The ascent mission of the Juventus has officially begun. But to make it concrete Max Allegri it needs “ammunition”.
With four victories in their last five games, Juventus are the second-most performing team in the last month of Serie A.
Only l’Inter, who closed 2021 with an open streak of seven wins, did better and that was enough for the bianconeri to adjust the ranking of the first round of the team and to get back in the wake of the zona Champions League, thanks to the showy braking of Napoli and Atalanta, now five and four points away respectively.
Juventus, 2021 ended with a crescendo
Furthermore, the calendar, with the novelty of the asymmetry of the matches between the first and second rounds, offers a further assist to Juventus, which will open in 2021 by hosting Napoli and will visit Milan on 23 January and at the Atalanta on February 13th.
In short, if Juventus will not be the architect of their own destiny, given that the gap in the standings is still alive, we are close to it. On the pitch, but not only, given that the first 19 league games showed that the Bianconeri squad lacked something to be able to compete for at least a place behind the super Inter.
And that something could come from January market, despite the words of the managing director Maurizio Arrivabene, in addition to Allegri’s pretacticians, they seem to have turned off the spotlight on January for the Bianconeri.
Juventus, Allegri’s balance sheet at the end of the first round
Max Allegri, who claimed that after the difficult start to the championship the team is now running with the pace of the top of the class, seems to have managed to shape the team on his own football ideas.
Juventus have conceded only two goals in their last eight league games, despite achieving “only” 12. An average that is not exciting and that may need to be raised in view of the head-to-head clashes considering the offensive power of Naples, Milan and Atalanta.
This is why the ideas within the management and the technical staff are clear. Given that no substantial expenses will be made, postponed to next summer as long as we reach the qualification for the Champions League 2022-’23, the goal is to extend the squad with a midfielder it’s a center forward that guarantee goals and physicality.
In fact, one of the least comforting figures of Juventus’ first round concerns the tally of goals of the midfielders, just four, one third compared to Inter and half compared to Napoli. Only the bottom five of the standings, from Venice to Salernitana, did worse than the Bianconeri.
A corrective is urgently needed, just as it is urgent to increase the technical rate and the offensive production of the attackers. If in fact Juventus is the second team for successful dribbles in 2021, behind only Sassuolo, the fact that the first bianconero in the standings is only 10th stands out, Federico Chiesa, whose absence has further lowered the quality of the squad considering that of Paulo Dybala.
Juventus market, negotiations still blocked
And yet, ten days after the start of the market, Allegri is at risk of approaching 2021 without new faces. The name of Anthony Martial, out of Manchester United, has never convinced and the Frenchman seems to be headed for Seville. Doubts even about Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal redundancy, but burdened by age (born in 1989) and salary (15 million).
Difficult even to get to Edinson Cavani, which United could not release in the event of Martial’s departure, therefore the hypothesis, however not simple, of the loan of Mauro Icardi from the Psg.
Situation also blocked in midfield, where the jewels of Borussia Moenchengladbach Kouadio Koné e Denis Zakaria cost so much. It may therefore be useful to apply for the “seasoned” Axel Witsel, expiring with Borussia Dortmund.
Time is running out and Juventus needs reinforcements to continue the comeback operation.
OMNISPORT
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