Pirlo ready for Juventus responsibility

Juventus resume action from their Christmas break coming up against Udinese tomorrow, with coach Andrea Pirlo insisting that the players have learned their lesson from him following the Fiorentina debacle.

“I never want to see that performance again.

“We got back together for training on Monday and I saw a team eager to get back out there after a bad performance.”

Opponents Udinese are sitting in twelfth place in the table and will provide Juve with a challenge.

“It’s a difficult game coming up, as Udinese are in a good period of form, are physical, organised and dangerous on the counter-attack. We’ve got to focus the preventative marking on their strikers and the midfielders who push up.

“We already know Roberto Pereyra well, as he was part of our squad here, so it’s going to be a very difficult match.”

Juan Cuadrado is out for the game after being sent off in the Viola game, but Arthur Melo, Merih Demiral and Giorgio Chiellini have all returned to training.

“We talked about that game and everything was wrong about it, from the attitude to every detail. It was a bad way to end 2020. We had a good meeting where we discussed our future objectives and what happened, so it was a productive encounter.

“I never want to see that performance again. We’ve improved in many aspects lately, but I am convinced we can do far better.”

Pirlo has completed his first half-season, what are his thoughts so far?

“Just as when I was a player, we need to judge situations in their entirety and look at the bigger picture. It’s too easy to see you go from hero to zero in the media, but I’m used to it, having already been a player at the top level. It’s nothing new.

“When you are in charge of Juve, you’re going to run into a lot of difficulties and have to take on a lot of responsibility, but I’m ready for it.”