Paolo’s Column: Juve’s new signings and old habits
Dusan delivered. Denis doubled.
So Juventus won, and both their new signings starred. Both scored and that grabs all the headlines (rightly so) but they also played well. Vlahovic’s movement and determination offered Juve a set of tough-to-notice yet crucial qualities that they were previously lacking. While, Zakaria showed exactly why he was ready to run out his contract at Borussia Mönchengladbach to join Europe’s elite.
New Juventus signings Dusan Vlahovic and Denis Zakaria both scored on their debuts.
It’s not just Vlahovic’s technical qualities that make him a Juve player. (Yes, he’s good enough for a club of that level.) It’s also the way he approaches the game. He’s a worker. The kind of striker that has no problem making the same runs over and over again waiting for the one time it’ll turn into a real chance. Which he usually puts away. Against Verona he repeatedly came deep as a target man before sprinting off into the space behind him. A textbook tactic to counter a team that man-marks (until last season Verona was coached by Gianpiero Gasperini disciple Ivan Juric). The play that led to his goal—a wonderful lob over an oncoming Lorenzo Montipò—came after a combination with Paulo Dybala from this exact run.
Dusan Vlahovic scored 13 minutes into his Juventus debut.
Zakaria helped fix, what was according to the club and fans, a weak midfield (their center midfielders have a combined 136 caps). He offered nothing short of a total midfield performance. Top level positioning—seven interceptions, the most on the team. Technique—the most progressive carries on the team (meaning he gets the ball and dribbles it up the pitch). Composure—the only touch he had in the opposition box was his goal.
Denis Zakaria doubled Juventus’ lead in the 61st minute with a well placed shot into the bottom left corner.
Now let’s assume that Vlahovic continues to play like he has all season and that Zakaria turns out to be the missing piece in Juve’s midfield. Is this still a team that’s supposed to hope it can reach fourth? Not expect to…hope to! When Juventus signs the best player in Serie A, in January no less, and a midfielder that 18 of the other teams in the league would sign we’re supposed to expect it’s just to reach fourth place. And that’s only if everything goes according to plan.
The team can’t hide from the quality of its roster anymore. It has to play up to the quality of the players it has. Something that it, at times, did today. Vlahovic’s presence means Dybala and Morata can be wingmen. The role they’re best suited for. Dybala because he’s a number ten and his quality is maximized when he has an attacking focal point to orbit around. Morata because he’s more at ease when he doesn’t have to be the team’s true number nine which frees him up to play football instead of score.
Paulo Dybala provided the assist for Vlahovic’s goal with a lobbed through ball from the right wing.
But old habits die hard and Massimiliano Allegri will always think that the most important thing to do after scoring a goal is to avoid conceding. Not score again.
A mentality which was perfectly encapsulated in the 59th minute when Adrien Rabiot wins the ball back after a blocked shot from Antony Barak. He makes a back pass to Mattia De Sciglio who then plays a long ball to Vlahovic who is, somehow, both the furthest player forward and ten yards in his own half. Naturally Vlahovic didn’t score the Goal of the Century Part II. Instead, he lost the ball and Verona were immediately in the attacking third again.
An already primitive play taken to its extreme. In which, the striker’s main objective becomes helping the team get the ball away from its own goal. Nothing more. There is no deeper attacking purpose to this move. A team with a striker 60 yards from goal…winning 1-0…at home…against a team missing its three (three!) best players has told you everything you need to know about how it views the beautiful game.
Verona had 54 progressive passes compared to Juventus’ 36.
According to Football Reference, Vlahovic was the Juventus player with the most touches in the final third at 22. Meanwhile Verona players Darko Lazovic (41), Adrien Tameze (30), and Fabio DePaoli (26) all had more. To put that into perspective, the best player on the team that won had fewer touches near the opposition’s goal than both of the losing team’s wingbacks.
Zakaria and Vlahovic can offer all the quality and goals they have, and it seems to be plenty, but if the team doesn’t play to win instead of playing to not lose then what’s the point? Why sign the great players?
Vlahovic and Zakaria scored and Juve got the three points, but Verona played to win.
PS) What are the odds Fiorentina sends a similar tweet?
Congrats on your debut goal, @Deniszakaria8! 👏 https://t.co/nYBZb0tXqA
— Gladbach (@borussia_en) February 6, 2022