Juventus (Italian League Football Clubs & Teams)

Name: ben_83

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Product:	Italian League Football Clubs & Teams
Date:	23/02/01 (131 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great players, great youth system, huge buying power

Disadvantages: Carlo Ancelotti might be sacked which could be unsettling for the team

Juventus, otherwise known as the grand old lady of Italian football, are probably the most prestigious football club in the world. Unlike the current Serie A title-holders Lazio and their capital city neighbours Roma, Juventus have been regularly challenging for lo scudetto since what seems like the dawn of time. Although they haven't won the league for a few years now, any team who finishes the season above Juve is pretty much certain of the championship.

Apart from the chairman or president, the most important person at a football club is the manager. The current 'gaffer' is Carlo Ancelotti. He is by no means a bad manager, in fact his record over the last few seasons is nothing short of excellent, but it is likely he'll be sacked if Juve don't win the title this season. Expect men-of-the-moment Fatih Terim and Hector Cuper to be in the running to replace him.

Despite not strengthening significantly last summer, Juventus's squad is still among the best in the world. What follows is a run down of their most important players.

Juve's number one is Edwin Van der Sar. Although he has suffered a loss of form recently, no one should doubt that the lanky Dutchman is amongst the best in the world. Like Peter Schmeichel, Van der Sar fills the goal magnificently presenting an awesome challenge for any striker. When it comes to the understudy, Juve boast probably the hottest property in the world. Thanks to promising Swedish youngster Andreas Isaksson leaving to go back to his home country recently, Juve have picked up 20-year-old Uruguayan number one Fabian Cárini. From what I've heard, this man has awesome potential and could even threaten Van der Sar's place in the side in a year or two.

Juventus's defence would be merely average if it wasn't for the sickly, hot-headed Uruguayan centre-back Paolo Montero. He's an uncompromising, hard-tackling, quite-often-fouling kind of guy who must frust
rate his team-mates so much thanks to his tendency to get sent off. Another player to watch in Juve defence is Gianluca Zambrotta. He is an excellent attacking wing-back who has the ability to play on either flank. Despite his impressive performances in Euro 2000, the young Italian still isn't an first team regular for Juve. Add to the mix 'the other one' from Euro 2000, Mark Iuliano, and Juve have no worries in the first third of the pitch.

In Edgar Davids and Zinedine Zidane Juventus posses two of the best midfielders in the world. Davids is a tireless player who can attack and defend in equal measures and, on top of this, wears silly-looking glasses which is always a good thing. Zizou is not as good as Real Madrid's Figo due to his inferior goalscoring record but is still the best playmaker in the world, even if he seems to find it easier to turn it on for France than Juve. His distribution is unrivalled and I'm sure every club in the world covets him.

Up front, Juve's main men are Pippo Inzaghi and Alex Del Piero. The former is a player who, like Andy Cole, scores a lot of goals despite his apparent lack of talent. The latter has no problem when it comes to talent, in fact he's one of the most talented players in the world, but his form over the last two seasons has been poor. I have no doubt that Del Piero can start scoring goals regularly if he can get his confidence and fitness back. Unfortunately for him, the Juve fans and management are becoming increasingly indifferent towards him and this might earn him a ticket out of Turin and perhaps even Italy.

A player who is on top of his game however is the young French/Argentine striker David Trezeguet. Juve were very shrewd in buying Trezeguet. They recognised his talent, despite his lack of first-team opportunities for France (the reason for this, it is said, is that he's an outsider in the squad thanks to his dual nationality) and picked up a world-clas
s striker for under £20 million, unheard of in this day and age. A mention must also go to Darko Kovacevic - Juve's eternal substitute. Like Olé Gunnar Solksjær, it doesn't matter how many goals Kovacevic scores, you can bet he'll be on the bench again come next Saturday.

When you take into account Juve's excellent youth system that ensures the majority of their players are home-grown and their enormous buying power, they really are a formidable prospect for any opposing side. While the form of teams like Lazio and Roma is temporary, the class of Juventus is endless. I would tip them over Roma for Serie A this season (just) and wouldn't bet against them winning the Champions League next season - they have the players, the experience and something to prove after their abysmal showing this year.

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