Juventus suffered last season following one of the worst campaigns in their glorious history. There were multiple reasons behind their collapse such as instability due to coaching changes, a number of injuries to key players, the management’s bad decisions in the transfer market and the age factor catching up with star players among other factors. Fast forward to this season and the Bianconeri look completely different in terms of their performances on the pitch, in particular their fighting spirit which has been visible in a number of games.

Against Fiorentina, the Bianconeri struggled to score yet the players refused to give up and Simone Pepe was able to grab a late and deserved goal to earn a precious point. Last season, Juventus would have quit and would have probably ended up on the losing side given the same circumstances but this is a different Juve and the results back this up. Last weekend, the Bianconeri managed to snatch a late and precious win over Lazio to rise to second place ahead of Lazio and Napoli on goal difference. So what are the main factors behind the return of Juve as a force in Serie A?

One of the most important factors is the change in the management which has enabled the Bianconeri to make the right decisions when it comes to hiring a new coach and getting involved in some shrewd player signings. New coach Luigi Delneri has shown he is not just a capable tactician but also one who can motivate his players to get the best out of them. The Bianconeri squad is lacking in terms of full-backs and is in need of a striker capable of scoring between 16 and 20 goals a season, but Delneri has been able to revive the career of Felipe Melo and Alberto Aquilani while getting the best out of other players. Juventus lost only twice in Serie A this season and have an impressive against the top teams including wins against Milan and Lazio as well as draws with Inter and Roma.

Another reason for the revival is down to the summer transfer campaign which might have disappointed some but turned out to be a positive one with loan signings Aquilani, Simone Pepe and Fabio Quagliarella all contributing this season. One of the best summer transfers in Serie A must be Milos Krasic who has been a difference make for the Bianconeri. Besides the players brought in, Juventus did even better in terms of dispensing of some of the unwanted squad members such as Jonathan Zebina and Tiago while Fabio Cannavaro did not get a renewal offer after a dismal campaign. The outgoing players were a combination of aging and underachieving names so the Bianconeri did benefit tremendously by offloading players who could have had a negative influence on the squad.

There are other factors which have helped the recovery process and the re-emergence of Juventus, yet for the Bianconeri supporters the fighting spirit and commitment shown by the players on almost every weekend must rank on top of the list. The Old Lady prided itself on the dedication and never die attitude of the players, both of which were hallmarks of the prestigious Juve squads prior to the Calciopoli scandal which hit the club hardest.

Delneri and the likes of Krasic could signal the beginning of a new era of success in Turin as long as a couple of other players, in particular a full-back and a goal scorer, are added to the squad. Obviously, a talented Milan side spearheaded by former Juve striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic might also stand in the way between Juve and immediate success in Serie A. However, the future does look bright for Juve with Leonardo Bonucci maturing in his defensive role as a partner for Giorgio Chiellini while the squad includes a host of players who are still in the mid 20s such as Krasic and Aquilani.

Juventus had a disappointing 2009/10 season, last summer they signed Diego and Felipe Melo in hopes of ending Inter’s title run, but the two failed to deliver the scudetto. Now Juventus is beginning to change, with Andrea Agnelli as the president, Beppe Marotta as the general manager, and Gigi Del Neri as the coach. But the first step to creating a squad of top quality players is selling the  broken ones, and Juventus have plenty to get rid of.

While Diego and Felipe Melo were supposed to add Brazilian flair and defensive solidity to the team, they were unable to make their mark on the team. This past season Diego only scored 5 goals in 33 appearances (31 starts), which is very little compared to his past three seasons at Werder Bremen, where he scored 13 his first, 13 his second, and 12 in his last season in the Bundesliga. But maybe a more interesting fact is that Diego was subbed off 18 times, signfifying that he either had an injury mid-game every week, or wasn’t good enough, and was taken off.

Felipe Melo on the other hand has scored 4 goals in 29 appearances this season, but his real problem was his constant fouling and picking up of cards. He received 11 yellow cards, and 2 red cards due to accumulation of yellows, because of this high amount of cards, he has had to miss plenty of games because of suspension. And what’s the point in having a defensive midfielder who’s constantly suspended, getting red cards, and giving away fouls and penalties to the opposition?

While these two Brazilians haven’t delivered, Juventus are still willing to keep them for another season. Diego hasn’t received many offers, and will very probably stay, but Felipe Melo is in a different position. The club are listening to offers, which means they’re sitting around the phone, waiting for it to ring with an offer of above 10 million. If Juve don’t receive any decent offers, they’ll keep Melo for another season and see how it goes, but if Arsenal or Liverpool ask how much for the Brazilian, the club will certainly be looking to negotiate.

Juventus also have the slight problem called Amauri, the underperforming forward who scored 5 goals this past season with the club, and on his CV you’ll also see a very nice, big, direct red card. Amauri not only has underperformed, but he has a temper, and this results in yellows and reds which are not very useful for the team. The Italian-Brazilian wants to stay at Juventus, he says he has unpaid debts with the club and the fans, and that when he’s playing right, he’s the best. He also says he fears no one like Pazzini, Gilardino, or Dzeko (who could join Juventus this transfer window), and if he has the chance, will play for the Azzurri in the 2014 World Cup (which is in Brazil). So Amauri will be trying to avenge two very disappointing seasons as he will probably remain with the bianconeri for next season, but the 30 year-old isn’t getting any younger.

Juventus will also be looking to offload Trezeguet, who has received offers from Sevilla and Marseille. And the same with Giovinco, who is wanted very much by Bari, although Juventus might be only interested in a loan deal. Zebina is another weight on the squad list as he isn’t accomplishing much in his sporting career, and apparently he has received some offers. And Del Piero seems to have bothered his ankle/leg in training today, it’s not specified, but in training he seemed to step on it wrong, and with an expression of pain on his face, he stopped training. The medical staff are hoping that just a day of rest will be enough before he can resume training, but at 35 years of age, it might be time to retire for Del Piero.

