing a midfield 3 and our double pivot looks like it’s underwater

[rincon]

We have more possession, better passing accuracy, created tons of chances and conceded none until their goal.

The problem wasn't the midfield, it was not scoring our chances. We had at least 4 VERY clear ones to score.

[rincon]

Taking of Bernardeschi was the wrong sub as well, we lost fluidity. Cuadrado should have been the first one out.

[Luca]

I would’ve taken off Wingdzukic. Him and Asamoah is a worse combination than Molinaro and Jorge Martinez

Pjanic was absolutely not in it today

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