I documented some of my adventures on video. There are some videos that have my friend's voice. I didn't edit it out because her commentary is priceless!
This one is from the beginning of the match....
The Press Conference
Arrival at training
29 May 2010
28 May 2010
"So this one time, I met Juventus..."
This past weekend Juventus had their North American tour! They started in NYC where they played a friendly against NYRB and lost 3-1. To be honest, it was totally expected because our guys barely looked like they were playing a training session with the lack of running that was going on. After that, they flew to Toronto on May 23, 2010. As a good Juventina my stalking skills were on high for the few days they spent in my hometown. Let's start with Monday....
Monday 7:00am: I wake up after only getting 4 hours sleep. I wake up my mom hoping to God she wouldn't kill me for getting her up that early. After begging, I finally convince her to take me downtown to watch the Juventus practice. Big problem was that there were two different locations named for the practice: Rogers Centre and Lamport Stadium. We had a 50/50 chance of getting the right field. We chose Lamport Stadium and thankfully we were right! The practice started at 10:30, however, only the press and people with a Juventus Club Toronto membership were allowed in, so the other 10 of us tifosi had to watch from behind the fence, which wasn't bad because we still had a pretty good view of the training.
They finally allowed us in for the last 45 minutes of the training session, which was great especially considering there was only like 10 of us! At the end of the training session a few of the guys did interviews with the press, including Manninger. Then as they were walking back towards the bus they signed autographs for the fans, which was amazing! Everyone except the Primavera players, De Ceglie, Candreva and Zebina signed for us. I didn't even see PDC or Candreva leave, they must have been pretty slick. Zebina, however, totally ignored us when we called him over and even ignored Brazzo when he tried to call him over!! RUDE!
Anyways, I got to meet a whole bunch of the guys:
Monday 7:00am: I wake up after only getting 4 hours sleep. I wake up my mom hoping to God she wouldn't kill me for getting her up that early. After begging, I finally convince her to take me downtown to watch the Juventus practice. Big problem was that there were two different locations named for the practice: Rogers Centre and Lamport Stadium. We had a 50/50 chance of getting the right field. We chose Lamport Stadium and thankfully we were right! The practice started at 10:30, however, only the press and people with a Juventus Club Toronto membership were allowed in, so the other 10 of us tifosi had to watch from behind the fence, which wasn't bad because we still had a pretty good view of the training.
Anyways, I got to meet a whole bunch of the guys:
Fabio Grosso
Iago Falque Silva
Diego!
Paolucci
Trez!
Brazzo
Manninger
Amauri
Grygera
And of course, Il Capitano, Alessandro Del Piero!!
So my jersey is now amazing:)
So that totally completed my life and mom and I headed back home.
Monday 6pm: I had bought tickets to the Juventus-Fiorentina Gala put on by Astra Sports. We were told that for the $200 ticket we would get dinner, open bar and a meet and greet with the players. So, of course I jumped on the chance. The players arrived late because they had gone to do the tourist thing at Niagara Falls after training. Once they sat down at the long table at the front of the room, they did a press conference and, to everyone's surprise, were promptly escorted back to the bus by security. Apparently, there was no meet and greet, so naturally yelling and swearing ensued. Veins were bulging out of heads and the place went a bit crazy. Luckily, i was not the only crazy fangirl at this Gala, two girls I met on Twitter and their mom were also at the Gala. They came running over to me telling me that they were going to the team's hotel to find them and asked if I wanted to join them. Naturally, I said yes. Once we got downtown, Catherine called the front desk and asked to speak to Mr. Trezeguet. The only question the woman asked was "How do you spell that?" and we were put through to his room. His line was busy, so we knew for sure they had to be in the hotel! That is when the fun began! The hotel they were staying at has two towers and in each tower there are 35 floors. Of course, we started in the wrong tower, so by the end of it we had gone through 70 floors to find this team! We knew we had found the right place when we saw a San Benedetto water bottle sitting outside one of the rooms. As we turned the corner we saw someone in a Juventus jacket, he turned out to be one of the trainers, so we decided to go talk to him to see if he couldn't get us to meet some of the players. After explaining to him that we have been Juventus fans since we were four and that the girls I was with waited for them at Niagara Falls for 4 hours only to miss them by 20 minutes and then drove 2 hours for the Gala for the meet and greet only to be disappointed, he told us that if we came back the next morning he would get us autographs. We weren't sure if we believed him, so we asked his name so that we knew who we were looking for. He told us his name and that the players were supposed to be asleep because they had an early morning. We left and returned to the lobby to think. It killed us knowing how CLOSE we were to Del Piero, so we had to think of a plan! Before we could, other Juve fans had found us and were talking to us, them being decked out in Juventus gear totally blew our cover as we were all dressed up from the Gala. Security came and were really cool about everything, but asked us nicely if we could stop stalking the team and leave...okay he didn't say stalking, but I'm sure that's what he was thinking. So, we thought that was the end. But of course after ALL that, it can't be the end, right?! Let's rewind a couple days...
