Same players, same formation, same insipid performance. Same inability to defend a lead, too. To the Juventus fans at Turin's Stadio Olimpico there was nothing fresh about their team's 1-1 draw with Lazio. The attack was no more incisive, the defence no less prone to a critical lapse of concentration, Amauri no less anonymous than he has been for the best part of a year. Soon the supporters were directing the same old jeers at the club's manager.
Thing is, this wasn't the same manager. After watching their team beaten 2-1 by Inter in the Coppa Italia on Thursday, Juventus' board finally bit the bullet and replaced Ciro Ferrara. Not with Guus Hiddink, nor Rafael Benítez, nor any of the other high-profile candidates they had been linked with, but instead with a man who had not managed a professional side since being sacked by Juventus' city rivals Torino in February 2007. Much like Ferrara lost the Juve job after a run of nine defeats in 12 games, Alberto Zaccheroni's time with the Granata ended with a run of six losses in a row.
Not that Zaccheroni's appointment, in the end, came as a great surprise. Ferrara might have only lost his job on Friday, but it is no secret that Juventus have been sounding out potential replacements for weeks with little success. Hiddink and Benítez may be tempted, but not before the summer, and then only if the price is right. With Ferrara's side in freefall a stop-gap was required. The former Italy Under-21 manager Claudio Gentile was considered, but Zaccheroni, despite leaving his last post on a low note, has a Scudetto win on his résumé. Better yet, he was willing to sign a four-month deal for a modest €300,000.
Only the younger fans at Stadio Olimpico can have been unfamiliar with his work. This, after all, is a man who announced his arrival as a manager in front of the same Turin crowd in 1997. Having worked his way up through non-league, then Serie B posts, Zaccheroni was enjoying his second season in Serie A with Udinese when they travelled to Stadio Delle Alpi on 13 April. Within minutes of kick-off Udinese had full-back Régis Genaux sent off but instead of making a substitution Zaccheroni left his team to continue in a 3-4-2. They went on to win 3-0.
Such an emphatic victory over a Juventus side that would go on to win the title was enough to convince Zaccheroni that 3-4-3, a formation he had watched Johan Cruyff use at Barcelona, could work in Serie A, and it was using the system that he led Udinese to a third-placed finish in 1998. A year later he led Milan to the title using the same formation, and two years later he lost his job as manager of the Rossoneri for persisting with it even after results had dipped and, more importantly, after Silvio Berlusconi had publicly said he wanted his team to play with four defenders.
It was perhaps unsurprising, then, that much of the build-up to this weekend's game should be dominated by speculation over whether he would try to remodel Juventus along similar lines. Anxieties were expressed in Turin newspapers, radio shows and on message boards that he would wade straight in and implement a three-man defence, while Zaccheroni simply insisted he was flexible and would use whatever formation best suited the players at his disposal.
In the end, with just two days to work with his team before his first game in charge, he decided to keep it simple, sticking to the 4-3-1-2 that Ferrara had used and attempting only to make subtle changes to the team's approach play – focusing their passing through the middle and channelling play through Diego as much as possible. The Brazilian had his moments, but with Lazio packing eight and nine men behind the ball, real openings were few and far between. Despite dominating possession Juventus were largely restricted to potshots from outside the area.
As has so often been the case of late, their best chance of scoring always seemed likely to come from a set-piece, and referee Massimiliano Saccani obliged by awarding an extremely soft penalty when Alessandro Del Piero went down under the weight of Mobido Diakité's breath. Del Piero converted, and with just 20 minutes remaining a victory seemed well within Juventus' grasp, but not even half of those had expired when Stefano Mauri converted Mauro Zarate's cross from close range.
Zaccheroni must accept some of the blame, having replaced the injured midfielder Felipe Melo with full-back Martín Cáceres a short while earlier. The Uruguayan was told to slot in at right-back, with Zdenek Grygera, who had been playing that position, switched over to the left. Zarate's eventual cross for the goal subsequently came down Cáceres's side.
