Pirlo: This is the Juventus I wanted to see

Juventus got back on track with their customary winning ways by easily dispatching Parma 4-0 earlier today. Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a brace while Alvaro Morata got one as did Dejan Kulusevski against his former side.

Coach Andrea Pirlo was pleased with the performance his side put in.

“Ronaldo was quite rightly angry with himself after missing a penalty, but fortunately he didn’t have much time to stew over it and immediately got the chance to show just how much he loves to score goals.

“We weren’t happy with Wednesday’s result, but the performance was good. This evening we wanted to recover the points we dropped against Atalanta and I think we achieved it.”

The coach was asked if the football on show today was what he had envisioned from his squad.

“This evening was the Juventus I wanted to see. We needed to win this game, our strikers Cristiano and Alvaro both needed to get back to scoring ways. We needed to work as a collective and Aaron Ramsey also had a really good game.

“We’re slowly getting to what we all want, not just me, but also the players. I like in particular the high press when the opponents have the ball, we can win it back quickly and that allows us to control the game. That spirit is getting into the lads and we’re improving game by game.

“We are now aware that we’re on the right path, that we’ll have this attitude in every game whether we are against Parma or Barcelona. We must press high, be aggressive and win back the ball so we can control the match.”

We’ve already looked at why Weston McKennie is one of the most important players for Pirlo, and the coach was asked about the American player again.

“McKennie is great at winning back the ball, but is also very strong when pushing forward. He is young and needs to work on his technique, but that will come.

“As we didn’t have time for pre-season training or even friendlies, we were testing things out from the first game. As time wore on, we realised the positions of certain players had to change and we made some adjustments.

“It’s a two-man midfield that can become three in transition.”

Morata has come in for some flak after his extravagant backheel miss against Atalanta cost the Bianconeri two more points midweek.

“Morata was our first choice, it was just that Atletico Madrid wouldn’t let him go, so we looked at other objectives. We knew Morata was the ideal forward to play in our collective. When he’s in great shape, both physically and mentally, he can do anything.

“Alvaro was very disappointed after Wednesday’s game and the criticism he received, but I told him that he was working hard for the team and misses can happen. As long as he moves like that and gets himself into those positions, the goals will come by themselves.”