And so it begins…At last.

By tdf, October 5, 2015

Finally it seems almost safe to look upon the season with hope. It has taken 6 weeks of torment, our worst start to a league campaign for 40 years and we find ourselves 10 points off the summit. Yet still, I am sure I am not alone in sensing a change in our fortunes.

Losing Pirlo, Tevez and Vidal through the Summer mercato was always going to prove catastrophic. Partly due to the integral part all have played in recent success, especially so in the case of Vidal and Pirlo who both arrived with the beginning of our Conte-driven return to domestic dominance. All three are world class, established players, who at many stages in their Juve careers have been widely thought of as true masters of their respective roles, not just at club level but on the world stage.

Replacing them was never going to be easy, or anywhere near as simple a case of replacing like for like. Where can you find another Pirlo? Nowhere. Perhaps Alonso from a few years back. Tevez? He could be replaced adequately by Aguero or Sanchez, yet neither we could afford. Vidal is a slightly different matter, yet still, how many natural born warriors in the box to box midfielder role are there with huge international and domestic experience? Yaya Toure perhaps. Other than which? And again we have not the funds for big Yaya.

Also to consider is although we did very well financially from our champions league campaign, we received no fee for Pirlo, and only options on young sparkling Argies for Tevez. We didn’t lose those players because we are a selling club, they moved for more personal reasons. And in the case of Vidal; I suspect we had concerns over his recent form and injuries and he wanted a new challenge.

I believe we made good signings. And was expecting a transition period, hopeful that the experienced winners at the club would be available both on and off the field to help ease the newcomers into the club mentality and system. However, this was not to be. Adversity struck…

Firstly we lost Khedira. Then Morata. Then Marchisio. Then Mandzukic. Caceres to unsavoury issues. And finally Lichtsteiner. With Asamoah still on the recovery trail it has left Allegri no choice but to deal with losing between 4 and 5 automatic first XI players the best way he sees fit. The manager has hedged his bets, focused on the champions league for obvious reasons at the risk of losing touch with the league. Two losses in our first two games in Europe would have proven more devastating than failing to win games in Serie A, for there are 38 games in the latter, initially 6 in the former. Only time will tell if we can recover our league position, but we must be content with two sterling showings in continental competition which has put us in a commanding position to progress to the knock-out phase.

As for the league…We have hugely missed those injured. Slowly but surely they are returning from the medical ward. Big Sami has already made a difference, as has Morata. Both have top drawer quality, confidence and in the German’s case; a wealth of experience alongside brute strength and the ability to impose himself upon the midfield. It makes a huge difference for the younger, newer players to find themselves all at sea and to have a player like Khedira to look towards for confidence. The same will happen with Marchisio, who was arguably our player of the season last term. How Allegri will incorporate the two of them will be interesting. For both seem at their best centrally, in front of the defence, although the italian can play higher up the field.

The injuries have been unfortunate, yet to be fair we have been lucky in recent seasons to never lose so many likely first XI players in one fell swoop. It matters. As I found myself trying to explain to a chap on the guardian website who thought me demented for suggesting Khedira as a key player, let alone Morata.

We have removed the strongest elements of our spine in midfield and attack as well as the most prominent and magical sources of creativity. Also a huge dose of mega grit. We have in their place the potential in attack to fill the gap with Morata always improving and Dybala quickly finding his feet, if not his shooting boots. I believe that Claudio and Big Sami will shore up the midfield, which should allow Hernanes more space to operate higher up the pitch and also afford our fullbacks and strikers more space, for we will have the strength to not just compete but own the midfield, where so often the battle is won or lost.

The team needs to create and find a new identity. This cannot be done until we have close to our ideal crowd of the first XI and those near it available. Hopefully we will have everyone fit after the welcome international break, during which Allegri will be able to give Marchisio, Khedira and Asamoah as much training and coaching as possible to help them approach match fitness. However, we will be without a swathe of internationals, who I hope manage to avoid any physical trauma!

We face Inter on our return to Serie A action. The perfect opportunity to begin clawing our way back up the table towards the leading pack. Aside from the double header against Monchengladbach, we then face a series of games against lesser opposition (Atalanta, Sassuolo, Torino, Empoli) which will offer us a far more telling measure of where our fortunes this season are heading.

Other than the injuries, to which we have now added Pereyra – who was in fine form of late – the only major disappointment has been Hernanes. Yet with a constantly changing midfield around him, as well as his own responsibilities changing game to game, I doubt we will see anywhere near his best until the team is more settled. Same can be said of Pogba, who has seemed average in absence of a settled selection of comrades nearby.

The future is looking more promising than a week ago and all is not lost. 10 points is possible to make up in 31 games. Yet to do so, we must find our identity. We must find new leaders. We must find belief and spirit and determination and the winning mentality must be imbued in the newcomers by the established stalwarts. Fitness issues have thus far prevented this, but they are easing. Now is time to prove that our success was built on more than three players. It was built on an historical club ethos of winning. Fino all Fine…