Juve, three points with Lecce but… here are the three holes to fill

Against Lecce, Juve achieved their fourth victory in six matches, redeeming the heavy defeat against Sassuolo three days earlier, which was disheartening in the result but also in the performance and individual errors. But not all that glitters is gold and among the folds of the undisputed merits of Juve winning against Lecce there remain some notes scattered here and there, which the heady satisfaction of a provisional second place does not erase but rather constitutes the test bench on which the Allegri’s team will have to compete from Atalanta onwards, aiming for new upgrades.

GROWTH MARGINS

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So what are the most urgent growth margins for Juve? Based on what we saw on the pitch against Lecce, which also represents a “step forward” as Allegri put it, among the aspects that need to be worked on are aggression, the insertions of the midfielders and the reading of the phases of the match . Juve were certainly not on the pitch alone, but every now and then the tendency to retreat rather than push, to wait for the opponent rather than press him forward, resurfaced. This time the team was not in danger, but such an attitude is certainly not a symptom of a winning mentality. The same one which, also in Allegri’s plans, should push the midfielders to insert themselves forward, on the clods cleared by Chiesa when he decentralizes and beyond. And instead, thanks to the narrow Salento lines, Juve was unable to take advantage of the raids other times guaranteed for example by Rabiot. The last flaw concerns the team’s ability to read the various phases of the match, adapting its attitude accordingly. An aspect on which Allegri insists a lot, but which the team struggles to assimilate, as the “offensive” management of a corner at the end confirms.

INEXPERIENCE

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Allegri reiterated it: Napoli, Milan and Inter have something more and therefore start from a step higher towards winning the final victory. The initial advantage identified by Allegri lies in the experience of the squads of others, in Juventus a lack partially compensated by youthful running and freshness, qualities however not sufficient to make up for the disadvantage of the trio who in his opinion are favorites for the scudetto. “If I don’t talk about the scudetto it’s not because I’m hiding,” explained the coach after the victory over Lecce. And he is right in underlining that Juve sometimes suffers from immaturity. But it is also true that the gap can be filled, and it is one of the challenging areas on which Juve is playing a lot in terms of seasonal objectives.