The defeat in Como further highlights the Bianconeri’s problems. The defense has been reinforced, but there is a lack of certainty in attack. For the coach, the away game at Sarri’s home will be decisive. And in the background, there is the case of Yildiz’s contract renewal.
Something has broken. Or rather, a lot needs to be fixed, and quickly: Como is like a death sentence for Juventus. The Bianconeri give the impression that they can only get so far before hitting an insurmountable wall: that’s how it went at the lake. The misunderstanding stems from a summer spent waiting for Vlahovic’s departure, which was announced but never happened. A misunderstanding because Dusan remained on the verge of leaving and, by staying, took away a lot of certainties within the attack: one or two strikers? Promote David and bet on Openda or take advantage of the Serbian striker’s good moments? Answers that, in an instant, turned into a difficult puzzle to solve. From there, a transfer market ensued as if the ball weighed heavily between economic parameters to be respected and choices to be made on the field to give the team a complete sense of purpose: in the end, the verdict was to enrich, perhaps too much, the offensive line, but to have few, very few alternatives in the middle of the field where, usually, the fate of seasons is decided.
The image that the last minutes of the sad trip to Como give us is emblematic: two strikers in the process of being replaced, Fabregas’s boys doubling their lead, and Openda watching from the sidelines. Igor Tudor, coach of the second defeat in the league between the end of last season and the one that began two months ago, looks to Madrid, a thrilling stop on the agenda on Wednesday evening: but the Croatian coach must look, above all, to Rome, to the appointment in the Biancoceleste capital that will take place next Sunday. His future will pass through the Eternal City because a disastrous defeat would seriously jeopardize his immediate future.
formula— His mistakes? Not being able to find the right formula for a team that, however, is rich in possible solutions up front to get through games without worrying breaks in play, but with the awareness of being able to manage them by avoiding imbalances between the departments: with every counterattack, this Juve team struggles, with every restart there is a serious possibility that they will not reach the finish line, a shot, a conclusion, a dangerous attempt. Individuals need to be put in a position to express themselves at their best: in part, Tudor has accomplished the mission, but for the most part he has not, and now he is talking about switching to man-to-man defense on set pieces. And in the background, there is a case, the renewal of Yildiz, which weighs heavily on the club’s strategies.
