Juventus has just about ready to claim the Scudetto for the second consecutive season in a row. Juve has battled relentlessly to dominate the World of Italian Football. It’s true that this Juve side was not merely as good as the Juve side from last season. However, they had an extra competition to play in, that was the Champions League. They performed pretty well during the group stages and knocked out last season’s champions in a convince way. They even found a way to beat a spirited Celtic FC team. In the quarter finals, against Bayern FC, Juventus seemed confident in the buildup and they were ready to match Bayern man for man.
Unfortunately, an inspirited Juve side showed up to play for 180 minutes. It was apparent that Juventus lacked confidence and lacked creativity. The fear of facing Bayern FC and all the pre-match talk’s had took its toll. Juventus couldn’t score in over 180 minutes, Antonio Conte’s genius creation of 3-5-2 formation was apparent not to be a solution for Juventus against the bigger sides. The facts are in, Juventus are the top eight sides in European football, and they have proven themselves to be consistent in Serie A. However, If Conte and the warriors are planning on breaking into the top four sides of European football and having a realistic chance of making the finals in the next two seasons….then some changes are necessary!
TIME
Yes it’s true, there’s just too much expectation at the Juventus Stadium. Juventus fan expect way too much, way too fast. Let’s not forget that this Juventus side has been a real team for no more than two seasons. It’s not an excuse; it’s just the facts speaking. When we recognize that Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich have all had squads that have been composed of the same line-up and same players in the past four to six seasons ago.
This Juventus side needs time to be allowed to grow. This was probably Juventus most disappointing loss under Conte. They have to be allowed to compose themselves; they simply need to remain patient. They need to take a step back and look at things at different angle. Everyone is over-judging Juventus, due the fact that they had been playing such attractive football in such a short span of time. By the results they have achieved, they didn’t realize that the expectations are going to rise as well. Juventus are on a project and they simply need their fans to get behind them and understand that trophies such as Champions League are not won and lost over just a season. Let’s face the truth, Real Madrid who have a much higher spending limit and have a more star studded squad then Juventus have not won this trophy for over a decade now!
Conte’s press conference before the second leg:
The expectations on us are just too high. It’s easy to forget everything and not see the past. I heard people saying that our performance in Munich was Juve’s worst for years. But we’ve only been working on this side for 18 months and people are too quick to forget what we have done.
People think everything is easy, but success is never easy, you are never gifted anything in life. We have a path to follow [but] two years ago we weren’t even in the Europa League.
Juventus had to be rebuilt and we have just started our journey after so many years of difficulty. Bayern have been building their team for years. Bayern are a skyscraper and we are a building which is only one-third complete.
MONEY, MONEY, AND MORE MONEY
Without a doubt Juventus are one of the most famous teams in Europe. However, they’re they don’t have the same financial power as they had previous to their demotion to Serie B. Remember, Juventus has lost a lot of money due the fact that they haven’t been qualifying consistently for Champions League. In addition, they are the process of finalizing there name clear of any accusations regarding scandal. If Juventus want to taste a European triumph they will have to gain access to more capital. For instance, this past season Juventus had an annual profit of only 195 million Euros while Real Madrid had an astonishing 512 million Euro profit.
They certainly have been on the right track, with the introduction of a new stadium they have proven how serious they are towards achieving their objectives. Without Conte, Juventus was a slow train on an unknown path. Now with Conte this is a fast pacing train on a straight path to glory. This is what Juventus fans have to realize, Juventus will get to where they have to get too, but they will only get there gradually. They will obviously need to add two world class wingers that can utilize their pace to beat their opponents. In addition, Matri’s time at Juventus is up, Juve need to invest in a talented young and promising striker!
Reputation
Many people don’t have a clue how hard it’s for a team to climb up from the bottom, which was Serie B. We are talking about a team that was rocked by scandal, poor performances, and demotion. We are talking about a team that was left out in the cold to die. Somehow, they rose under a champion, Antonio Conte. They have a new style play and they have dominated the World of Serie A under him. Regardless, of what everyone thinks about Juventus after the Bayern match, Juventus are still one of the best teams in Europe.
It’s time for the Juventus fans to face the facts. Conte has led Juventus to a back to back Serie A titles, last season they went on an unbeaten run for the whole season of league play. Conte has taken Juventus to the quarter finals of the Champions League for the first time in seven seasons. This inspirational leader has suppressed our basic expectations of Juventus. He has transformed a mediocre Juventus team into a phenomenal Juventus team. What Conte did takes a lot of hard-work, courage, communication and patience. This talented tactician deserves to be holding his head up high for what he has achieved in just 18 months.
This humble coach always believed that the Bayern match was just a challenge to see what Juventus’s abilities are, “This was an opportunity for us and we were basically newcomers to the Champions League after so many years out. We reached the quarter-finals, which in my view was something extraordinary. When we were paired with Bayern, I said this was an opportunity for us to face an extremely strong side and understand the gap that separated us from the superpowers.” Progress takes time, patience, and money. Results will sway in Juve’s direction, under Conte Juventus are in the possible hands.
Forza Juve, Grazie Conte!
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