Juventus against Milan is always an extremely popular contest to watch for many reasons. For one thing, playing in front of a sold out stadium certainly provides both teams with ample energy and motivation to perform. However in the latest chapter of an Italian classic, many Juventus supporters will be focusing on how the Bianconeri will react in times of difficulty not just against the Serie A frontrunners, but for the rest of the year.
The scoreline of tonight’s game on its own, or for the next ten, should not be the only measure for evaluating Del Neri as our head coach. The old notion of qualitative vs. quantitative data applies here. The reasons for keeping Luigi will come down to the overall effort made by his squad week-in week-out, something that the final score falls quite short in conveying. Qualitative variables like confidence and self-belief can be very fragile and difficult to nurture, but for a club like Juventus, anything less is unacceptable.
"This match is decisive for everyone. We are coming off a less than positive period of form and this game arrives at the right time, because it brings great motivation and enthusiasm. We know that we are facing a competitive side that deserves to be top of the table. We proved in Milan that we can fight it out with the very best and will do so again in Turin. The club confirmed its faith in me and I feel secure about that, but in the end I know results make the decisions."
"Failing to even challenge for fourth place would be a failure. Will I stay with Juve? You shouldn’t ask that, as I have a contract, but I’m not thinking about my future. I am only focused on doing my work. The idea is to field a defence that can both attack and protect, because allowing Milan to sit in our half becomes a risk, considering the quality of their forwards. Will I change from the 4-4-2? Every Coach has his own ideas and seeing as they have allowed me to stay in football for 20 years, I’ll stick with mine." - Del Neri
Fight honourably but lose, and you can still walk off the field with your heads held high. This team must learn to battle until the very end, whether it be against Milan or Lecce.
IERI... OGGI... DOMANI... SEMPRE JUVE!!!