So I wanted to do this for the past few months, but because of all the turbulance in the forum I decided to wait until the season started to write my first piece of the Critical Pinch of Salt. This is my version, as my good friend Kwame (Elmystique) usually writes these pieces in this forum and the old forum, so he asked me to do my version months ago, so here goes:

Juventus 2011-2012: Is this the year the Old Lady returns to its former glory??

I have been watching my beloved Juventus for over 20 years. Yes, I am 45 years old and I am sometimes called the Papa of the forum. I started watching Juve since before some of you were born, so I have been fortunate to watch the many ups and downs of our team. There have been mostly ups over the last 20 years, starting with the purchase of the great Roberto Baggio in 1990, arguably the greatest Italian player ever. Then came Alessandro Del Piero, a true Juventino legend. What a time that was, yes both the great Baggio and ADP on the same team at the same time. Great memories for sure. But in 1995 Baggio was sold to our fierce rivals Milan, and so ended the Baggio era. But fortunately we still had ADP, and so the ADP era started, and what an era that was. Moggi was now in charge and was in the process of building one of the greatest Juventino teams ever. ADP took us to the promised land in 1996 with a Champions League triumph. And then Moggi's defining moment arrived soon after when he purchased a player named Zinedine Zidane for a measly 3.2 million. Zidane went on to become one of the greatest midfield maestros of all time and helped Juventus win two scudetti and make it to two Champions League finals.

Another end of an era arrived in 2001 when Zidane was sold to Real Madrid for a record fee, but a new era began again when Moggi brought in three more Juventino legends, Gianluigi Buffon, Pavel Nedved and, the year prior, David Trezeguet. Our new legends brought us great success again with four more scudetti (2 stolen) and another trip to the Champions League finals. It looked like nothing could stop our beloved Juventus from achieving more success well into the next decade.

But then the worst possible scenario took place. Calciopoli arrived and destroyed our beloved Juventus, and thus one of the worst times in Juventus history had arrived. There have been many debates and court battles that have occured as to whether or not Calciopoli should have even existed, and there have been many questions asked as to whether or not Juventus was punished unfairly because of their success. Whatever the actual truth was and is, the reality was that Juventus was severly punished and demoted to Serie B for the first time ever. As well, our two scudetti were taken away, as well as our reputation ruined. To make matters even worse, 50% of our players eventually left the organization, including world class players Fabio Cannavaro, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lilian Thuram. The only bright side to this tragic occurance was the loyalty showed by our other world class players and true Juventino legends, Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet, Pavel Nedved and Gianluigi Buffon. They remained even in the tough times and went on to play one full year in Serie B, a loyalty probably never seen before in the history of sports.

Juventus returned to Serie A in 2007 with renewed hope and a clean slate. We managed to finish in 3rd place that year, and our renewed hope was given a vote of confidence. But as it turned out, our hope quickly changed to more pain, as player mismanagement and a revolving door of coaches caused us to fall again, with 2 successive 7th place finishes. And so we were left once again with only dreams of our past glories.

Ove the last two years we have witnessed a revolving door of new players. Giuseppe Marotta took charge as our new transfer guru and his job was to bring Juventus back to its glory days. With a go ahead from the Agnelli family to spend the money, he has brought in new faces to forge ahead and bring Juventus back to where it came. Mirko Vucinic, Fabio Quagliarella, Alessandro Matri, Milos Krasic, Marco Storari, Leonardo Bonucci, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Arturo Vidal, Eljero Elia and Andrea Barzagli were brought in to replace the old guard and right the ship. Claudio Marchisio and Paolo De Ceglie, two players who have been lifelong Juventinos, were retained to bring youth and loyalty to the squad. Giorgio Chiellini, obtained several years back, replaced Fabio Cannavaro as our anchor of the defense. Simone Pepe, somewhat of a cult hero to many Juventus fans, was also brought in to provide energy and a spark off the bench. And last but certainly not least, Andrea Pirlo, an Italian legend, was stolen from Milan this past summer for free to become the centerpiece of our offense, and has become arguably Marotta's greatest coup.

