Antonio Conte was giving little away with regards to his team plans ahead of Juventus–Genoa” data-scaytid=”2″>Juventus-Genoa on Saturday night.
At this stage it’s unclear whether the Bianconeri tactician will field a 4-4-2 system or continue with the 4-1-4-1 formation.
Antonio Conte was giving little away with regards to his team plans ahead of Juventus-Genoa on Saturday night.
At this stage it’s unclear whether the Bianconeri tactician will field a 4-4-2 system or continue with the 4-1-4-1 formation.
There are also fitness doubts over goalkeeper Gigi Buffon, who could be replaced by Marco Storari, and Arturo Vidal.
“I’ve always said that it’s not the systems that count, but the attitude and the determination of the players,” Conte noted on Friday.
“This year I’ve got midfielders available who enable me to adopt two different styles of play and this is important as we remain unpredictable.
“The injuries? Buffon picked up a bruise to his collarbone and thankfully there’s no lasting damage,” the Coach explained.
“The same discussion applies to Vidal, but we have three games in a short space of time and it would be daft to take risks.
“Therefore, I will closely assess the situation with them before making decisions.”
There are also suggestions that Marcelo Estigarribia could be handed a start given the mixed form of Milos Krasic on the wing.
“Both Estigarribia and Eljero Elia are integrating further into our system,” the summer arrival from Siena added.
“The Dutchman had an opportunity against Catania and will have others, either tomorrow against Genoa or in the upcoming games.
“As far as Estigaribbia’s concerned, I still haven’t decided whether I’ll start him from the beginning, but he has all the attributes to do well.
“Genoa are a technically strong outfit, who have started their championship campaign well. They’ll be very alert and this should give us pride, as it means that the other teams have begun to respect us.”
There was also the inevitable question about Alessandro Del Piero after President Andrea Agnelli confirmed that it would be the player’s last season with the outfit.
“Alessandro is fine, he’s trained as hard as ever,” he said. “I’ve spoken to him and I’ve reiterated that I’ll always judge things from a coaching point of view.
“The amount of playing time I give him will depend exclusively on his condition and how much he can give us.”