Andrea Pirlo gives himself ‘six out of 10’ for his debut Juventus season and admits his style of football has not been ‘fully implemented’ yet.
The Bianconeri beat Genoa 3-1, but yet again they seemed a very different team after the break and risked throwing away the 2-0 lead.
Andrea Pirlo gives himself ‘six out of 10’ for his debut Juventus season and admits his style of football has not been ‘fully implemented’ yet.
The Bianconeri beat Genoa 3-1, but yet again they seemed a very different team after the break and risked throwing away the 2-0 lead.
“We had the right attitude at the start, it all seemed easy, then we allowed a chance at the end of the first half due to a lack of concentration,” Pirlo told Sky Sport Italia.
“It’s happened before that we concede goals either side of the half and it almost happened again. We came out wanting to take the initiative, but we went too deep, ran a few risks and didn’t take the chances that would’ve allowed us to be a bit more relaxed.”
Cristiano Ronaldo was visibly annoyed after the final whistle and threw his shirt to the ground.
“It’s normal he wanted to score a goal, especially when the game was getting complicated, as he is a champion and always wants to make his mark.
“Genoa put a lot of players between the lines, so we considered a change of tactics during the game. Unfortunately, we dropped points in games that on paper seemed easier, which made life complicated unnecessarily. That wasn’t the case today, as we were controlling the match, but there were a few distractions that made us run some risks.”
Pirlo was asked if he still feels that he has to prove himself on the Juventus bench and how he would judge his debut campaign.
“All coaches must feel like they have to prove themselves every single day, let alone me, as I am in my first coaching experience. Football has been my dream since I was a child and I will keep working hard to improve.
“I’d give myself a six out of 10 for this season so far. I know that I must do more, and when you don’t achieve certain results, the coach is the first to take responsibility.
“My idea of football is to dominate the game and press the opposition. For a series of reasons, we’ve been unable to fully implement it, but the team is eager and we’ll keep working on it.”
Fabio Paratici said before kick-off that Paulo Dybala’s contract extension is still very much up in the air. Would Pirlo like to send a message to Juventus about that?
“These things are down to the club. I am able to train a squad of champions, Dybala is one of them. He has barely been available this season, but he’s back now and we’ll try to make the most of it. Other decisions are down to the club.”