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No Bremer, No Defence: Juventus Have COLLAPSED Without Brazilian WALL (Ep. 467)
1.3k Plays4 days ago
After yet another shambolic display from the Juventus defence personified by Danilo, Nima Tavallaey and Carlo Garganese debate, discuss and analyze just how much the injury to Bremer has impacted Thiago Motta and his side both tactically as well as their approach to games.
This is a clip from the weekly Thursday episode of the Italian Football Podcast.
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Transcript
Juventus' Defensive Crisis Post-Bremmer's Injury
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast. The big question, you know, the question that everybody is asking and and is the Juventus defence, what the hell has happened to Juventus defence since that ACL injury for Bremmer? I mean, I expected it. I knew it was going to be a crushing blow, but I didn't I didn't think it would be this bad um because I thought that that the way that Thiago and Motta teams play that they would kind of override those the defensive weaknesses of losing someone as good as Bremmer. I didn't think it would be this bad but you know to go from one goal in seven games conceded with Bremmer in the team to now 10 goals conceded in six matches without him. I mean this Bremmer injury has just has just killed Juventus and killed Juventus' defence hasn't it?
00:00:57
Speaker
There's no doubt that it it it has, but i'm starting that's part of it.
Attacking Strategies and Defensive Vulnerabilities
00:01:03
Speaker
But what i' what I'm thinking when I'm watching Juve and I watched Juve yesterday yesterday and i against Inter in particular and also in the Champions League is that Thiago Mota has opened the floodgates. This isn't pragmatic Mota. This isn't careful Mota. This is Mota that has responded by going attack is the best defense.
00:01:24
Speaker
That's why Juventus are so open. It's not just Bremen. They're not tactically as solid. They're not as tactically as compact. They are much, much wider, much more adventurous in their rope in their in their um build-up, um in in how they're structured on the pitch.
00:01:43
Speaker
and And I think that's mainly the reason for me more than Bremen. I think he's looked at it a little bit. His calculation has been a little bit like, OK, well, I've lost one of the best defenders in the world, so we're going to struggle defensively. So let's just open the floodgates and attack because we do have great attacking players.
00:02:04
Speaker
The problem with that is when you're kind of already in the build-up phase and you're not really there, is that that can cause a little bit of confusion and that can cause you know incoherence in terms of tactical or in incoherent incoherence tactically. And I think that's what we saw with Juva. I think Juva is similar a little bit to Intel in the sense that the floodgates have opened. um Attack is the best defense here.
00:02:29
Speaker
because of injuries and being decimated. ah You're counting on outscoring your opponent. The problem with that is that you're vulnerable, that you concede before you score. And especially when you don't take your chances, like Inter did against Juve in the Derby d'Italia, and like Vlawic, who did his best Roberto Galliadini impression against Parma,
00:02:54
Speaker
um missing one of the most bla like um and you know In Italy, they say when you miss sitters, they say, you i manja ongo you've a goal. well He just gobbled up half the stadium with that miss. It was one of the worst misses I've ever seen. When you make misses like that,
00:03:12
Speaker
Well, you know, this is what happens. Yeah, but it wasn't. Yeah, it was. It was. Yeah, like you said, it wasn't just the defense. It was all round. This was a chaotic game. I mean, I think you're I think you you might be onto something. I think that might be part of it. Maybe maybe monster thought, you know what? We can't we can't, you know, rely on our defense to to be a solid. I mean, maybe we need to be a little bit more adventurous. and But I think also it's possible.
00:03:38
Speaker
you know We've seen a noticeable drop in intensity, and not just you know the the in the whole the whole team, and not just the defense for Juventus. The first first games of the season, Juventus were running lots, they were pressing, they were first to the ball, they were winning their duels, they were aggressive.
00:03:57
Speaker
Now they you know I said it ahead of the inter-game and it's the reason why I thought Juventus would lose the inter-game.
Exhaustion and Counter-Attack Vulnerabilities
00:04:03
Speaker
I saw during the Stuttgart game a team that looked exhausted, a team that looked physically just didn't look like the same team, unable to press ah like they were before. And as a result, you know you're half a yard slower to the ball and you're disciplined you lose a bit of your discipline and you have mental exhaustion as well as physical exhaustion. and you You know, they are getting cut through and they they're very open on the counter, which is the one thing that I thought was most impressive about Juventus. And Motta, even at Bologna last season, is that his players were all positioned so that if you lost the ball on the turnover, your players were positioned in in like rest in defense, as they call them, as all the wankers call it, where where you're where you you know, if you lose the ball, your rest in position is that, you know, you can't be hurt. And we saw in the Palmer game, especially,
00:04:51
Speaker
as soon as Juventus lost the ball on the turnover. I mean, Parma, actually, that's one of their strengths. They're very good on the on the on the on the transitions because they've got a lot of quick, ah exc exciting, excellent attacking players, but they were just cutting through them at will. But I think it's a physical thing. Playing twice a week,
00:05:08
Speaker
the limited numbers and the lack of depth in the in the events of squad they haven't been able to rotate much because they had so many injuries as well and with all these injuries i think it's taken its toll as well and that is means that the defense is under more pressure and so i think it is that i think it's partly what you said i think it's partly that and it's also the fact that any team in the world you lose Bremer, one of the best in the world, and you are going to be affected so, so much. I mean, this guy is a one man wrecking crew of counter attacks. You cannot counter attack when Bremer is in the team. He's too fast. He's too strong. He reads the game too well. He's too well positioned.