Sunday evening: Catherine calls the hotel and asks to speak to Mr. Salihamidzic and she was put through to his room. He wasn't in, so she left a message which included her name and cell phone number.
Monday afternoon: She calls the hotel and asks to speak to Mr. Trezeguet, she was put through, but again no answer, so she left a message.
Back to Monday night, now around 11:30: We are in the car on the way home, about 20-25 minutes outside of downtown when her phone rings. The number is blocked, but she answered anyways. The beginning of the conversation went something like this:
Catherine: "Hello?"
Man on other line with accent: "Hello?"
Catherine: "Hello...?"
Man on other line with accent: "Hi"
Catherine: "DAVID?!"
Man on other line with accent: *Laughs* "You called David too!"
Catherine: "HASAN?!"
Hasan: "Si, yes, Hasan." *laughing*
At this point we realized that we apparently had been the talk of the team and had the windows rolled up and I think we were pulled over. We continued talking to him for like 10-15 minutes. She explained to him how her and her sister waited for them at Niagara Falls for 4 hours and he was quite impressed and very apologetic that they missed them. She told them that we have been Juventina since we were 4 and again he was quite impressed and grateful for the support. She also told him about how we went to look for them at the hotel and that security made us leave. He asked if we were still in Toronto because if we were he would come and sign for us. Unfortunately, we were a bit too far to turn around, so she asked if he would be able to sign tomorrow and he said yes, so she asked if he could call us tomorrow to tell us when and he started laughing and said OK. We heard other people laughing in the background and so she asked who he was with and he said he was with 4 other players, but that Del Piero was in a different room. Due to the state of shock we were all in, we only managed to remember to video tape the last like 13 seconds of the phone call. After we hung up I think the only thing we could say was "Did that actually just happen?!" Even today I still can't believe it happened!
So on Tuesday, the day of the match, the two girls I had gone to the hotel with the evening before went back down in the morning to find the trainer for their autographs. Sadly, I had a midterm to write, and had to miss out on this one. But, as promised, he got them their autographs and they even got to meet Hasan and tell him that it was them he called the night before. Him and Grosso started laughing when they told them and they took a picture with them, awesome right?! After I finished my midterm, I headed straight downtown where I met up with another friend of mine and we went to he hotel to wait for the players to come outside. The security continued to assure us they would be coming out soon. After waiting in the heat for nearly 2 hours, they tell us they have decided to move them to a no access location, so we wouldn't be getting to see them after all. So, my friend and I decided to leave to go to the stadium because the gates opened in 45 minutes and we wanted to get in before the line. Once we got in the stadium we went right to the edge of the seating area so that we could get as close to the pitch as possible! Eventually, we got Zac's autograph and got a great view of the warm ups.
And then the game began! It wasn't very loud in the stadium, which sucked, but there were moments when the crowd would sing Juventus chants! And of course Amauri did NOTHING. Zebina was booed and for some reason, Trez didn't play. When ADP came off at the 65th minute, he received a standing ovation, which he showed his appreciation for by applauding the audience. Juventus ended up losing the game (thanks Amauri for being just as useless as you are in Italy) 1-0, after a Jovetic shot that Manninger really didn't have a chance to save. At the end of the match, Del Piero again applauded the audience for their support, as did many of the other players, including Trez who's name we were chanting in hopes that Zac would put him on (clearly, it didn't work). Del Piero proceeded to take off his pinny and throw it into the crowd, and then off came the shorts! The cheers and whistles from the ladies echoed in the stadium as my friend and I half-joked about jumping the guy who caught them...
So although the Gala was a bust and the we lost the game, I had the weekend of a lifetime while Juventus were in Toronto. After the match they flew home and I found myself missing them when I got home. I realized everything was over. No more adrenaline rush from running around 70 floors of a hotel to find them, no more anxiousness about choosing the right training location, nothing. It was finished, they were gone and my fairytale was over. My best friend I attended the game with went back to her dorm room in London and I found myself bored and restless sitting at home in the suburbs where I continued to tell her "I miss you like I miss Juventus." My downtown adventure with Juventus was over. Thus, I have decided. I'm saving up! For what you ask? Well, next season Juventus will play Inter at some point. The friends I made in my adventures and I are planning a little trip to Italy to watch the Derby match in the second half of the season. I really hope we go because my adventure is FAR from over!
