Juventus’ game against Napoli on Sunday was a case study in how a coach can lose a game. Luciano Spalletti came into the game with an idea of how to approach the Partenopei, but it was completely the wrong idea. We’ll get into the details of that later.
But the Juventus players also influenced. With a few exceptions, everyone in the camp was quite poor. Kenan Yildiz stood out, but few managed to put in a respectable performance against the defending champions (puke).
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How were things? Let’s take a closer look.
MICHELE DI GREGORIO – 6. He made a couple of fantastic saves that kept Juve in the game long enough to equalize. I’ve seen criticism that he’s not proactive enough in the lead-up to goals, but it’s difficult to attack him when your defenders simply fail to score.
PIERRE KALULU – 6. The only Juve defender who does his job relatively well. He made three tackles and two interceptions, and completed 96.1 percent of his passes. His side wasn’t the problem.
LLOYD KELLY – 4.5. He lost Rasmus Højlund in both goals. The first time he was really aware of where he was, he simply wasn’t prepared for the Dane’s late-race increase in pace. In the winning goal he was completely attentive to the ball, although perhaps it can be said that he would not have expected Weston McKennie to head the ball directly at the guy who was marking.
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TEUN KOOPMEINERS – 5. David Neres roasted him several times early in the game and looked like he was told to leave the Brazilian in his side after that. This was not an ideal opponent to play at the back, but with the injuries there were few other options.
ANDREA CAMBIASO – 4. Statistics say he had a key pass, which I don’t remember, to save my life. In total, he only completed 84.9 percent of his passes and made several impactful steals in his own half. Even in Juve’s goal, his imprecise pass almost ended the play, but Conceição saved it.
MANUEL LOCATELLI – 6. Spalletti punished him for playing too low, but he was very good defensively in midfield, leading the team with five tackles and four interceptions. One of those five tackles was a fantastic slide that finished off Højlund and started the run that led to Yildiz’s goal. He also completed 92.5 of his total passes and was one of the few players to record a key pass.
KHÉPHREN THURAM – 5. I had a high approval rate, but in reality it was not like that. do a lot of anything. Those runs through the midfield that were the defining feature of his game last year have dried up a bit.
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JUAN CABAL – 4. He also couldn’t keep up with Neres’ rhythm, who was absolutely flabbergasted until he was hooked at halftime. It is not the first time that it has been set on fire along that line.
FRANCISCO CONCEIÇÃO – 5.5. He didn’t have much of an impact, but for a guy who needs the ball at his feet, he didn’t have many opportunities to do so. He only managed 34 touches in 75 minutes.
WESTON McKENNIE – 5. What a strange day. He got the assist on Yildiz’s goal to end that great counter, then headed a Neres cross directly to Højlund’s head to give Napoli the winning goal. He made a couple of interceptions and held Lang well when he moved to right back at half-time, he didn’t really have much of a (positive) impact on the game beyond the assist.
KENAN YILDIZ – 7. A frustrated figure in the first half, he was clearly encouraged by returning to his natural position in the second. The shot he put into his goal was absolutely wonderful. This team needs to be better for him.
SUBS
JONATHAN DAVID – 5.5. He had very little service (in his first 17 minutes he had TWO touches), but he should be given credit for simply changing the balance of the team and helping them play better in the second half. Her chemistry with Edon Zhegrova was tantalizing.
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FILIP KÓSTIC – 4. Yes, this was a no. He completed only 44.4 percent of his passes and did his best Younghoe Koo impression on a cross attempt. (If you don’t know American football, I encourage you to Google this man. You don’t need to understand the sport to be entertained by what happened to him a few weeks ago.)
FABIO MIRETTI – 6. I didn’t miss any passes and I really should have started earlier.
LOÏS OPENDA – NR. Normally I give a numerical grade to a substitute who spent 15 minutes or more on the field, but Openda only touched the ball twice in 15 minutes, so a grade doesn’t really seem fair here.
EDON ZHEGROVA – NR. And since I don’t give a number to someone who spent less than 15 minutes on the field, Zhegrova will once again be left without a number despite her immediate impact on the game during the 8 minutes she was there. He should have done better on that last chance of the game when he came face to face with VMS.
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MANAGER ANALYSIS
Ah, where to start?
I think think—I understand what Spalletti was trying to do with this false nine lineup. He wanted to take advantage of the lack of a reference point to stretch the three defenders and open gaps that the midfielders, facing an injury-ravaged Napoli midfield, could exploit.
It’s not a radical idea. But given Spalletti’s age and experience, I’m surprised how naive he was to think it would work in this game.
Expecting to be able to push and pull like that from a defense coached by Antonio Conte is crazy. Conte simply does not allow that kind of indiscipline in his defenders, something that Napoli’s three defenders showed throughout the first half. Add to that the fact that there was absolutely no way for players like Yildiz and Conceição to win balls in the air against the league’s tallest group of centre-backs, and it made Napoli’s pressing even more effective.
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There is always the question of whether not having a reference point or a forward to serve as a center of gravity can create the type of movement that Spalletti clearly wanted. That answer is not universal and really depends on the players the team has. In the case of Juve, the latter is clearly the answer. To his credit, Spalletti recognized this and immediately changed things at halftime, although, frankly, I wouldn’t have criticized him if he’d made the change. before the rest. But what he did in the first half effectively put Napoli in control of the game for the entire first half, and they almost never let him through.
Which brings us to Spalletti’s other big misstep: not using his substitutions to build momentum after Yildiz’s equalizer. That was the point where he could have made a couple of offensive changes and put Napoli on his heels as they processed the goal they had just conceded. Miretti should have come on much earlier, and this would have been an excellent moment to bring João Mário out of purgatory and use his wing attacking skills to take the game to the hosts.
Instead, he stood still, waited 12 minutes to make any substitutions and allowed Napoli to straighten out. In the minutes before the winning goal, it was clear that the Partenopei had regrouped and began to force the situation offensively.
Spalletti’s mistakes in this match simply gave Napoli the three points. He didn’t put his players in a position where they could succeed, and unsurprisingly, they didn’t. Spalletti will need to reflect on this game and make changes; Otherwise, this season could quickly get out of control.
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LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE
Juve host Paphos of Cyprus on Wednesday in another must-win Champions League clash, then hit the road again for another Major League game, this time against Bologna, and then comes a home game against Roma.