So Juventus have plenty of players to sell, and in this economic crisis there’s two main clubs that have money, Manchester City and Real Madrid, the bad thing is, I’m pretty sure they’re not interested in any of these players. So Juventus will be looking to convince some players to leave, others to retire, and possibly a few to join for the strange experience which will be next season.

There has been widespread criticism of the Bianconeri board and its directors yet there are some obvious aspects which have been overlooked by the reporters and fans alike. The Juve management has actually erred in allowing Pavel Nedved to retire, in hiring Cirro Ferrara to lead the team and in their choice of players brought in to Turin.

The board seems to have acknowledged making some of the mistakes and this is precisely why they rushed to bring back Roberto Bettega. The shrewd director has plenty of experience which equals if not surpasses the whole management team’s experience as a package put together! Unfortunately the presence of Alessio Secco and Jean-Claude Blanc in Vinovo does not bode well for the Bianconeri fans. The two have been nothing short of a disaster since joining the club in their respective roles. Secco deserves much of the criticism for his role in bringing in some unqualified players or over paying for others. On the other hand, Blanc seems to lack the charisma and does not have the knowledge required to head a club of Juve’s stature. Blanc was in charge of Roland Garros (French Open) as well as the Paris Master Series which are tennis tournaments prior to joining the Bianconeri. He has not previous experience in football.

Moving the focus onto some of the players recruited by Juventus, it is quite clear many if not most of them are below the customary Juve standards. Even the hard working and continuously running Mohamed Sissoko was bought from Liverpool at a relatively high asking price as the fee paid was €11 million. The Anfield outfit wanted to offload the midfielder and were quite happy to do so for such a sum. No doubt Sissoko has worked hard in Turin but considering his plethora of injuries and his inability to pass the ball, the amount paid was a bit too much. Sissoko was not a bad signing when compared to the disastrous purchase of Portuguese flop Tiago and Danish midfielder Christian Poulsen. Those two midfielders came at a hefty price with Poulsen costing €9.75 million.

In attack the current management signed Brazilian Amauri who after a bright start to his career with the club has become sort of a liability and cannot seem to buy a goal at this time. The club also signed two Brazilians Diego and Felipe Melo with each player costing the club in excess of €24 million (Melo cost around €20.5 million plus Marco Marchionni). While Diego clearly has the talent to succeed, he has suffered due to high expectations and the lack of proper players around him who are suited to his game. Diego’s strong and impressive start to the season did not help because it placed added pressure on his shoulders. On the other hand, Melo has been misused by Coach Ferrara but has also performed inconsistently and is not an upgrade when compared to Sissoko. Thus, the Juve management wasted close to €25 million to get a player who is in fact not better than Sissoko and what makes the situation even worse is the fact both players do not seem to be compatible on the pitch due to their inability to pass the ball.

The latest market disasters were the recall of Yago Falque and the return of Michele Paolucci (never represented the Juve first-team before his recent return to the club despite being on the club’s book from 2004 to 2006). Clearly the previous management in Turin did not believe in Paolucci or else he would not have been loaned to Ascoli. As for Yago he is still quite young to be able to help the club in a period of crisis. To add insult to injury, the club chose to get Antonio Candreva on loan for the remainder of the season. The young midfielder appears to be a quality player with a bright future but considering his limited experience, is he the appropriate type of player to help a club of Juve’s status emerge from such a deep crisis?

Without delving into details, the management made grave mistakes by hiring then firing Claudio Ranieri and then eventually announcing Ciro Ferrara as his permanent replacement. Both were the wrong choice for various reasons. The Bianconeri fans are wondering what is in store for the club and will there be more disasters before qualified individuals are brought in to steady the ship and bring back the glory days to Turin?

VS.

The 5-time World Champion (and official national team of the Metellus Family) Brazil announced their roster for the highly anticipated Feb. 10th friendly vs. 4-time and current World Champion, Italy. Its a roster that was surprising due to its omissions and additions.

The most glaring omission is the red-hot Juventus striker, Amauri who has carried Juve all season after his move from Palermo.

His omission from the squad could push him to play for Italy. The Brazilian born goal poacher has Italian citizenship and Marcelo Lippi could use a hungry striker to spice up the Azzurri attack. It looks like Dunga chose Adriano of Inter Milan instead of Amauri.

Another surprise was the addition of Fiorentina midfielder, Felipe Melo.

The central midfielder got his 1st call up and looks to be the successor to players like Emerson and Gilberto Silva. Dunga regular, Diego will not appear for the Seleção and it appears that Ronaldinho’s inclusion came at the expense of Diego.

No surprise however that Dunga pilaged the Italian Serie A for this friendly against Italy. 11 of the 22 players called to the team draw checks from Serie A teams with AC Milan having 4, Inter & Roma with 3 each and Felipe Melo representing Fiorentina. Here is the complete list of players for the February 10th friendly vs. Italy.

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Doni (AS Roma)

Defenders: Maicon (Inter Milan), Daniel Alves (FC Barcelona), Adriano Correa (Sevilla), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Lucio (Bayern Munich), Luisao (Benfica), Juan (AS Roma), Thiago Silva (AC Milan)

Midfielders: Elano (Manchester City), Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Josue (Wolfsburg), Anderson (Manchester United), Felipe Melo (Fiorentina), Julio Baptista (AS Roma), Kaka (AC Milan), Ronaldinho (AC Milan)

Forwards: Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Robinho (Manchester City), Adriano (Inter Milan)

According to the official website of the Italian National Team, figc.it, Marcello Lippi will announce his roster on February 7th. The match will be played in London at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.