Juventina per sempre. We're Drughi now...all we are missing is the Juventus tattoo and we're set!
11 May 2010
The Current State of Calcio
This is something I wrote a while back, so it isn't really that current anymore, but as of March 2, 2010 it was, but the updated version wouldn't look much better in regards to stats...
As a Juventina, I have spent the past 6 months watching and supporting my Juventus this season. I have supported them for as long as I can remember, however, I never remember anything quite like what has been happening questa stagione. Let's take a look at some stats from this season (2009-10):
Matches Played: 26
Wins: 12
Draws: 5
Losses: 9
At first glance, that might not seem all that bad. We have won more matches than we have lost. That isn't the point. How many of those wins were in the first half of the season? 10. In the first 19 matches we won 10 even beating our biggest rivals, Inter. Sure we had a few draws and losses mixed in there, but we won the majority of our matches in the first leg. Now, there have been 26 matches played total thus far. Out of the other 7 matches we played this season we have only won 2. 2 of 7 may not look that bad on paper, however, the games themselves have been so painful I almost couldn't watch.
Now, let's go back to our first season back from Serie B, 2007-08. We finished that season in 3rd place, behind Inter and Roma, with 72 points. By the end of that season our stats looked like this:
Wins: 20
Draws: 12
Losses: 6
In our entire season back in Serie A, we had less losses than we have just over halfway through this season. This is very, very disturbing. Perhaps it was the coaching that has brought about this change? During the 2007-08 season Claudio Ranieri was our coach. He came to Juve having never won any titles before. We knew that, however, we were not necessarily chasing any kind of titles that season, realistically. We needed a coach who would be able to resotre Juve to the grande Juve it was post-calciopoli. Clearly, the Mister did his job. A 3rd place finish and Champions League spot seemed like a positive starting point after being humiliated, broken and decimated as a consequence of calciopoli. Hell, Alessandro Del Piero was even leading scorer that season having put 21 goals in the back of the net, with David Trezeguet finishing 2nd with 20 goals! Not an entirely bad start to the "rebuilding" process, as our management so love to put it. Don't get me wrong, our experience in Serie B was not a total waste. I believe it was a very humbling experience for those of our Old Guard who stayed with us. We got a taste of the other side and saw that calcio is not all about sold out stadi and who can buy the best and most expensive foreigners, but instead that calcio is about the team coming together to rally a victory, similar to how the Juve pre-calciopoli rallied to victory when others would count us out. Due to the departure of several key players we got to bring up some of our young kids and discovered some amazing talent. Before Serie B who had heard of Sebastian Giovinco, other than those who had the pleasure of watching him play for the Primavera? It also wasn't until Serie B that the likes of Claudio Marchisio, Paolo De Ceglie, Antonio Mirante, Federico Balzaretti, Matteo Paro, Raffaele Palladino, and Davide Lanzafame really got noticed. Looking at those names it is a shame to see that many of them have moved on to various teams, most of which have had a fair amount of success.
Getting back to my previous point, is it the coaching that has brought such a downfall to a once successful team? Our coaching over the past 4 seasons has looked a little bit like this:
2006-07: Didier Deschamps/Giancarlo Corradini (for the last 2 matches)
2007-08: Claudio Ranieri
2008-09: Claudio Ranieri/Ciro Ferrara (for the last 2 matches)
2009-10: Ciro Ferrara/Alberto Zaccheroni
We have had 5 coaches in 4 seasons. Thus, to answer my own question I think it is nearly impossible to blame our current form on a single coach because clearly there has been such instability in that department. That is one area our management has failed us. They have yet to bring in a long-term coach. But I will get back to those geniuses in just a minute.
If it isn't the coaches' faults then does the blame fall on the players? Sure, this would be the easy answer - the players should take the blame because they are the ones playing the matches right? Of course, however, they need a leader to guide them through preparing for said matches. That would be the coach and with the evident lack of stability within our coaching staff I think it is safe to say that we can't blame the current situation on our boys. However, that being said, our squad has changed a tad over the past few seasons. Here are some of the transfers we have seen:
Following the 2005-06 season:
Out: Christian Abbiati, Igor Tudor, Gianluca Zambrotta, Lillian Thuram, Fabio Cannavaro, Patrick Viera, Emerson, Manuale Blasi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Fabrizio Miccoli, Adrian Mutu
In (or brought in from the Primavera): Cristiano Zanetti, Valeri Bojinov, Antonio Mirante, Felice Piccolo, Federico Balzaretti, Claudio Marchisio, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Matteo Paro, Raffaele Palladino, Emanuale Belardi, Paolo De Ceglie, Nicola Legrottaglie, Marco Marchionni, Sebastian Giovinco, Davide Lanzafame
We took a heavy hit that year in the transfer market after being relegated to Serie B.