The concession of such a goal may be a factor in Zaccheroni's thinking as he weighs up any change of formation over the coming weeks but he has already acknowledged that Juventus' problems are more psychological than technical. Confidence could hardly be lower right now and that will have to be the first area he addresses.
That may help explain the choice of Zaccheroni, an upbeat character and one who would always look to talk his team up rather than knock them down. "This team has great quality and from now on you'll see the side improve," he said afterwards. "Tonight you saw a team that put in the effort. The rest will follow with time."
A draw for Napoli and defeat for Palermo ensured that Juventus did not lose ground this weekend, but with the Bianconeri already four points adrift of the Champions League places, time may be a luxury Zaccheroni just does not have.
Talking points
Antonio Cassano was left out of the Sampdoria side again this week but that did not stop him from stealing the headlines. On Saturday, what had seemed idle rumours about Cassano being loaned out to Fiorentina (more on their striker situation below) gave way to reports that a deal was in place and had been agreed by all parties. Then on Sunday, Cassano suddenly declared he had undergone a change of heart – claiming that he had been persuaded to stay at Samp because of the support he had received from team president Riccardo Garrone and the club's fans. He was still left out of the side by manager Gigi Del Neri, and for the second week running the team won – beating Atalanta 2-0. Nevertheless, Del Neri was booed by the home fans, begging the question – did Cassano ever really plan to leave, or was he just trying to show his boss who is in charge?
Fiorentina's interest in Cassano may have been sparked by the news this week that Adrian Mutu had failed two more drug tests, this time for sibutramine, a drug that was used in some dietary supplements, but was recently banned due to apparent links with heart attacks and strokes. Sibutramine is not a performance enhancer, but the initial guidance from Wada suggested that Mutu could still be banned for anything from three months to several years. Mutu has since argued that he took the drug inadvertently, as it was not listed on the label of a dietary supplement he bought from a herbal remedy store near his home in Romania over Christmas, and has since submitted the pills and their container – which does not list sibutramine among the ingredients – for laboratory testing, as he seeks to build a case against a Wada ban. In the meantime, though, he has been provisionally suspended by the Italian Olympic Committee.
Either way Fiorentina, who drew 2-2 away to Cagliari this weekend, have given themselves extra cover up front, signing Grasshoppers' Haris Seferovic, who scored five goals for Switzerland in last year's Under-17 World Cup and, more significantly, the Brazilian forward Keirrison from Barcelona. Keirrison, who had been on loan at Benfica, arrives on a two-year loan deal which gives Fiorentina the option to sign him permanently for €12m.
There were six draws in Serie A this weekend, along with one postponed game – Parma v Inter – and just 23 goals but at least Bari v Palermo provided some end-to-end entertainment on Saturday afternoon. Bari were two up after seven minutes, pegged back to 2-2 after 53 and then went on to win 4-2. Palermo's away form may be as disappointing as their home form is formidable, but this was still another impressive win for Giampiero Ventura's side and for them to be within two points of fifth place at this stage is indicative of the formidable job he has done. The defence has suffered from the loss of Andrea Ranocchia to injury, yet in a division where few things are clear below Inter at the top, there may be scope yet for a run at the European places.
Don't look now, but Roma are level on points with second-place Milan after beating Siena 2-1, while the Rossoneri drew 1-1 with Livorno. Talk of Roma now challenging Inter for the title is fanciful – both because they are still eight points behind having played a game more, and because for all their grit their performances have not been totally convincing. But they have now gone 17 games unbeaten in all competitions and, along with Napoli, are the form side in the division right now. The winning goal on Sunday came from an extremely cheeky spinning backheel by Stefano Okaka that is well worth checking out. He has now joined Fulham on loan.
Results: Bari 4-2 Palermo, Cagliari 2-2 Fiorentina, Catania 1-1 Udinese, Chievo 1-1 Bologna, Juventus 1-1 Lazio, Milan 1-1 Livorno, Napoli 0-0 Genoa, Parma P-P Inter, Roma 2-1 Siena, Sampdoria 2-0 Atalanta.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion