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Dusan ‘the DISASTER’ Vlahovic: Should Juventus Give Up On Serbia Flop? (Ep. 457)
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After yet another abysmal Serie A performance by Dusan Vlahovic for Juventus, The Italian Football Podcast discusses and debates if it's time to consider the Serbian star a transfer flop while considering to sell him in the upcoming January transfer window.
This is an extended clip from this week's free Monday episode of The Italian Football Podcast which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google podcasts.
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Transcript
Vlaovic's Struggles at Juventus
00:00:04
Speaker
um yeah well let's talk about duavvalvi because this is ah this is a huge huge problem for you events so something that we've that we've spoken about for for well ah since the start of the season we said if you ven us are going to have a ah successful season then they need do some vvalvitchch to to be the player or be a little bit closer to the player that we we thought Juventus would get him when they signed him almost three years ago now. And we are seeing a Vlaovic who is is shadow of of the player that we thought he he would be. And he was a total disaster in this game against Napoli. He got subbed at half time after an awful half. He touched the ball six times in that in that first half. And and so desperate.
00:00:53
Speaker
ah were Juventus, that they brought on Timothy Weyer as the striker, who's not a striker either. If anything, he's ah he's an outside attacker, if we want to call him an attacker. And and that is now Tiago Motta acknowledging the problem.
Impact of Vlaovic's Performance on Matches
00:01:07
Speaker
Because until now, Motta has been very supportive and defending Vlau, which in the media is saying he's doing very well, even though he wasn't.
00:01:14
Speaker
saying in that he works very hard, he's got a great attitude, that he's a great player, blah, blah, blah. Now, Mota has, not with his words, but with his actions, has acknowledged that there is a big problem there. And if you're subbing off your only striker, remember, Juventus' other striker, Milik, is injured. So you don't have a striker, a proper striker on the bench.
00:01:33
Speaker
if you're taking off your only striker and you're putting a player out of position, Timothy Ware at that, there, then then that is ah then that is that is a sign that realises that this is a big problem. And um I mean, yeah, he was awful in this game. I mean, he's the way he miscontrolled the ball, his clumsiness. He ruined a couple of, probably even since there's only two kind of dangerous attacks in the, in the in the first half one was a cross that came in from the left-hand side which he he completely got his feet in ah in a tangle and it kind of bounced off him and the second one was ah was ah he messed up a Mckenny cross after a really really great Juventus counter-attack. He messed that up by by getting again getting his feet tangled
00:02:18
Speaker
and He gave the ball away really badly on ah on a McTominay. McTominay did a really good counter for Napoli, had a shot. and he He just does nothing really. he It's hard, you know, we can talk about, you know,
00:02:33
Speaker
the how Juventus are a little bit
Juventus' Striker Dilemma
00:02:35
Speaker
sterile. Motta football, motta ball is a little bit sterile at times but it's very hard for any team regardless of what your football is and how will you play. If you have no striker it's like playing with 10 men and at the moment it really is like Juventus are playing with with 10 men and with this Wlawic if Wlawic is going to continue playing.
00:02:55
Speaker
It's going to be very, very hard for Juventus to really go all the way, to go to make that final step. because And I've said, I think Juventus are going to have a good season. They're building something good. You can see the structure there. You can see the foundations. You can see already the progress. It's light in day compared to to to what it was in the last three years. but Juventus don't have a striker and it's very, very hard to win things when you have no striker at all. and So I wonder if Juventus had purchased, the if they'd signed Morata in the summer instead, if this, how much more of a complete team they would have been. Yeah. Because just think of Morata's movements in that, in this team with flanked by, you know, go Nico Gonzalez and
00:03:41
Speaker
yieldies and cup miners, how much more dangerous they would have been in the final third. I agree. I agree completely. it's It's a hard question to answer. We don't know just how much better Juventus could be with a with a with a striker, with a proper striker and also one, because I may be to an extent, maybe Blauwitsch his type of striker isn't suited to, and they were talking about this in Italy um a lot after the game, about how yeah maybe Wlowicz isn't the the kind of, you know, Motta needs a striker like a Zic, say, like a Maratta that comes deep for the ball, joins with the midfield, picks it up, ah holds it up, and then allows like the outside forwards to
Vlaovic's Skill Deficiencies
00:04:22
Speaker
to make... Meaning Wlowicz, meaning, essentially, Wlowicz is still to learn, has still yet to master,
00:04:29
Speaker
how to play with his back against the goal, which is what Allegri was trying to get him to. Yeah, to master. He's not even past level one of the game. Yeah, and that's what Allegri struggled with with him last season. He was trying to teach him how to play with his back against the goal. And if you are a striker at Inter, if you are a striker at Milan in Juve,
00:04:47
Speaker
That is what you have to do. You have to be able to play with your back against the goal. When you play for the smaller sides, you'll get more chances. You won't be tight marked as tightly because teams will try to attack you more and as a natural result of that, you'll have more chances and more time and more space.