Following the 2007-08 season:
Out: Antonio Nocerino, Marcelo Zalayeta, Davide Lanzafame, Raffaele Palladino
In: Olof Mellberg, Albin Ekdal, Amauri, Paolo De Ceglie, Claudio Marchisio, Sebastian Giovinco, Christian Poulsen, Alex Manninger,
Those were just the major transfers we made that season. Several of the players "transferred out" were put out on loan or co-ownership. Also, several of the players brought into the squad were called back from loan or bought in full from co-ownership deals.
Prior to the 2009-10 season:
Out: Pavel Nedved, Dominico Criscito, Antonio Mirante, Olof Mellberg, Marco Marchionni, Cristiano Zanetti
In: Fabio Cannavaro, Diego, Michele Paolucci, Felipe Melo, Martin Caceres, Fabio Grosso, Antonio Candreva
Again, just the major transfers of the season. Some players were sent out on loan and some were called back respectively from both lists. In between the season I've mentioned some other notable transfers have included signing Tiago, Cristian Molinaro, Hasan Salihamidžić, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Mohamad Sissoko, Sergio Almiron, Antonio Nocerino (and later selling him in order to buy Amauri). Looking at these transfers and our current squad list it is quite evident that our coaching staff hasn't had a lack of talent, however, they haven't had the cream of the crop either. So, if it isn't the coaches or the players fault, who can I place the blame on? Easy. The management or perhaps lack there of.
Our current management is made up of:
Chairman - Chief Executive Officer - General Manager (A.K.A President): Jean-Claude Blanc
COO Sport Department (A.K.A Sporting Director) Alessio Secco
Vice General Manager Sport Department (A.K.A. Secco's Babysitter) Roberto Bettega
Keeping in mind Bettega only joined us as an early Christmas gift, most of our management including the other two mentioned above, is made up of businessmen. They have no clue as to how to run a football club because all they know how to do is look out for themselves. Jean-Claude Blanc deserves credit in regards to our finances as well as the new stadium. Alessio Secco, on the other hand, has, in my opinion, directly caused the demise of my Grande Juve of the pre-calciopoli days. Lest we forget his terribly important position as press secretary under Moggi. Can you taste the sarcasm? He has sold some of the most promising young talent Juventus has seen in a long time and those same players he gave up on for "experienced players" are now very successful at their new teams for the most part. He has spent millions of euros on stupid buys, overrated, past - their - prime players, and has overall yet to have a good mercato since he was promoted in May 2006. I only wish I could find a job where I could screw up as many times as Secco has and still have said job. The only semi-intelligent buys he has made thus far are: Manninger, Caceres, and Iaquinta. As well as bringing players like Giovinco, Marchisio, De Ceglie back from loan. Looking at that list of a whole 3 players, that isn't a very good track record considering the man has had 4 years to "rebuild" Juventus. I understand that he is not the only one making decisions, however, a lot of it does fall on him. He is the sporting director and as such he should be making intelligent buys not ones that will hinder his team. In February 2009 Secco extended his contract with Juventus until 2011. Wait. Extended?! You mean to tell me that he was almost out of a contract and we extended it!? In doing that we basically told him that what he was doing was good and that he should continue in this manner. Well, look where that's gotten us. A 12-5-9 record and an even crappier looking starting line-up than a Serie C1 team at this point.
