the lost identity of the club amidst defeats, debts and style falls- Corriere.it

A month ago, at the reopening of the Bernabeu after the long restoration, Real Madrid paid tribute to Lorenzo Sanz, one of its historical presidents in office from 1995 to 2000, who died at the beginning of the pandemic, on March 20, 2020. Giampiero Boniperti, who was Juventus president, as well as one of the strongest players ever, passed away on June 17 this year, but the Juventus club did not consider remembering him at the Stadium even with the canonical minute of silence.

Without dramatizing, because Juve has a well-kept museum and a memory will be there today, Friday, during the shareholders’ meeting, this still says something about a certain loss of identity in the bianconera house, an element that in the midst of a profound economic and technical crisis can always prove useful. To make the players understand what Juve is and perhaps not only to them, given that the vice-president Nedved, after kicking the advertising boards when the team left the Champions League, on Wednesday evening against Sassuolo, began to scream in a broken way after the goal at the last second that cost the third defeat (1-2) in ten games, with the worst gap from the top in history at this point in the championship (13 points) and also the worst defense since 88 (already 14 goals) .

Even in the case of Nedved, no drama: they are all men of the world, even without having been in the military in Cuneo. And in the end, the identity above all is what one should see on the pitch, given that even the fans don’t get much help: the Stadium, with the curve decimated by the inquiries, found an audience not very involved, regardless of the historic victories in 2021 of Benevento, Empoli and Sassuolo, all useless games in the perspective of the Super League wanted by the president Agnelli, taken too much at his word by the his team.

And in any case: who would be able to mention a Juve formation by heart in the last two seasons? Per Allegri, who has 5 points less than Pirlo and 11 less than Sarri, autumn has always been the time for choices. In 2016-2017, the turning point came at the end of January and ended with the second Champions League final in two years, with the line-up almost completely changed compared to 2015: the coach who has always been able to shape the group, but his Juve, who he suffered from the timing of CR7’s farewell, he is proving enormous difficulties when he has to propose play and not just react with the counterattack.

The raw material of lower quality compared to now is about rebuilding, not managing. The mega 4-year contract for 9 million net per responsibility season but also time in Allegri to correct errors and deepen cohabitations, such as those of Arthur-Locatelli and Dybala-Chiesa. The room for maneuver on the market, despite the incoming capital increase of 395 million, will not be large even in 2022, to smooth out the debt of 209 million: but a way will be found for a coup like Vlahovic. When money is scarce, however, you need skills, clear ideas, courage, identity. A package that this Juventus has lost, one piece at a time.