Andrea Pirlo blamed a lack of experience for Juventus fumbling the lead in a 1-1 draw with Hellas Verona. ‘They press you all over the pitch.’
The Bianconeri dropped points again and now risk falling a long way off leaders Inter, as Cristiano Ronaldo’s opener was cancelled out by an Antonin Barak header.
Juve started very aggressively, but seemed to run out of steam as the game wore on, and Wojciech Szczesny fingertipped two efforts onto the woodwork.
Andrea Pirlo blamed a lack of experience for Juventus fumbling the lead in a 1-1 draw with Hellas Verona. ‘They press you all over the pitch.’
The Bianconeri dropped points again and now risk falling a long way off leaders Inter, as Cristiano Ronaldo’s opener was cancelled out by an Antonin Barak header.
Juve started very aggressively, but seemed to run out of steam as the game wore on, and Wojciech Szczesny fingertipped two efforts onto the woodwork.
“It’s disappointing, as we knew it would be a difficult and hard-fought game. We managed to take the lead, which was the most difficult part, then didn’t keep hold of it,” Pirlo told DAZN.
“There are these small details that unfortunately young players don’t understand can make the difference and lead to points.
“When you are in front, you must try to bring these games home. We were missing a lot of experienced players, so the younger elements didn’t understand the way the match was going. I asked Cristiano and Alex Sandro to speak to them and make their voices heard, but it wasn’t enough.”
Missing so many defenders and using Alex Sandro as a centre-back, did Pirlo think about moving to a four-man defence?
“I thought about moving to four at the back, but I looked to the bench and didn’t really have the options to change. I saw some players who were starting to get tired after the hour mark, but that was to be expected.
“We planned a 3-4-2-1 with Aaron Ramsey and Dejan Kulusevski behind Ronaldo, so we’d press their centre-backs and support Ronaldo.
“In the second half, we no longer had the energy to keep pressing them and the spaces opened up for Verona. We know the intensity of Verona forces you to use up a lot of energy, and we are playing many games in quick succession, there aren’t enough players, so fatigue is going to be an issue.
“Hellas press you all over the pitch, so you have to think quickly before the ball reaches you to check where your teammates are and can make the pass before they close you down.
“We had the chances to extend our lead, it’s just a pity we didn’t hold on to that advantage. We don’t have strikers who can just hold up the ball, so we need to play out from the back. It was tough today, as Verona pressed high, and the pitch wasn’t in the best condition either.”
Are Juventus too dependent on Cristiano Ronaldo for their goals?
“We’re in an emergency situation, but try to work well with what we have. It’s not just us who miss players like Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata, but any team would miss them.”