From the papers

August 29, 2000
Juventus Official Site

Today's news focuses on the Bianconero forward line. Carlo Ancelotti comments on his strikers and we learn of a survey conducted on Juve's front men.

The Gazzetta dello Sport headlines, "Ancelotti: my four diamonds". Carlo Ancelotti goes on to evaluate the forces at his disposal: "Inzaghi and Trezeguet are both opportunistic and goal-hungry; they are similar but could play together. Kovacevic has less pace but is more mobile, while Del Piero is not yet back to his best and is working on a few basics. But I am happy with his progress.” The Juve coach continues: "We have a good mix of forwards. Let's not forget Fonseca who could prove very useful to us with his sweet left foot. I am convinced that our forward line is one of the areas where we have improved the most."

The coach also has words of praise for Zinedine Zidane: "He can play anywhere", confirms the coach. "He is one of that rare breed of player who is admired by all. He is still on a high after the European Championships."

There is more from Ancelotti in Tuttosport. In the Turin daily Ancelotti says: "Alex has been treated badly by the press but I am happy with him because I know what kind of work he has been doing. Up until now he has concentrated on the basics again, which he only partially worked on last year. The next few days will be devoted to regaining some pace so he can return to being the player he used to be, regaining the ability to go past players. On the other hand, we also have players who seem able to recapture their previous form almost immediately - Pippo Inzaghi and Jonathan Bachini for example. I am very hopeful of seeing Del Piero return to his brilliant best. He is a striker who has everything. Goals? It isn't a problem and shouldn't become one. In the match against Milan I was impressed with his movement off the ball and his link-up with Trezeguet."

The paper also gives space to Bachini who says: "What you saw at the San Siro is not yet the real Bachini. I can give more in every way, both tactically and physically. I have only been training for a month and a half."

Finally, the Corriere dello Sport has been conducting a survey to discover which strike partnership its readers prefer, while waiting for Ancelotti to pick his front two. The findings? According to the Corriere,"45% of the people interviewed see Del Piero as a fixture in the team alongside Inzaghi. But the real winner is Pippo: whether it be alongside Alex, Trezeguet (25% of the votes) or Kovacevic (15% of the votes), he gets the thumbs up."
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