00:05:47
Speaker
Every time you try and counter attack with Bremer, even if the the other three players and that in in your defense are 40 years old and can't run off three Danilos, even if you've got three other Danilos in your defense, if you've got Bremer, you are not counter attacking through Juventus. He's too good.
00:06:04
Speaker
So Juventus' ability to stop counter-attacks and transitions has been affected so much without Bremen. Plus, just he's just brilliant. In the way that he organises the defence, he's a leader, he's fantastic in the air. So you know goals like that, the El Prato first goal, you're not going to concede as many headed goals like that because he wins everything in the air.
00:06:25
Speaker
He's just a massive, massive loss. And we we can't exaggerate just how much of a loss he is. And and you know the numbers speak for themselves. I mean, even the number of shots per game, Juventus conceded 8.8 shots per average during their first 10 matches of the two per game, on average, first 10 matches of the season. That has now increased to double, over double, 17.77 shots since the Stuttgart game.
00:06:52
Speaker
including the interim parliament matches.
Analyzing Defensive Breakdowns
00:06:54
Speaker
And the number of shots on target has increased from 2.3 to eight. It's gone up four times. They're conceding eight shots on target. Trust me, a team that concedes eight shots on target a game, that's kind of relegation level of numbers, that is, when you're conceding that number of shots a game. So, okay, it's only a few matches. I'm sure it won't be that bad. But it's clearly, the defense has fallen apart. And in this game,
00:07:22
Speaker
you know disastrous start, they concede after two minutes with dead Prater, shambolic defending and marking. The second goal is just awful. It's a long ball over the top. Cambiaso misjudges the long ball.
00:07:38
Speaker
misses his header, which is public defending. You know, you see that in Sunday league level where you don't defend the goal kick, you miss your header from the goal kick. You're just laughing at it and you're you're thinking, oh my God, this is, this is what the hell are we watching here? And then Danilo is all alone in defense. He's ahead of the man. You should get to it easily. He gets completely outpaced. He looks like an old man.
00:07:59
Speaker
Then he's in no man's land. What the hell is he doing on the cutback? He's just standing in no man's land. He's standing like like ah like a soldier that's gone over the trenches and he's just standing there waiting to get shot. What is he doing there? He's not going to the ball. He's not he's he's in the way of the goalkeeper. like What the hell is he doing there?
00:08:16
Speaker
and you know ah Danilo, we have to say, Danilo. Danilo is a joke. He's an absolute joke right now. I mean, there was one moment in the second half. I don't know if you saw it. He just he got the ball under the no pressure at all in his own penalty area. And he just passed it straight out of play for a corner under no pressure. There was no one within about 10 yards. of it He got the ball from I think de Gregorio.
00:08:40
Speaker
past this straight hour play for a corner and i'm like what am i seeing in here this is like this your your age and you this shouldn't affect you but i mean what does affect him is he is god his legs have gone like do you remember lota mateus at 39 in euro 2000 when when he was so finished and he was getting i remember in euro 2000 there was Even the Germany versus Romania game, Lota Mateus, Georgi Haji picked up the ball and Georgi Haji was 36 years old. Georgi Haji picked up the ball and kicked it in front of him. Lota Mateus was about five yards in front of him. Georgi Haji kicked it into space in front of him and just zoomed past Lota Mateus. Like Georgi Haji was 21 years old and he was like, oh my God, that is what Danilo is like now. His legs are so gone. There was one moment in injury time where Ankhvist
00:09:28
Speaker
like made up about 10 yards on him and outpaced him and and and probably Palmer should have scored. he He did a but bad pass and he was just getting eight outpaced over and over again. His legs have gone. um He's also got no confidence. um he just ah know I understand that Juventus don't really have any other options in defence.
00:09:47
Speaker
But I'm sorry, but he he must not play for Juventus ever again. He cannot play because just just play a youngster, play a next-gen player or put a de-centre back there or play with 10 men because he is costing Juventus two or three goals a game right now. I mean, he is so bad. It's genuinely astonishing how bad the Nilo is. And I have to criticise Monta here. I can't understand.
00:10:09
Speaker
why, even after that inter-game, he's persisted with Danilo in this match. I mean, it's been pretty clear and he's stuck up an inter-game. So this guy is so finished. I can't understand why he's brought him back, having completely frozen him out at the start of the season. I can't understand it at all. You cannot play this guy anymore.