And so here we are, four games into the 2011 season, and our beloved Juventus is sitting atop the Serie A standings, tied for first place. And so the question becomes, has the Old Lady turned a corner?? Have we righted the ship? Are we in the process of returning to the glory days? Our beloved Juventus teased us last year with an 18 game unbeaten streak, only to collapse with an abysmal second half of the season to finish as a mid table team. Will this year be any different? Or will we suffer the same brutal fate as last year? Will our beloved Juventus tease us again this year only to duplicate a mid season collapse??

I guess we will find out over the coming months what will take place. The next game will be against our fiercest rivals, Milan. It will be the first time that our new legend Andrea Pirlo will face his former team, a team on which he built his entire career success, a team which allowed him to become an Italian legend and an icon in the Italian football world. Will he be able to lead our beloved Juventus to victory over the team that turned him into a legend?? I believe that this game will show our true worth this year. It will be a pivotal match and a season changing game. It could very well define what our destiny will be this year.

I will leave this piece with one final thought. I belive that we have the ability to turn a corner this year and write a new chapter in our fabled history. I sense a resurgence of the black and white stripes. We have suffered enough as Juventini and we now have renewed hope for a prosperous future. We have to believe that our time has come. We are Juventus and I am proud, as I am sure all of you are, to say these final words...

I AM A JUVENTINO AND I LOVE JUVENTUS!! Juve per sempre, Forza Juve!!



In case any of you have not seen this video below, please watch it to see what we used to be and what we can become. It is a video from 2003 and it is our beloved Juventus singing one of my favourite songs, "Il Mio Canto Libero". Watch closely as you will recognize the great legends of our past singing in harmony and as a family. Watch our legend Pavel Nedved actually crying during the beginning of the song, to sense the power of the words that are said. Everytime I watch this video I get tears in my eyes. It is very powerful and is a must watch for all Juventini. Ciao tutti...

damn you...u made water filled my eye
I think the determination is there to do alot this year...
We drew our 2 previous match but for me...they were both victories because when u see a newly constructed team having 65-70% of the ball then u know they have a big heart...
I think this team will give it their all coming Sunday vs Milan

FOREVER JUVENTUS

in Serie A, o in Serie B noi cantaremo sempre cosii. Juve ale, la la, la la la Juve ale, la la, la la la Juve ale, ... !!!

FINO ALLA FINE FORZA JUVENTUS

in Serie A, o in Serie B noi cantaremo sempre cosii. Juve ale, la la, la la la Juve ale, la la, la la la Juve ale, ...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

<3 JUVEEEEEEEEEEEEE NEL CUOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !

Spot on Gigi the truth we will find out come sunday, if they beat milan they will get the belif needed 2 keep going

And for the video goes that why Juve is singing is 2 raise money for a new childrens hospital and goosebumbs for sure must be present if your a true juventino. Also the song is written by one of italys imo best song writers Lucio Battisti but that is way back.

Check out this fantastic video

Good post, Gigi. And I thought i was the old man of the forum at 31. I'm glad to know I have company.

BoBo wrote:Spot on Gigi the truth we will find out come sunday, if they beat milan they will get the belif needed 2 keep going

And for the video goes that why Juve is singing is 2 raise money for a new childrens hospital and goosebumbs for sure must be present if your a true juventino. Also the song is written by one of italys imo best song writers Lucio Battisti but that is way back.

Check out this fantastic video

Yes, yes, they are singing to raise money for Gaslini Children's Hospital in Italy. Lucio Battisti is awesome, he must be a Juventino!! The song "Il Mio Canto Libero" (My Free Song) was originally written in 1972 by Battisti and was the best selling album in Italy in 1973.

And who knew Gianluca Zambrotta and Ciro Ferrara were such great singers...

You know, I'm not the type who likes reading a lot, but this was exceptional work. Very good read and I'm very impressed. I loved to read through your experience, in which I think is the most important factor when I look at your views and opinions. Great review all in all and thanks for the video.

By the way Pino, expect a PM with some sort of intivation. This is too intellectual for Goal Legacy

and +1

Camurrìa.Sto.Stronzo wrote:You know, I'm not the type who likes reading a lot, but this was exceptional work. Very good read and I'm very impressed. I loved to read through your experience, in which I think is the most important factor when I look at your views and opinions. Great review all in all and thanks for the video.

By the way Pino, expect a PM with some sort of intivation. This is too intellectual for Goal Legacy

and +1

Grazie Antonio!!