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There's no really take time relax and take in a long introduction, so I'll just describe Juventus' game against Genoa in one handy two-second long video.
And, for the record, this video was placed in this here post before Juventus allowed Genoa to score virtually out of nothing in the 93 minute and steal all three points. But now that we know that Genoa handed Juventus their first loss of the season with a last-gasp goal — offsides, by the way — the above video seems a little more appropriate.
Are these kind of nights going to happen to every club sooner or later? Yeah, probably, no matter how much we dislike it. For some clubs, like those who will be battling relegation each and every season, it's much more of a regular occurrence than top-of-the-table teams like Juventus. But Juventus had been seemingly asking for it with how poorly they played against Genoa all night. Juve were bad, really bad.
In short: Juventus shouldn't have lost, but with the way they played, they deserved to. And guess what? They did lose. They way they've been playing lately, they deserved to lose. You can only play with fire for so long and not get torched by it. That's what happened to Juventus Wednesday night, and I'm probably the only one who isn't all that surprised.
Queste partite non si possono perdere, avevamo un jolly e ce lo siamo giocato subito. Siamo stati sfortunati ma dobbiamo fare di più
— Massimiliano Allegri (@OfficialAllegri) October 29, 2014
#Allegri: "You can't concede in the last 30 seconds. We need to take heed of tonight's result and learn from it." #GenoaJuve
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) October 29, 2014
I agree, Max. Now go out and prove your words have meaning.
Random thoughts and observations
- I'll just go ahead and say what I did on the BWRAO Twitter account right after the game: Maybe Juventus shouldn't play like absolute dog (crap) so that these kind of things aren't even possible. Just an idea.
- This is the fourth straight game coming out of the international break where Juve haven't looked very good at all. Let's just go ahead and say it: They need something to try and get the good vibes going again. Maybe it's a shift in tactics and formation — OMG 3-5-2 vs. 4-3-3 debate returns! — or maybe it's just a swift kick in the ass, I don't know. But something needs to change because the current formula has the most talented team in Serie A playing well under its potential. Like not even close to it.
- If Álvaro Morata isn't one of Juventus' starting strikers this weekend — and for the immediate future after the visit to Empoli, too — then there's going to be some hell to pay. Take a gander at the way Juventus' attack looked before Morata came on and after Fernando Llorente was subbed off for his fellow Spaniard.
- I am not ashamed to admit it: Consider me a Mattia Perin fanboy. That save on Morata in the second half was simply superb. The guy is definitely the future of Italian goalkeeping, but he's not too bad in the present, either.
- Did anybody see Arturo Vidal do anything today? I mean, he was in the starting lineup, but I didn't see him doing much of anything at all out there.
- Juventus were clearly struggling and Allegri made one sub (Morata) through the first 75 minutes of Wednesday night's loss. It's not like I've got any offers to manage in Serie A or anything, but one could surmise by watching Juventus' performance against Genoa that they need some kind of spark. And that's more than just bringing on Morata in the second half. Much, much more.
- Maybe it's just me, but as that game went on, it cried out for Andrea Pirlo. Juventus were struggling in midfield and the only change was to bring on Roberto Pereyra with less than 10 minutes to go. Don't know about that one, Max.
- What a way for Gigi Buffon to ring in his 500th Juventua appearance. He barely does anything all game and then sees his defense absolutely lose its mind and concede a goal with less than a minute remaining. I think Buffon's face as he shook hands with players after the game said it all.
- Juventus is still atop the Serie A table. Hey, that's some good news in case you thought this post was just hundreds of words put together into setences courtesy of a venting writer.
