Calcio Debate: Are Juventus Paying The Price For Injuries?

Just 24 hours ago there was real anticipation and excitement all around Italy about the Serie A title race. Leaders Inter were stuttering, and had allowed Juventus and Milan to close to within three and six points of them respectively. But, following the round 21 midweek calendar last night, the Nerazzurri are back in supreme command at the summit, and much of the peninsula is expecting yet another predictable Scudetto victory come May.

With Inter just doing enough, as usual, during their 2-0 win in Catania, Juventus fell to a shock 2-1 defeat at Udinese, while a late Diego Milito strike meant that Milan could only manage a 1-1 home draw with Genoa, despite David Beckham’s brilliant free kick. Six and eight points back correspondingly, Juventus and Milan now have a real task on their hands if they are to deny Inter a third straight championship.

This debate is going to focus specifically on Juventus because, unlike Milan who are playing well at the moment, last night’s result has been coming for quite a while. The Bianconeri have not been impressing at all in 2009, and some would say they were fortunate to pick up 1-0 wins at home to Siena and Fiorentina (earned only by two moments of magic from Alessandro Del Piero), while they certainly deserved no more than their draw against Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico.

So why have Juve been under-par since the turn of the year?

It is easy to jump on the ‘Blame Claudio Ranieri’ bandwagon. The ‘Tinkerman’s’ team selection is often questionable, as it was last night when he handed Pavel Nedved a starting role, despite the fact the 36-year-old looked exhausted during the Fiorentina game at the weekend. Moreover, the ex-Chelsea boss quite clearly does not possess the ability to read the direction of a game, and make substitutions and tactical tweaks, accordingly. Once again, why was Nedved left on the pitch for the whole 90 minutes when he was so impotent?

It is true that Ranieri has never won anything of note in his career, and that it is more likely than not that this will continue, however, it must also be taken into account that Juventus have suffered horrifically from injuries this season, and it was only a matter of time until they came crashing back down to Earth, as was the case at the Stadio Friuli last night.

Juventus went into the game without their best defender, best midfielder and best attacker. Any team who are minus the services of Giorgio Chiellini, Mauro Camoranesi and Alessandro Del Piero – three world class players – are always going to face an uphill struggle, even if they are playing a team who have accumulated just two points from their last 10 games.

This campaign, Juventus have entered into almost every match with 11 or 12 first team squad players unavailable. David Trezeguet appeared for the first time yesterday since September, Vincenzo Iaquinta has made just four starts, Gianluigi Buffon six, Camoranesi four, Cristiano Zanetti two, Chiellini has not played since December. Christian Poulsen and Tiago have been side-by-side for months, but in the treatment room, and not in the centre of midfield. Such has been Juventus’ injury crisis that Primavera defender Lorenzo Ariaudo was blooded from the start at Lazio a fortnight ago, while fellow youth-teamers such as Iago and Fausto Rossi have also been regularly drafted into the first team squad just to fill up the substitutes bench.

It has been a quite horrific state of affairs, and so Ranieri perhaps deserves great credit for keeping Juventus in contention, despite all these handicaps. One can only speculate just how much better the Turin-giants would be doing with a clean, or cleaner, bill of health.

Inter are by no means out of reach for Juventus, especially as Jose Mourinho’s men are hardly excelling themselves, but with the business end of the season approaching, it is of paramount importance that the Bianconeri recover their injured players if they are to realistically challenge at home and abroad.

What are your views on this topic? Are Juventus paying the price for their horrific injury situation? Is Claudio Ranieri also to blame? What was your take on yesterday’s dismal defeat? Can Juve still win the Scudetto?