Maurizio Sarri claimed Juventus went through their "biggest test of consistency" this season after a thumping 4-0 win over Cagliari.
Juventus came out in Sarri's preferred 4-3-1-2 and played an astonishing second half to help them climb back to the top of Serie A, at least until Inter have played his former employer Napoli tonight.
Maurizio Sarri claimed Juventus went through their "biggest test of consistency" this season after a thumping 4-0 win over Cagliari.
Juventus came out in Sarri's preferred 4-3-1-2 and played an astonishing second half to help them climb back to the top of Serie A, at least until Inter have played his former employer Napoli tonight.
After having seen Cristiano Ronaldo score his first hat-trick of the season, Sarri was also pleased with how his players reacted to his tactical approach against the Rossoblu.
“Perhaps this was the biggest test of our consistency this season,” Sarri added. “It was 80 minutes on the level of the first 45 against Udinese, Samp and Napoli.
“The quality we have only expressed in flashes, we showed over a longer period today. On the field we must be organised, in order to press during certain situations. Today, we were more organised than we’ve usually been.”
Sarri chose to play Aaron Ramsey behind the attacking duo and said he was happy with what he saw from the Welsh midfielder.
“Ramsey did well, he is finding continuity in training after a period with a lot of niggles. His condition is getting better. In my opinion, he did well defensively. In the attacking phase, he still has a way to go. He could have done better, and he has the qualities to do better.”
Also Juan Cuadrado’s energy was praised by the former Chelsea coach, but he admitted the Colombian “is on the ground too often”.
“Cuadrado is quite organised in his work on the line, the end product is a bit messier. He puts his ass on the ground a bit too often. But then he has this energy when we are pressing and against a team like Cagliari, who play with a lot of density in the middle, it’s very important.”
“[Adrien] Rabiot played a good game, he is growing. The small difficulties he had, I created for him when I made him play on the right. I am happy, he played an honest game. He was always in the right position.
Merih Demiral was allowed to continue his impressive form next to Leonardo Bonucci in the heart of the defence, but Sarri said he is still “convinced” about the talent of Matthijs De Ligt.
“I’m the first person who is convinced that De Ligt will become one of the best defenders in the world. During the first few months he had a devastating path. He had to learn a lot about playing every three days.
“Demiral is in great shape at the moment, it seems right to exploit the players in relation to the moment they’re in.”
About not playing the trident against Cagliari, Sarri claimed he wanted to push Ronaldo higher towards the opposition’s goal and claimed it wouldn’t work in a 4-3-3.
“The movement of the midfielders with the two attackers are a lot different than from the 4-3-3, especially because of Cristiano, who we want to keep up front to change the defensive movements.
“It’s a difficulty I hope we will avoid a little bit more during the next weeks.”
Sporting director Fabio Paratici has claimed there won’t be any movement on behalf of the Old Lady and Sarri joked about buying him dinner for saving his month.
“Paratici said the market is closed? I’ll buy him a dinner; he eliminated a month of useless questions coming my way. I don’t care a lot about the transfer market. I can stay even a week without asking him for any news.
“It’s difficult to improve a team in January, what the sporting director said seems normal to me.”
About the big game between Napoli and Inter tonight, Sarri revealed he would prefer not to watch the contest.
"Tonight, I will take Ciro out for a walk," he said. "My dog."