There are several things that need to be done to fix Juventus. Sadly, it will take time given the state of our current managemtn. First, this summer Alessio Secco's contract needs to be terminated. Forever. And he should receive a lifetime ban from being within 100 feet of any Juventus establishment. We should either make Bettega the Sporting Director OR hire a REAL Sporting Director, not some Mickey Mouse Press Secratary who probably doesn't know the difference between an Attacking Mid from a Defensive Mid. Secondly, we need to get a coach who is a LONG TERM investment. We do not need anymore of these band-aid solutions. That is one of the things that is causing the inconsistency in our performances. Thirdly, we need to do a total clean-out of our squad. Amarui, Melo, Poulsen, Grosso, Chimenti, Zebina all have to leave immediately. And by immediately I mean the day the summer transfer market opens. Also, Tiago and Molinaro need to be sold instead of just a loan deal. I don't need to take the chance of them being recalled. We need to focus on our youth. We don't need to do a lot of buying, we have to bring up players from the Primavera. Our Primavera squad is currently in first place by 8 points and we also won Viareggio this year (and many years in the past). Ciro Immobile is READY to play in the first team. Giovinco is MORE THAN READY to play in the first team. Bamba, Esposito, Rossi, and Marrone are all READY for the first team. If it is decided that perhaps you want more depth in the squad, buy a COUPLE "big" names to add to the squad, not run the squad or decide the squad. Every match Giovinco sits on the bench we are only pushing him a little bit further away. It truly makes me ashamed to be a Juventina sometimes just in seeing the way our current management treats our young talent. Send them away until what? Until they settle at their new team, explode and then bring them back only to find they despise you and want to permanently move back to the team they were successful with all because YOU were too stupid to see their potential?! Of course the injuries we have had this season to key players has not helped in the least, but I am getting sick of letting the management escape the blame. As tifosi we feel as though we can't do anything about the situation and sadly we are probably right. We will just have to wait until someone high up at Juve finally starts thinking about the team instead of their bank accounts. I think Bettega is a step in the right direction because I know he truly loves Juve like us tifosi do.
Only one more thing to say:
Forza Juventus per sempre. Sono Juventina ieri, oggi e domani. Solo la Juve. The blood in my veins runs bianconero through thick and thin, from Serie A to Serie B and back home to Serie A again. I ask of you now only to play like you feel the same way. Play for the tifosi who love you and idolize you. Always remember the true spirit of Juventus - we never give up, we pick ourselves up in the worst of moments and we bring ourselves back stronger than before. Hold your heads high and never lose you dignity. Per tutte della mia vita, solo la Juve nel mio cuore. Ti amo, Juventus.
As a Juventina, I have spent the past 6 months watching and supporting my Juventus this season. I have supported them for as long as I can remember, however, I never remember anything quite like what has been happening questa stagione. Let's take a look at some stats from this season (2009-10):
Matches Played: 26
Wins: 12
Draws: 5
Losses: 9
At first glance, that might not seem all that bad. We have won more matches than we have lost. That isn't the point. How many of those wins were in the first half of the season? 10. In the first 19 matches we won 10 even beating our biggest rivals, Inter. Sure we had a few draws and losses mixed in there, but we won the majority of our matches in the first leg. Now, there have been 26 matches played total thus far. Out of the other 7 matches we played this season we have only won 2. 2 of 7 may not look that bad on paper, however, the games themselves have been so painful I almost couldn't watch.
Now, let's go back to our first season back from Serie B, 2007-08. We finished that season in 3rd place, behind Inter and Roma, with 72 points. By the end of that season our stats looked like this:
Wins: 20
Draws: 12
Losses: 6
In our entire season back in Serie A, we had less losses than we have just over halfway through this season. This is very, very disturbing. Perhaps it was the coaching that has brought about this change? During the 2007-08 season Claudio Ranieri was our coach. He came to Juve having never won any titles before. We knew that, however, we were not necessarily chasing any kind of titles that season, realistically. We needed a coach who would be able to resotre Juve to the grande Juve it was post-calciopoli. Clearly, the Mister did his job. A 3rd place finish and Champions League spot seemed like a positive starting point after being humiliated, broken and decimated as a consequence of calciopoli. Hell, Alessandro Del Piero was even leading scorer that season having put 21 goals in the back of the net, with David Trezeguet finishing 2nd with 20 goals! Not an entirely bad start to the "rebuilding" process, as our management so love to put it. Don't get me wrong, our experience in Serie B was not a total waste. I believe it was a very humbling experience for those of our Old Guard who stayed with us. We got a taste of the other side and saw that calcio is not all about sold out stadi and who can buy the best and most expensive foreigners, but instead that calcio is about the team coming together to rally a victory, similar to how the Juve pre-calciopoli rallied to victory when others would count us out. Due to the departure of several key players we got to bring up some of our young kids and discovered some amazing talent. Before Serie B who had heard of Sebastian Giovinco, other than those who had the pleasure of watching him play for the Primavera? It also wasn't until Serie B that the likes of Claudio Marchisio, Paolo De Ceglie, Antonio Mirante, Federico Balzaretti, Matteo Paro, Raffaele Palladino, and Davide Lanzafame really got noticed. Looking at those names it is a shame to see that many of them have moved on to various teams, most of which have had a fair amount of success.
