I warned people. I warned them. No, they'll be fine. They have players. It doesn't matter, Juventus will cope. Well...I don't think losing at home to Udinese who haven't been relevant since the stone ages is the best example of coping. Juventus are in serious trouble, and their woes begins up front, because Coman, Zukic and Dybala combined are not on the same level as CARLITO.
Tevez, when he retires, will go down as one of the most under-appreciated footballers to have played the game. Rarely do you ever see a mix of amazing talent and hard work. You normally get the really talented players who don't put in the work like Balotelli....or those that give 200% but are not very talented...like Robbie Savage. Carlito was both. This dude right now is still a lethal sharpshooter and able to finish off plays and can create his own goals from either inside or outside the box and yep....he can dribble half the pitch and score. But I don't think there's a player today I have seen, apart from Olic, who works as hard as Tevez.
The amount of work this guys puts in. Not only is he extremely hard to get the ball off of, but when he closes
down and chases opponents, it's such a great thing to watch. At a time when you have arrogant pricks like Cristiano getting paid ridiculous amounts, it's very relieving to see that there are players who show you that they are at least somewhat worth the amount of money that they earn each week. Tevez was a very special player for Juventus and they are seriously going to miss contributions as was shown in the game against Udinese.
Out of the three strikers that Juventus have, the closest in character to Tevez is Dybala. He is really good on the ball, and has the ability to carry it through tight spaces, but he is not Tevez. He may very well advance and develop under the tutelage of Allegri, but it's far too much to put down on paper that the kid will offer what Carlito gave to the Turin club. Still, he is a good player to have but he has to be a PART of other quality and seasoned strikers....and that is where Juventus have a serious problem for this season.
Coman is a young player who is just not yet on the level to be playing in the first team for Juventus. He's still too raw and rough around the edges to be one of the main strikers. Each time he had the ball, he lacked that expert touch to put himself in a good attacking position. Everything was a second too slow and he was pretty much ineffective for Juventus. I'm just calling it as I see it and I just don't see a player who can really grow into a quality striker that will benefit Juve in a big way.
Mandzukic is another dude who CAN be effective, but he is a very different beast to Tevez. The Croatian big cat can get Juventus about fifteen Gs this season, but Allegri really has to alter the way the team plays to accommodate him. That means less passes to feet with the ball on the ground, which played into Tevez's kind of football but now there has to be much better quality crosses because Zukic is a target-man striker and a very good one. He looked rusty against Udinese, but it's only one match and he can have some use, but I can't say I can put my house and life-savings on him being top scorer and putting in late winners for Juventus in the way that Carlito did.
Allegri has some thinking to do. Tevez is gone and there's not point in crying over it. The striker partnership has to obviously be Mandzukic and Dybala and he just has to form a chemistry and bond between them so they can bounce off one another. If they can click, then Juventus will definitely be in a good place to defend their title because Roma again just look like if they have not snapped out of all that midfield-obsessed passing BS. But I think the void of Tevez will really be felt amongst the whole squad.
You have to think of the amount of times that Tevez bailed out Juventus from different situations. The late winners he scored and just how well he worked with the synergy of the team. A lot of it was to do obviously with his skill but also experience. He'd already been in Brazil, West Ham, Man United and Man City before coming to Juventus. And in all those clubs, he was a success and was NEVER a flop. That is the kind of standard that we're talking about here which Coman, Mandzukic and Dybala must aspire to. Because a football team is made up of eleven and not just a striker. But any manager will tell you that one really good quality striker that fits in well into how your team plays goes a very long way in giving you trophies.
HH
