Juventus Youth Update 4/11/2014
Out of his depth?
Grosso’s primavera lads finally stopped the rot over the weekend with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Carpi. Which ended a largely uninspiring sequence of results beginning with the 1-0 defeat to Atletico in the UEFA League, followed up with a 0-2 home reverse tro Pro Vercelli. The 1-1 draw away to Olympiakos was creditable yet we then got crunched 2-1 away to Fiorentina.
Audero, Mestre, Granatiero, Hromada, Parodi, Blanco Moreno, Macek (17′ st. Muratore), Vitale, Buenacasa (44′ st. Soumah), Clemenza (20′ st. Donis), Udoh.
Clemenza grabbed two in the first half with Udo King adding the icing to the cake with a third for the side late on in the second period.
The result leaves the U19s in fifth position in the league table, having played a game less than everyone above us.
Our form in the UEFA league has close to mirrored the seniors.
Juve 2-0 Malmo
Atletico 1-0 Juve
Olympiakpos 1-1 Juve
The fixture list, during the group phase, mirrors the seniors, so we host the Greeks this coming Wednesday. As with Allegri’s old boys, anything other than a win will lead to Hades.
Can Donis tame his countrymen in the UEFA Youth League?
King and Donis top the scoring charts with four a piece. Other stand-out performers have been Pellini, Blanco and Audero. Our general form is haphazard. Grosso appears to be learning on the job. Which I find hard to understand. We are not short of a penny or a pound so why coach our inexperienced youngsters with an inexperienced manager?
Moving onto Serie B…
Edoardo Goldaniga was unable to avert the disastrous 2-1 away defeat to Crotone for his Perugia side. The 21 year old defender, capped at Italy U21 level earlier this year, was making his 13th appearance for the club.
Over at Pescara, Gabriel Appelt and Cristian Pasquato are having a hard time as their side languish in the relegation zone, which was made worse with their 1-2 home defeat to high flying Spezia last Saturday. The cursed brazilian has been in decent form but has yet again succumbed to niggling injuries this term which has seen his attempts to find a rhythm truncated. Still only 20, the defensive midfielder has time on his side to improve, and despite his muscular bothers has made 11 outings for his loan club, producing just the one assist from his regista position. Wide man up top Pasquato has seen some success, scoring three and making one in his 9 games thus far. The forward is now 25 years old and his journeyman career seems finished as far as chances at Juve are concerned, yet he interestingly remains on the books until 2017. Perhaps he just needs to find his niche, the right environment and we must assume that the club see talent in his boots for we have retained his registration whilst sending him to Udinese, Torino, Lecce, Triestina, Empoli and most recently to Pescara.
Whilst Ternana sit dangerously a slither above the scrap for pride near the bottom, it can only be pleasing to find Alberto Masi a first team regular at the back. It will be interesting to see what happens in January, for Paratici (and myself) had high hopes for the player and it was expected that his progression would be more swift. Still, he cannot be held solely responsible for his team’s lacklustre form and the positive is that he is in the first XI and receiving a lot of senior experience which he might not find at a higher ranked club.
Will the goals continue to flow for Ceria in Holland?
Heading North East to Holland, our three loanees at second tier side Den Bosch are finding woe in the league; their side stuck in 13th after 12 matches played. However, Edoardo Ceria has found the net 4 times in 10 appearances and both he and young centre-back Fillipo Penna are regulars in the starting line-up. Which is more than I can say for Elvis Kabashi, who has struggled to find competitive action in his favoured central midfield berth.
Looping back towards the mediterranean, we find Fausto Rossi, jolly enough to be playing regularly, yet his Cordoba side are rooted to the very bottom of La Liga. A lost cause?
Finally we return home to Italy, to focus on perhaps the main success story slowly emerging in Modena. Where former primavera capitano Andrea Schiavone (also given his debut at Italy U21 level in June of this year), a dynamic central midfielder, has become one of the first names on the team-sheet, starring in every match his side has played this season, scoring one and adding two assists for good measure. Within reach in the dressing room is juve owned mainstay in the squad goalkeeper Carlo Pinsoglio, who is first choice between the sticks. Both players are having close to what some call a breakthrough season. Their team presently occupies a respectable 14th position in the table, despite their 2-1 loss to Varese at the weekend. With only four points separating them from the play-off positions, there is much to play for.
Andrea Schiavone, fast tracking his development to stardom
In conclusion, my update provides scant encouragement for the many, yet at this stage of the game, all we can hope for is that our fledgling starlets are gaining regular first team action. And on this count, we must find happiness. And hope. However far we have to stretch…
What is more of a concern, yet of no surprise, is the disjointed and disappointing lack of form of our primavera squad. I was one of many who had hoped we would promote Della Morte from the U17 sector, where yet again his side are storming towards glory, having won an astonishing 7 out of 8 games. However, this was not to be, and the club decided to stick with Grosso who had only a half season of youth management under his belt after replacing Zanchetta last term. Why the devil would we scour Europe and beyond to bring in a host of youth internationals, then place as their main guide in development, a coach with zero former success in the role? Is this twisted loyalty? A warped suggestion that a world cup winner is automatically qualified to train kids? Neither seem likely, yet whatever the reason for his employment, I hope to see Ivan the Terrible replace him sooner rather than later.
If the results for the primavera continue to falter and from what I gather, there is very little organization within the tactical side of performances, perhaps we will see the promotion of Mr Death in the New Year. For we have the quality, and seem to win games on moments of individual brilliance rather than through a wonderful, well oiled team effort. Ring any bells…?
Recent Comments