Getting back to my previous point, is it the coaching that has brought such a downfall to a once successful team? Our coaching over the past 4 seasons has looked a little bit like this:
2006-07: Didier Deschamps/Giancarlo Corradini (for the last 2 matches)
2007-08: Claudio Ranieri
2008-09: Claudio Ranieri/Ciro Ferrara (for the last 2 matches)
2009-10: Ciro Ferrara/Alberto Zaccheroni
We have had 5 coaches in 4 seasons. Thus, to answer my own question I think it is nearly impossible to blame our current form on a single coach because clearly there has been such instability in that department. That is one area our management has failed us. They have yet to bring in a long-term coach. But I will get back to those geniuses in just a minute.
If it isn't the coaches' faults then does the blame fall on the players? Sure, this would be the easy answer - the players should take the blame because they are the ones playing the matches right? Of course, however, they need a leader to guide them through preparing for said matches. That would be the coach and with the evident lack of stability within our coaching staff I think it is safe to say that we can't blame the current situation on our boys. However, that being said, our squad has changed a tad over the past few seasons. Here are some of the transfers we have seen:
Following the 2005-06 season:
Out: Christian Abbiati, Igor Tudor, Gianluca Zambrotta, Lillian Thuram, Fabio Cannavaro, Patrick Viera, Emerson, Manuale Blasi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Fabrizio Miccoli, Adrian Mutu
In (or brought in from the Primavera): Cristiano Zanetti, Valeri Bojinov, Antonio Mirante, Felice Piccolo, Federico Balzaretti, Claudio Marchisio, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Matteo Paro, Raffaele Palladino, Emanuale Belardi, Paolo De Ceglie, Nicola Legrottaglie, Marco Marchionni, Sebastian Giovinco, Davide Lanzafame
We took a heavy hit that year in the transfer market after being relegated to Serie B.
Following the 2007-08 season:
Out: Antonio Nocerino, Marcelo Zalayeta, Davide Lanzafame, Raffaele Palladino
In: Olof Mellberg, Albin Ekdal, Amauri, Paolo De Ceglie, Claudio Marchisio, Sebastian Giovinco, Christian Poulsen, Alex Manninger,
Those were just the major transfers we made that season. Several of the players "transferred out" were put out on loan or co-ownership. Also, several of the players brought into the squad were called back from loan or bought in full from co-ownership deals.
Prior to the 2009-10 season:
Out: Pavel Nedved, Dominico Criscito, Antonio Mirante, Olof Mellberg, Marco Marchionni, Cristiano Zanetti
In: Fabio Cannavaro, Diego, Michele Paolucci, Felipe Melo, Martin Caceres, Fabio Grosso, Antonio Candreva
Again, just the major transfers of the season. Some players were sent out on loan and some were called back respectively from both lists. In between the season I've mentioned some other notable transfers have included signing Tiago, Cristian Molinaro, Hasan Salihamidžić, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Mohamad Sissoko, Sergio Almiron, Antonio Nocerino (and later selling him in order to buy Amauri). Looking at these transfers and our current squad list it is quite evident that our coaching staff hasn't had a lack of talent, however, they haven't had the cream of the crop either. So, if it isn't the coaches or the players fault, who can I place the blame on? Easy. The management or perhaps lack there of.
Our current management is made up of:
Chairman - Chief Executive Officer - General Manager (A.K.A President): Jean-Claude Blanc
COO Sport Department (A.K.A Sporting Director) Alessio Secco
Vice General Manager Sport Department (A.K.A. Secco's Babysitter) Roberto Bettega
Keeping in mind Bettega only joined us as an early Christmas gift, most of our management including the other two mentioned above, is made up of businessmen. They have no clue as to how to run a football club because all they know how to do is look out for themselves. Jean-Claude Blanc deserves credit in regards to our finances as well as the new stadium. Alessio Secco, on the other hand, has, in my opinion, directly caused the demise of my Grande Juve of the pre-calciopoli days. Lest we forget his terribly important position as press secretary under Moggi. Can you taste the sarcasm? He has sold some of the most promising young talent Juventus has seen in a long time and those same players he gave up on for "experienced players" are now very successful at their new teams for the most part. He has spent millions of euros on stupid buys, overrated, past - their - prime players, and has overall yet to have a good mercato since he was promoted in May 2006. I only wish I could find a job where I could screw up as many times as Secco has and still have said job. The only semi-intelligent buys he has made thus far are: Manninger, Caceres, and Iaquinta. As well as bringing players like Giovinco, Marchisio, De Ceglie back from loan. Looking at that list of a whole 3 players, that isn't a very good track record considering the man has had 4 years to "rebuild" Juventus. I understand that he is not the only one making decisions, however, a lot of it does fall on him. He is the sporting director and as such he should be making intelligent buys not ones that will hinder his team. In February 2009 Secco extended his contract with Juventus until 2011. Wait. Extended?! You mean to tell me that he was almost out of a contract and we extended it!? In doing that we basically told him that what he was doing was good and that he should continue in this manner. Well, look where that's gotten us. A 12-5-9 record and an even crappier looking starting line-up than a Serie C1 team at this point.
