Gigi Del Neri hails new signing Luca Toni as “the one Juventus were looking for” and could give him his debut in the showdown with Napoli.
Toni was drafted in from Genoa yesterday after it became apparent Fabio Quagliarella would be out for the rest of the season with a knee ligament injury.
“He was the one Juventus were looking for, both in terms of experience and his qualities as a hitman,” noted the Coach.
Gigi Del Neri hails new signing Luca Toni as “the one Juventus were looking for” and could give him his debut in the showdown with Napoli.
Toni was drafted in from Genoa yesterday after it became apparent Fabio Quagliarella would be out for the rest of the season with a knee ligament injury.
“He was the one Juventus were looking for, both in terms of experience and his qualities as a hitman,” noted the Coach.
“Toni would've arrived in Turin anyway, regardless of Quagliarella's injury. We opted for experience, just like with Alessandro Del Piero.
“Juve cannot afford to be left without players in certain areas of the team. It's better to have two in the stands than none on the bench. Those who don't understand that are open to take different paths out of Turin.”
The injury crisis risked taking away Marco Storari as well for this match, but Del Neri assured the goalkeeper would play rather than the now recuperated Gigi Buffon.
“We will play against a Napoli side in great shape. They are having a top level campaign, but I am sure we will face them with the right level of determination,” continued the tactician.
“We shook off the 4-1 defeat to Parma, even if it was a defeat that really pained us.”
Felipe Melo was sent off for kicking Massimo Paci in the fact during that encounter on Thursday and has been handed a three-match ban.
“He certainly isn't happy about it. We gave him a few ‘slaps', but trust he understood the mistake that he made. He must understand that when he loses his cool like that, it shows a lack of respect and damages the team by leaving us with 10 men.
“Having said that, we mustn't cancel out the improvements Melo had made before Thursday.”