Allegri’s ‘relentless work ethic’ gets Juve back on track but ‘balanced’ Napoli remain team to beat – Inside Europe
Published 18/10/2021 at 14:36 GMT
In the latest edition of Inside Europe Pete Sharland talks to Lorenzo Rigamonti from Eurosport Italy about the resurgence of former champions Juventus over the past few weeks. On top of that there is some love for Napoli who are perfect so far in this Serie A season. What has gone right so far and where could they end up when all is said and done?
Max Allegri and Luciano Spalletti Inside Europe
Image credit: Eurosport
One of the great joys of Italian football compared to other top leagues is that there is ALWAYS a big game.
No league can match Serie A’s number of “big” clubs. With AC Milan, Internazionale, Juventus, Roma and Lazio making up a sort of traditional big five. Then you have Napoli, Fiorentina and Atalanta to make up as competitive top eight as you’ll find.
Of course over the past decade or so competitive is one of the last words you’d use to describe Serie A, with Juventus dominating the league in a manner previously unseen. That’s all changed now and after a brutal start to the season Juventus had to rebuild and get themselves back on track. They’ve done that, with five wins on the bounce in all competitions.
But despite that they’re still just seventh in the league, ten points league leaders Napoli who are a perfect eight from eight so far this season. In order to find out more about both teams we got in touch with Lorenzo Rigamonti from Eurosport Italy, and we start with Juventus
5 wins in a row for Juve, what’s happened?
After dropping points away at Napoli and then home to Milan (between hammering Malmo in Sweden), Juventus have now won five in a row. They’ve edged five-goal thrillers against Spezia and Sampdoria before beating Chelsea, Torino and now Roma all 1-0.
“This significant change of pace is the product of Allegri’s relentless work ethic,” explains Rigamonti.
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Massimiliano Allegri
Image credit: Getty Images
“Right after Juve-Sampdoria – in which the Bianconeri managed to get the win despite conceding two goals - he talked about ‘regaining the joy of playing defence,’ something that Juventus had lost under Sarri and Pirlo.
“The following week, Juve kept a clean sheet against Chelsea. This is the third straight 1-0 win for Bianconeri: Allegri’s pragmatic football philosophy is definitely back.”
So who have been the star performers?
Much was made during the opening stages of the season of the absence of Federico Chiesa. The star of Euro 2020 struggled with injury and even when he did play he looked far from his best.
Rigamonti picks out Chiesa as one of the key contributors to this uptick in form as well as his colleagues from the Italian national team, Federico Bernardeschi and Manuel Locatelli.
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TURIN, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 29: Federico Chiesa of Juventus celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the UEFA Champions League group H match between Juventus and Chelsea FC at Allianz Stadium on September 29, 2021 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Dani
Image credit: Getty Images
“They are definitely three players on the rise after their Euro 2020 exploits,” says Rigamonti.
“They’ve kept their respective units [central midfield, wing and attack] together despite the number of injuries in the team.”
Have they started too slowly to win the league?
It’s hard not to think back to the 2015-16 season, when Juve won just three of their opening ten matches and sat in a lowly 12th. They then went on a blistering run, winning 24 of their next 25 to seal the title with three games to go. The manager that season? Allegri of course.
However Rigamonti isn’t so sure.
“This time, it will be even more difficult for them: Juve and Napoli rosters are basically on the same level, and the gap is more significant than last time.
“With this mentality however, Juve can go far.”
What about Napoli and Luciano Spalletti?
Napoli have possibly been one of the best teams in Europe let alone Italy after they changed manager and brought in Luciano Spalletti. There were no major transfers other than making Matteo Politano’s loan permanent, bringing in Andre Zambo Anguissa on loan from Fulham and picking up Juan Jesus on a free from Roma, yet Spalletti’s team are let to lose a game.
It is put to Rigamonti that in many ways Spalletti and Napoli are the perfect match for each other.
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Luciano Spalletti, Napoli, Getty Images
Image credit: Eurosport
“I agree, Napoli is the perfect situation and atmosphere for a guy like Spalletti,” says Rigamonti.
“In just a few months he managed to imprint his personality into what was already an inspired and explosive team.
“At the start of the season Napoli was one of the favourites to win the Scudetto, but unlike Inter (a team that Spalletti managed in the past) or Juve, winning the race was never an obligation for them.
“That helped Spalleti and his squad to shed a lot of pressure coming into this season.”
Does it feel different to previous Napoli teams?
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Napoli start fast only to fall away, or just fail to take advantage of the other big teams faltering.
But Rigamonti does feel as if this time it could be different.
“I think this is a way more balanced team than Sarri’s one.
“At home, Napoli always displays a great defence (only one goal conceded in 4 games at home); away from home, the attack always steps up (12 goals in 4 games).
“This is a sign of a stronger personality, even though I still have doubts they will be able to manage the busy calendar and heavier workloads during the season.”
As far as standouts Rigamonti hails Anguissa and Fabian Ruiz as “the backbone of this team” as well Victor Osimhen, who he says is now one of the “deadliest strikers in Europe.”
Can Napoli go all the way? It’s hard to say but things are certainly looking good right now.
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