Juventus: the causes of the injuries, the contradictions of the transfer market and Spalletti having to find new solutions for the attack

After three matchdays, many injuries and an attack that is crying out: it is up to the manager to come up with something

More injured players than points on the board: nine to seven. That is the count from Juventus' first three league matches. In the treatment room, with issues of varying seriousness and recovery times of differing length, are: Yildiz, Thuram, Locatelli, McKennie, Cambiaso, Boga, Ekhator, Cabal and Sarr. On the pitch, they have beaten Frosinone and Parma, then drawn with AC Milan.

The close of the transfer window and this highly unusual start to the season explain better than anything else the huge challenge facing Juventus this season, and all the contradictions of yet another year zero in the club's recent history.

Injuries and fitness coaches

Start with the injuries. The causes are different, from traumatic injuries (Yildiz) to previous muscular problems (Thuram) and finally minor knocks brought over from other experiences (Sarr), but taking everything into account, it may be possible to find a common thread. One of the reasons Juventus have, in recent years, had the highest average number of injured players in the whole of Serie A can also be traced to the constant changes at Continassa.

Just as Juventus have seen Paratici, Cherubini, Giuntoli, Comolli and Carnevali come and go at the top, and Allegri, Sarri, Pirlo, Allegri again, Motta, Tudor and Spalletti in the dugout, the role of Juventus fitness coach has also gone through a troubled spell of constant change. After Simone Folletti’s five years between 2014 and 2019, from 2019 to today the following have followed one another: Losi, Ranzato, Bertelli, Folletti again, Colinet, Licini, Pertusio, Ragnacci and, now, Sinatti. Constant changes that certainly do not help.

In desperate search of stability

Stability and continuity are what Juventus want across the club, from the boardroom to the dugout and on to the pitch. Spalletti's confirmation, strongly backed by Elkann and Chiellini, was shaped with that in mind. Carnevali and Massara's arrival was also planned to lay the foundations for long-term stability and open a new cycle.

The contradictions

The current directors, appointed only a few months ago, are now seeing first-hand all the contradictions created by the constant upheaval Juventus have put themselves through in recent years. Some examples show it clearly: the goals and assists from Nico Gonzalez, Koopmeiners and Gatti, players who stayed in the summer only because the right offer never arrived; Kolo Muani's dreadful start to the season, signed by Giuntoli, then chased by Comolli and then chased again by Carnevali, a long pursuit that has so far proved fruitless, with the added weight of Spalletti's barbs; finally, an attack that is not scoring while almost all the forwards who left Juve are finding the net for their new clubs (Vlahovic, Openda and Licina).

The gap with Inter and Roma

The upshot is that both the management and Spalletti have plenty to think about. There is plenty of work to do, just as there is plenty of potential in the squad. Now that the management have done their part in the transfer market, it is above all up to the coach to find solutions, perhaps even by coming up with new ones that move away from the now well-established 4-2-3-1 setup, in order to improve their output in attacking areas. The defence is solid: the gap with Inter and Roma today is entirely in attack, in the number of goals scored, not in those conceded.