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Juventus managed to break the record of most accumulated points in one season and went over a 100 points. The Summer and this is written with a smirky smile, was not light on Juventus.
Purchased:
- Conte dropped the resignation bomb on Juventus management right after the World Cup and in my opinion the pan found its cover when Allegri signed as Juventus Manager for the upcoming season
- Purchased players are Patrick Evra from Manchester United, Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid and Luca Marrone from Sassuolo.
- Player brought in by loan are Romulo from Verona and Roberto Peryera from Udinese.
- Players signed as free agents are Kingsley Coman (Did not renew with PSG) and Valerio Rossetti from Seina
- Peluso to Sassuolo and Quagliarella to Torino are the only money related transfers out of Juventus so far
- Players loaned are Isla to QPR, F.Rossi to Crodoba and Mangussen to Cesena
- Vidal to Manchester United (Hernandez may be included in the deal to join Juventus)
- Vlaar to Join Juventus from Aston Villa
- Zapata from Milan
- Lavezzi from PSG
- Manolas from Olympiacos
- Luisao from Benfica
- Falcao from Monaco
- Podolski from Arsenal
- Shaqiri from Bayern on loan
Q1: What were your expectations going into this summer transfer window in terms of which positions needed filling? is signing Evar, Moratta, Marrone, Romulo, Peryera and Coman satisfactory for the clubs needs to win the scudetto for the fourth time in a row?
Sometimes it's easy to figure out what Juventus' transfer strategy each summer is, sometimes it's completely mind-boggling. A year ago it was the summer Fernando Llorente and Carlos Tévez arrived. This summer it was about adding depth to the squad. Álvaro Morata is both an option for this season, but also projected to be a striker Juve can build around for the future if he develops. Patrice Evra was brought in to stabilize a backup left back/wingback position that has been a revolving door behind Kwadwo Asamoah in recent years. The others - Kingsley Coman, Romulo and Roberto Pereyra - give Juventus some tactical flexibility in the midfield and out on the wing.
It hasn't been the kind of summer where Juve have signed the star winger to switch to a 4-3-3 like many have hoped for, but it hasn't been a lost cause. Not totally inspiring, but not worthless. I guess, in a word, "Eh."
Q2: I am assuming Conte leaving was not popular news for any Juventus fan. As a Firoentina fan i could not be any happier that you guys get to listen to Allegri talk fantasy all the time. Do you think the current Juventus squad are able to make Allegri's fantasies come true? How do you analyse this big change in management?
Going from Antonio Conte to Max Allegri was like going from a luxurious BMW with tons of horsepower to a used Fiat with maximum speed of 45 mph. Allegri's hiring wasn't inspiring by any means, but he was pretty much the best choice out there in a pool of potential managers that was pretty mediocre at best. Juventus' talent could very well - and probably should - outweigh the shortcomings Allegri has as a manager. But if there's one bright side, it's that Allegri has done well in an area where Conte struggled the last two years, and that's in the Champions League.
Q3: Peluso, Quagliarella, Isla, F.Rossi and Mangussen are out of Juventus on loan or otherwise sold. Would you keep any of those guys for the coming season or are they irrelevant in the Juventus scudetto defense?
A lot of the departures from Juve's squad this season have either been deadweight that was pretty much assumed to be leaving (Quagliarella, Isla, Vucinic), or younger players that have been sent out on loan to gain more experience. While they haven't added the game-changing player they probably needed this summer, they haven't lost the likes of Arturo Vidal or Paul Pogba, either. The players who have left Turin this summer were going to be squad rotation players at the very best.
Q4: Juventus pre season friendlies were all victories except one draw against new Serie A club Cesena. I understand Juventus went on a Thrashing spree in Asia and beat Del Peiro in Australia. Would you read into that draw or was it just another friendly?
Juventus' preseason tour of the United States last year brought little to no success - which isn't all that surprising seeing what time of year it took place. This summer, the tour of Asia and Australia was more of a successful one, but not one that suddenly changes peoples' minds that the transition from Conte to Allegri will be seamless and wonderful. It's just like any other sport, you don't want to read too much into preseason because it's exactly that - preseason. Juve played like crap in the States last year and went on to a record-breaking season in Serie A. Outside of the match fitness aspect, what happens in early August is just nothing to be taken completely serious.
Q5: How is the general feel in the Juventus camp after having the most eventful Summer of all Serie A clubs?
There's some thinking Juve won't do much, there's some thinking it will take time for Allegri to find exactly what he wants his team to look like, there are about 1,000 other views on what the temperature of Juve truly is. There's been a lot to complain about this summer - and rightfully so - but the Juve squad is still the best in the country, so all is not lost. I have a feeling if Juve sold somebody like Vidal and then did something completely stupid with the money, things would be a lot different. But for right now at least, I'm pretty much sitting in stand-by mode to really see what Allegri does when the season kicks off and we actually have a decent sample size of the club under his direction.