There are several things that need to be done to fix Juventus. Sadly, it will take time given the state of our current managemtn. First, this summer Alessio Secco's contract needs to be terminated. Forever. And he should receive a lifetime ban from being within 100 feet of any Juventus establishment. We should either make Bettega the Sporting Director OR hire a REAL Sporting Director, not some Mickey Mouse Press Secratary who probably doesn't know the difference between an Attacking Mid from a Defensive Mid. Secondly, we need to get a coach who is a LONG TERM investment. We do not need anymore of these band-aid solutions. That is one of the things that is causing the inconsistency in our performances. Thirdly, we need to do a total clean-out of our squad. Amarui, Melo, Poulsen, Grosso, Chimenti, Zebina all have to leave immediately. And by immediately I mean the day the summer transfer market opens. Also, Tiago and Molinaro need to be sold instead of just a loan deal. I don't need to take the chance of them being recalled. We need to focus on our youth. We don't need to do a lot of buying, we have to bring up players from the Primavera. Our Primavera squad is currently in first place by 8 points and we also won Viareggio this year (and many years in the past). Ciro Immobile is READY to play in the first team. Giovinco is MORE THAN READY to play in the first team. Bamba, Esposito, Rossi, and Marrone are all READY for the first team. If it is decided that perhaps you want more depth in the squad, buy a COUPLE "big" names to add to the squad, not run the squad or decide the squad. Every match Giovinco sits on the bench we are only pushing him a little bit further away. It truly makes me ashamed to be a Juventina sometimes just in seeing the way our current management treats our young talent. Send them away until what? Until they settle at their new team, explode and then bring them back only to find they despise you and want to permanently move back to the team they were successful with all because YOU were too stupid to see their potential?! Of course the injuries we have had this season to key players has not helped in the least, but I am getting sick of letting the management escape the blame. As tifosi we feel as though we can't do anything about the situation and sadly we are probably right. We will just have to wait until someone high up at Juve finally starts thinking about the team instead of their bank accounts. I think Bettega is a step in the right direction because I know he truly loves Juve like us tifosi do.
Only one more thing to say:
Forza Juventus per sempre. Sono Juventina ieri, oggi e domani. Solo la Juve. The blood in my veins runs bianconero through thick and thin, from Serie A to Serie B and back home to Serie A again. I ask of you now only to play like you feel the same way. Play for the tifosi who love you and idolize you. Always remember the true spirit of Juventus - we never give up, we pick ourselves up in the worst of moments and we bring ourselves back stronger than before. Hold your heads high and never lose you dignity. Per tutte della mia vita, solo la Juve nel mio cuore. Ti amo, Juventus.
The Case of Sebastian Giovinco
The days of Sebastian Giovinco could, unfortunately, be numbered if you believe your local news source. His status at the club has been the source of much controversy. Everyday there seems to be a new story of him staying and him leaving. Depending on who you believe he is apparently headed to Napoli, Sampdoria, Fiorentina, Palermo. I've heard several different teams and to be honest, I can't see him at any of them.
It is true that Sebastian didn't start out supporting Juve as a young boy in Torino. He was born a Milan fan, but as he put it, after 14 years playing for Juventus, he became a Juventino. He represents what it means to be Juventino - he is talented, he is young and he plays with more passion than most players today. As a long time Giovinco supporter, these rumours of him leaving my beloved Juventus disgust me. The fact that our management are even contemplating selling him, in my opinion, is a disgrace. Instead of wasting our time with overrated, washed up and overpaid Brasilians we should be building the future Juventus around this kid. He is 23 and is one of the brightest young stars in Italy.