00:05:03
Speaker
But to succeed at the top clubs when they gridlock you and when they don't allow you a second of space, that's when the big number nines are separated from the provincial number nines. You separate the Vieri's from the Gilardinos.
00:05:21
Speaker
Um, and that's, that's all. Yeah. No, I agree. But Blauwitsch is, there's no way even close to a gelardino, the way he's playing. I mean, he's, he's, he's way off that. Um, I mean, the the question now is Nimmo is, is what
Potential Solutions for Juventus' Striker Issues
00:05:33
Speaker
does, does matter? What do Juventus do about this? by Short term and long term. If we talk about short term, as in what do they do this season? What do they do now in the next weeks, the next games, the, you know, looking ahead. Um, I mean,
00:05:48
Speaker
The options, there isn't really any option there's mill options. There's Milik. There's Milik when he's fit, but he's still injured at the moment. And he has been getting a lot of injuries recently. So I don't know how much he can be relied upon and whether he's that kind of striker either. So there's Milik. Other than that, there's Weijer who we saw in the second half. you know he's He's not up to the the level required or Like you said, you play a false nine. you play over Nico Gonzalez has been reports, Tutor Sports reported on Monday that Mott is considering using Kenan Yildiz as a false nine. But then if you use Yunez as a false nine, you then weaken yourself out on the on the left wing. And Yildiz has been really good so far this season. so you then
00:06:30
Speaker
I mean, you play with Bangulo, he's probably not up to the level, or maybe you move Nico Gonzalez to the left and you play Cambiasto on the right, or Conceso when he's back on the right, but you weaken your options behind you if you do that. Or you, you know, there's Angelay from the next gen, but I don't think he will be on the level. So you either do that,
00:06:49
Speaker
Or you signed someone in January, but do Juventus have the money to to to do
Financial Challenges in Selling Vlaovic
00:06:54
Speaker
that? i think i you What would you do? What I would do is I'd probably try to play in Mangoula and try to to have a false nine and send a strong message to Vlaovic that this is Juve, everyone is always Soto Izame.
00:07:11
Speaker
ah You have to earn your place at Uwe. And in order to do that, if you don't show it, then I think I'd probably look at now trying to sell him in January and and reinvest that money in a number nine, because it it will have been four years, when three years i three is in January. yeah excuse me It'll be three years in January and we have seen absolutely nothing. The problem is though, I mean, I agree. I think they should look to sell him, but like who is going to buy him? I mean, you know, what big clubs are going to be interested in in Dusan Blauwitsch? Now pay the kind of money that the Juventus want for Blauwitsch. I mean,
00:07:51
Speaker
you know I'm not sure what his amortized cost will be on his contract, which which will require your vendors to get that fee in order to not generate a loss on their accounts. I'm not sure. I haven't worked it out. um How much are they signing for? 80 million on a five-year contract. So 80 divided by five, what are we looking at? 15, 30, 40, 60. It's just over about 17 million a year. So you're looking at what, around 35 million is on his value.
00:08:18
Speaker
Something like that. No, just over, because it's still there'll be two, he's got two and a half years left on his phone. So probably about 35, they need to make about 35, 40 million ah then to to not generate a loss. I mean, yeah, would someone pay that? Maybe, maybe, but I think but when you when you've got a bouncer in his his his salary, he's the highest paid player in the league. He's on 12 million a year. I mean, we saw this summer, no one would pay 10 million a year for Osseman. And Osseman is a far superior player and a proven striker than than Vlovich was and no one would would pay that. you know Even the Premier League clubs are not able to spend these crazy figures at the moment because they're they're hamstrung by you know financial fair play, ah PSR. um so you know And when you factor in just how bad Vlovich is, he looks way off even a 35, 40 million striker and he's shown nothing to to suggest that he can be, I mean if Mota can't, can't rehabilitate him. And he's like one of the best up and coming coaches, especially at developing players. Then, you know, if you're Arsenal, you need a striker or Chelsea, you need a striker with, or, you know, the clubs that can pay that kind of money, would you sign, would you, would you pay that kind of money? I i think they, they risk another key is a debarner situation in that no one's going to be prepared to pay the transfer fee or, and, or his salary. And he's kind of stuck there. And you've enters have a big problem there.
00:09:38
Speaker
and Yeah, and with Kiesa, they had to take a Minos Valenza even because to get rid of him. um So, no, look, I think, I don't think we're quite there yet. um I don't think we're there yet, but we're approaching the vicinity of that area because I don't think he spent the entire season. If he continues like this till November, December, I don't see him finishing the season at Iove. I think they will look to get rid of him in January even.
00:10:04
Speaker
because this is this can't continue like this. um And they'll like look to try to bring someone younger and fresher who works better.
Would Morata Fit into Juventus' Tactics?
00:10:13
Speaker
Ironically, um like I said, Morata would have worked really well in the silver, I think. Which is funny given that he's been at the club and wasn't exactly very well appreciated by some fans. And no, it's an interesting thing. I agree. i agree