Football Season Guide

Juventus won their 9th title in a row at the end of the past campaign, but in Turin, that one will not be remembered as a successful season. In fact, they ended up triumphing despite an almost-embarrassing array of bad performances after the end of the Covid-19 break, which culminated in the Coppa Italia and Champions League disasters. The age of the team and coach Sarri were seen as mainly responsible for the way things turned out, and the management decided to solve both problems over the summer. First of all, they made an unexpected move charging former star Andrea Pirlo, who had just been hired for the Under23 team, as new coach, in Sarri’s stead. This is a bit of a jump in the dark as the ex-midfield genius is at his first experience as a coach let alone in Serie A. He is said to be adopting a very aggressive 4-3-3 or 3-5-2 formation, where players are asked to immediately get hold of the ball as soon as they lose it. Then, Juventus also had to cope with some financial issues, possibly caused by the excessive investments made for Ronaldo a couple of years back, which did not really pay back as expected yet. So, they started trying to get rid of those players with high wages no longer considered useful. Matuidi was thus let go to the USA while Khedira and Higuain are still trying to find their new place in the world. On top of that, they also sold Pjanic, whose last season was inconsistent to say the least, to Barcelona. And from Barcelona also arrived their most expensive signing, Arthur, a rather versatile midfielder who is expected to act as the new playmaker as alternative to Bentancur. McKennie, on loan from Schalke, will be expected to provide some depth in a midfield that turned out to be their main weakness in the past campaign. Besides them, Juventus also recalled 20-year-old midfielder/winger Kulusevski from Parma and he might very well prove to be their most remarkable signing. Goals and assists are expected from him. Lots of money was also invested in 19-year-old right winger Correia but it remains to be seen whether he will manage to impose himself amidst so many seasoned champions. While they are still trying to let a few tired champions go, Juventus continue the hunt for a centre-forward to replace departing Higuain: Suarez, Dzeko or Morata are all being considered for the role. Moreover, there might also be some changes at full-backs or on the wings, in order to rejuvenate the squad.