If Luciano Spalletti’s first two games as Juventus manager have shown us anything, it’s that he’s been able to unlock a few things when it comes to this team’s previously frustrating chance creation issues.
The finishing of those chances, though? That’s still a problem.
Juventus outshot Sporting CP by nearly a 5-to-1 margin on Tuesday night, with half of the Bianconeri’s 18 shots in the game being on goal. The problem was, you combine some relatively poor finishing with an opposing goalkeeper making a couple of world-class kinds of saves, and you get what Spalletti got in his second game in charge — a frustrating day at the office. Juventus should have beaten Sporting with how much they dominated after falling behind all of 12 minutes in. That turned out to be Sporting’s only shot on goal of the night, but Juventus couldn’t take advantage of their superior advantage in scoring opportunities, recording a 1-1 draw against the Portuguese side, their third result of that kind through their first four Champions League league phase fixtures.
But hey, after starting the night in 25th place and completely out of the play-off positions, Juve are all the way up to … drum roll, please! … 23rd in the league phase table.
Sooooooooooooooooo … progress?!
There is certainly progress being made in the attacking phase under Spalletti. There’s faster movement, there’s more chances being created and just the overall prospects when it comes to Juve creating things feels much better than they did in the final games of the Igor Tudor experience. But, the catch as has been the case with previous Juventus managers, is just how many of those chances will they will actually socre. It didn’t matter if it was Dusan Vlahovic, Kenan Yildiz, Chico Conceição, Jonathan David or Khephren Thuram, Juve’s ability to finish chances against Sporting was a letdown on top of a little unlucky.
That’s because on a night in which Juve should have probably have two or three goals, it was only Vlahovic who was able to find the back of the net — and that was only after he saw his first three attempts on goal either go wide or get thwarted by Sporting keeper Rui Silva.
So positive signs, yes. But also some lingering frustrating ones that a coach may or may not be able to actually change for the better as time goes on.
That was always going to be the catch with Spalletti coming in and being hired in the middle of a hectic stretch of games where he’s managed two games already and had three or four training sessions at Continassa with his new team. It’s not like he came in during an international break, had a couple of weeks before his debut and then they’re potentially off to the races with their new manager. Instead, it’s a trip to Cremona, a big Champions League fixture where Juve needed to win and then the Turin derby all within the span of a little more than a week. That’s tough or anybody — even somebody of Spalletti’s experience.
(Also, Spalletti is the oldest manager to ever coach at Juventus? I didn’t know that before today!)
This team is looking better in the two games under Spalletti than they had in a long time under Tudor. On the face of it, these sorts of unlucky draws in which you feel like Juventus should have won happen every so often during the course of a season. But knowing Juve’s situation in the Champions League entering the night and how they desperately needed three points, that’s where it’s a hard one to take.
It’s disappointing with how they responded to falling behind. It’s disappointing with how many chances they created and should have scored. It’s just disappointing this team is its own worst enemy once again — and that is something Spalletti is going to need all of his coaching experience to try and rectify as time goes on.
RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS
- This should have been a win, man. I feel 150% safe in saying that.
- Sporting came into the night in a much, much better place in the UCL league phase table. Yet it was Juventus who played much, much better overall. Sporting definitely did not play well. Juventus did play well. But, unfortunately, those issues that we’ve seen under Tudor and Thiago Motta (and Max Allegri) before him, were ones Spalletti saw first-hand against Sporting.
- The question is now: Can Spalletti do enough to improve things mentally where the confidence improves of the strikers and they can actually get some of these finishing issues out of their system. Or else it’s just going to be more of the same from these guys — and nobody wants that.
- Like, Mr. David, just head it a foot or two to either side and you’ve got your biggest moment as a Juventus player locked in. Instead, it’s pretty much straight on the keeper and he actually has a chance to make that big last-minute save.
- Also, I have no idea what was going on with Thuram’s shooting in this game, but holy smokes was he completely off target with those couple of second-half chances he had. You can’t sky both of those, and have the second one be even worse than the first.
- Hey, we got to see Edon Zhegrova for the first time in a long time! His hair is a little longer compared to his last appearance for Juventus, but he sure did show just how in limited minutes what he can do. Now it’s
- That’s more we can say about Joao Mario, who seems to be in the same place with Spalletti as he was with Tudor. That Joao Mario-Alberto Costa swap deal sure looks great right now, huh?
- Speaking of Portuguese things, the traveling fans relentlessly whistling and booing Conceição whenever he was in front of them and on the ball had to be one of the least surprising things ever, right? I mean, those Sporting-Porto roots run DEEP and Chico’s Porto past — as well as his father’s! — will never be forgotten by those in Lisbon.
- This isn’t breaking news, but I just want to say how fun it is to watch Kenan Yildiz when he is in the mood like he was against Sporting. Sure, he didn’t score, but that young man was absolutely out there looking to destroy ever single person who was marking him on Tuesday night. I think Morten Hjulmand might have some sore ankles in the morning because of the move Yildiz put on him in the first half.
- The Sporting goal came out of absolutely nowhere. The closing down of the players with the ball was extremely lacking. Michele Di Gregorio really could have done more to try and make the save. It was just bad all around despite the nice passing Sporting made during the entire movement.
- Where did Juventus’ goal start, by the way? On a really nice long vertical pass from the world’s greatest center back as of four days ago, Teun Koopmeiners.
- Spalletti might really be onto something with Koopmeiners playing at the back. Obviously a back three isn’t Spalletti’s preferred tactical setup, but it’s hard to go against what has suddenly been working for a player that prior to Juve hiring a new manager has looked rather helpless under their previous two coaches. Juve may still have defensive issues going forward these next few weeks and months, but if Koopmeiners keeps playing this way in this position, then he’s certainly not going to be one of them.
- That passage of play from Koopmeiners to Yildiz to Thuram for Vlahovic’s goal was just so nice. It took all of three passes to cover all of that space. That’s direct and effective football right there, baby.
- Should we rate Spalletti’s outfit on a chilly early-November night in Turin? Yes, I feel like we should…
- This version of Dusan Vlahovic we’ve seen the last couple of games is the one we’ve been waiting for the entire time he’s played for Juventus. We’ve seen it in little spurts, so there’s no reason to get too excited about his form over the last week or two just yet, but it sure is nice to see him come to life.
- Yes, if this is the Vlahovic that Juve will get the majority of the time, then a contract extension offer seems like a logical step as other strikers not named Yildiz continue to struggle. But, again, it’s always been about consistency with Vlahovic, and he still needs to prove that under Spalletti.
- That response to falling behind to Sporting sure was good to see. It didn’t take them another 50-60 minutes to actually kick into gear. It was almost instantaneously — and that’s gotta be a credit to Spalletti.
- I repeat, Sporting had all of four shots. Outside of the goal and the shot that hit off the crossbar, they did next to nothing. And yet, it’s a draw — that’s what makes it so frustrating with this team.
- But this club now has three draws in Europe and five draws in the league, so it’s just par for the course no matter how they play. Getting the draw-itus out of this team might be one of Spalletti’s biggest challenges amongst many of them the rest of the season.
- But hey, they’re up to 23rd place! Can’t forget that part!
