Andrea Pirlo takes full responsibility for the 3-0 defeat to Milan, but also admits he ‘had to adapt’ his original vision to fit the Juventus squad this season and has no intention of resigning.
The Bianconeri are genuinely at risk of missing out on the top four, and that could be catastrophic for their future, even if there is the issue of UEFA potentially freezing Juve out as punishment for the Super League rebellion.
Andrea Pirlo takes full responsibility for the 3-0 defeat to Milan, but also admits he ‘had to adapt’ his original vision to fit the Juventus squad this season and has no intention of resigning.
The Bianconeri are genuinely at risk of missing out on the top four, and that could be catastrophic for their future, even if there is the issue of UEFA potentially freezing Juve out as punishment for the Super League rebellion.
Gianluigi Donnarumma barely made a save this evening, whereas Franck Kessie’s penalty was parried by Wojciech Szczesny, even without the Brahim Diaz, Ante Rebic and Fikayo Tomori goals.
“I said yesterday that the team looked good during the week, we trained with the right mentality and concentration. The team was alive and convinced it could put in a great performance,” Pirlo told Sky Sport Italia.
“Instead that was not the case. We had actually started fairly well, but we lost our way and this was the final result. It’s difficult to explain now. There were many components that didn’t work. When you lose such an important game 3-0 it means many things didn’t work, but I need to evaluate it and then talk it over with the lads with a calm head.”
Pirlo was asked if he was ready to step aside or thinks he might be sacked?
“No, I won’t step aside. I took this role with a great deal of enthusiasm amid certain difficulties. I am at the disposal of the club, there are still three games to go, so I will continue doing my work as long as I am allowed to.”
Juve won 3-1 at San Siro in January, so this means they now have the inferior head-to-head record with Milan. They are in fifth place on 69 points, behind Napoli on 70, Milan and Atalanta on 72.
“I had a different project in my mind and thought I would have a different group at my disposal. I had been working on some concepts, but then I had to make changes in order to suit their characteristics and had to adapt.”
Maurizio Sarri said similar things last season, so are these Juve players resistant to change?
“It’s not that this team is resistant to change, but if you have some things in your mind and they become more difficult with certain players. If I cannot get the best out of these players, that is my fault and I certainly need to do better.
“If something didn’t go right, I take responsibility. This squad is made up of great players, clearly something did not work.”
The coach was questioned on the surprising lack of reaction from Juve players whenever something does tend to go awry.
“We have talked it over a lot, because this sort of thing happened many times this season. I asked the lads to pull something out of their guts, to honour the shirt and show pride, because we are part of a glorious club and these performances cannot happen.”
Did Pirlo feel extra pressure from the Super League controversy and various other issues that filled the headlines?
“The club gave me great freedom to do my work and we were never affected by things happening off the field. If we didn’t do well on the pitch, that was purely our fault and mine, as I am at the head of this team.
“We trained well, but at times some players don’t achieve 100 per cent in their performance. When you have two or three players who struggle in this type of match, that brings down the whole performance of the team.
“The lads have always followed me, during good and bad moments, so I have nothing to reproach them for in that sense.”