I have heard him be compared to many, but recently I have been hearing people negatively compare him to Lionel Messi. They say that Giovinco doesn't deserve a spot on Juventus because in comparison to Messi, Seba has not reached the same level and he is older than Messi. There are several reasons why this comparison is completely unfair, but I think the most obvious reason would be the amount of playing time each player gets. This season Giovinco saw the pitch 19 times. Messi, on the other hand, saw the pitch 52 times. That is a BIG difference. Not to mention the injury ridden season Giovinco endured this year. That statistic alone is enough to warrant this comparison insignificant. The amount of time Giovinco has spent on the pitch this season is not enough for someone to be able to say that he doesn't deserve to play for Juventus, especially when you compare him to other members of the current squad. The performances he's had this season have not been his best by any means, but what do you expect from a player who spends most of the time on the bench? A player cannot develop or get better if he doesn't play, it's nearly impossible. Experience is what brings better performances when someone has talent. Neither experience nor talent alone can make a player good, they have to have both (i.e. Messi). Sadly, Giovinco only has the talent right now. If he has to be compared to someone who gets more playing time then him, look at Amauri. Week in and week out Juventini have to watch this man search for the net, which I'm almost positive he couldn't find even if he was standing inside it. And where was Giovinco? Well, when he wasn't injured, he was sitting on the bench. He is definitely doing a hell of a lot of good sitting there now isn't he?
I don't know what the management will do with him, but I for one am hoping that he stays and that next season he sees the pitch as often as Messi did this season. At least then if he doesn't play well Juventini can say they gave him a chance and he just didn't make the cut. The fact that homegrown talent has to be amazing to get regular playing time, as some people think, is absolutely disgusting. We are NOT Inter and the fact that some people think that mind set is ok is totally disturbing. When the million dollar men you sign CLEARLY are not performing then you have to put your faith in your young, homegrown talent because I'm almost positive knowing they have something to prove will make them perform a hell of a lot better than the guy the club spent WAY too much money on. I can understand he wants to leave if he won't be played because he can't waste the rest of his career on our bench. It isn't fair to him. The fact that he has chosen to stay even without playing time speaks volumes. I can almost guarantee that if players like Melo and Amauri were being benched they would beg for a transfer. There aren't many players that would accept that for this long. It just shows his love for this team. A love that I wish so many of our players had, but never will because they care too much about the name on the back of the jersey than the one on the front. Our problem is our management signed a whole bunch of indiviudals, which is why Juve's been unable to play like a TEAM.
No matter what happens this summer I will always support SuperSeba on which ever he team he ends up at, although I would much rather see him with the Juventus crest over his heart. If I ever get the chance to meet him and speak with him I think the first thing I would say was sorry on behalf of the club I love. I'm sorry that Juve abandoned you for players who don't even deserve our colours on their backs. I'm sorry that no one in the club stood up for you. I'm sorry that you spent so much wasted time injured and on the bench. But most of all, I'm sorry that you have so much love, respect, passion and loyalty for a club who has done nothing but stop you from living your dream over the past seasons. I only hope that the new management find a starting place for you at Juventus next season and you can live your dream.
It is true that Sebastian didn't start out supporting Juve as a young boy in Torino. He was born a Milan fan, but as he put it, after 14 years playing for Juventus, he became a Juventino. He represents what it means to be Juventino - he is talented, he is young and he plays with more passion than most players today. As a long time Giovinco supporter, these rumours of him leaving my beloved Juventus disgust me. The fact that our management are even contemplating selling him, in my opinion, is a disgrace. Instead of wasting our time with overrated, washed up and overpaid Brasilians we should be building the future Juventus around this kid. He is 23 and is one of the brightest young stars in Italy.
I don't know what the management will do with him, but I for one am hoping that he stays and that next season he sees the pitch as often as Messi did this season. At least then if he doesn't play well Juventini can say they gave him a chance and he just didn't make the cut. The fact that homegrown talent has to be amazing to get regular playing time, as some people think, is absolutely disgusting. We are NOT Inter and the fact that some people think that mind set is ok is totally disturbing. When the million dollar men you sign CLEARLY are not performing then you have to put your faith in your young, homegrown talent because I'm almost positive knowing they have something to prove will make them perform a hell of a lot better than the guy the club spent WAY too much money on. I can understand he wants to leave if he won't be played because he can't waste the rest of his career on our bench. It isn't fair to him. The fact that he has chosen to stay even without playing time speaks volumes. I can almost guarantee that if players like Melo and Amauri were being benched they would beg for a transfer. There aren't many players that would accept that for this long. It just shows his love for this team. A love that I wish so many of our players had, but never will because they care too much about the name on the back of the jersey than the one on the front. Our problem is our management signed a whole bunch of indiviudals, which is why Juve's been unable to play like a TEAM.
No matter what anyone says, forever and always, I will be on Team Seba. He has been an inspiration to me and for many children. He will always be a champion to me and will only ever be Juventino in my eyes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
