Arrigo Sacchi took the damn words right out of my mouth...
"Juve have plenty of tireless midfielders. Aggressive players who have stamina and can fight for the ball," said Sacchi. "However, they are lacking when it comes to building up the game. Their [Juventus] ball possession has always been a weak point because there isn't much harmony in their tempo. D'Agostino would have provided them with that. Melo is a better overall player but he seems like a stronger copy of some of their current midfielders." C4
Personally, I think Felipe's €25 million price tag is about €5-7 million too high. Now some of us could sit here and argue that, however the fact remains, Melo joins a long list of combative midfielders who are just slightly better than Arrigo described. While it would have been nice to sign D'Agostino for a little more "harmony in our tempo", and truth be told he was considered ahead of the Brazilian midfielder, nonetheless Udinese wanted simply too much for their breakout 30 year old regista.
The Brazilian was presented officially during a press conference today, Wednesday 22nd July, at the Juventus Media Center in Vinovo. The conference was transmitted live on the Juventus Channel and here are some excerpts from the newest Bianconero:
"I am not scared of Inter. It is a big club but so is Juve and if we all work together I am sure we can reach great goals". He defines his move to Juventus as a leap in quality: "I think the fact that the club did a rather big financial effort to sign me, this makes me feel good. I am happy to have reached this level and now I will work hard to win the championship and the Champions League."
"I think it is more important to win rather then to be specatacular. I played in great teams which were spectacular but did not win anything and in others were we weren't specatcular but we won because we were united. We must be united like a family and work as a team so as to obtain our objectives."
"The Brazilian national team? I am now at Juventus. I will work hard for Juventus because this club must always be at the top. I will work hard and then if I do well the Brazilian national team call-up will come as it has in the past but I am a Juve player and I will work hard to be worthy."
"We must all work hard. With or without Diego or Melo, Juve are strong and so we must work hard and be united to be as strong as possible. I can't wait to be in the dressing rooms, speak with the other players and get to know them. I once played against Sissoko in Spain and now I am really curious to speak to him and play by his side."
"Last year I was shown quite a few cards. It was my first year in Italy and this could have been the reason since in 4 years in Spain I only got shown one red card. Now I know the methods of the referees here in Italy and even though as a midfielder I am bound to be shown cards I will definitely be more careful and shown less cards."
"I came here because Juventus is a club that can win anything. All we have to do is work hard. If we work hard and do so well the scudetto will be a bit closer."
IERI... OGGI... DOMANI... SEMPRE JUVE!!!