Juve line up with a back four

June 28, 2000
Juventus Official Site

With preparations for their second pre-season friendly against a Valle D'Aosta XI (Saturday 5.30pm CET, Perucca Stadium, live on Italia Uno) well under way, Ancelotti took the time to speak to juventus.com about some tactical changes, the condition of the players and what he expects from the coming season.

Ancelotti has already furnished details of one tactical innovation, announcing his intention to "play on Saturday with a back four, 4-3-3 to be precise. It's right that we should experiment a bit with this defence, because when we needed to try it last season we found we were unprepared. The fact that we have so many central defenders, however, means that we'll inevitably begin from the basis of a three man defence."

But the results of the experiment might be hard to read. As the coach admitted, "because the team began training at a very high pace, it's normal that they're all very tired."

Turning to other matters, Ancelotti was keen to declare that the uncertainty that had arisen over recent weeks concerning Antonio Conte has been resolved: "I have spoken to him and all is back to normal," clarified the Juve manager. "He will join the rest of the team in training on 7 August. All misunderstandings have been overcome."

Although the senior side has taken centre stage since the pre-season kicked off, the youth team players have also been kept under close observation. And who knows, there may be a promotion on the cards for one of the youngsters. "There is one player who has really struck me," revealed Ancelotti. "I won't say who because I want all the players to work with the same incentives and enthusiasm. This season the objective is precisely that of producing as much competition for a place as possible in order to give more impetus to each player.

"There won't be any hierarchies between players except for among the goalkeepers. Edwin Van der Sar will remain the number 1, followed by Rampulla. If the young Uruguayan Carini joins us he'll take his place in the squad. He's a player for the future. At only 20 he has plenty of experience. All other players in their various positions will have to fight for a place - and that includes Esnaider who has rejoined the team."

Inevitably, Alessandro Del Piero isn't far from the headlines. The Juventus number 10 has been on the receiving end of much unfair criticism since the end of Euro 2000. "He doesn't need a psychologist to pick himself up after the European Championship. I read one statistic that put Del Piero in top place of all players who provided winning assists to their team-mates, with 14 in all. If you add to that all the goals from the penalty spot and the one from open play, it means Alex is directly responsible for 23 goals. The statistics also show that he's the player to have lost possession more than any other Juve player, but that's inevitable in his position where you have to try the more difficult things. I expect him to improve like everyone else - but I'm not looking for a 're-birth', we've already seen that."
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