Maurizio Sarri explained his tactical choices as Juventus beat Inter 2-0, with Paulo Dybala a “devastating” substitute. “This was far more what I wanted to see from my Juventus.”
This was probably Juve’s best performance of the season, with Aaron Ramsey and substitute Paulo Dybala getting the decisive goals in a game played behind closed doors.
Maurizio Sarri explained his tactical choices as Juventus beat Inter 2-0, with Paulo Dybala a “devastating” substitute. “This was far more what I wanted to see from my Juventus.”
This was probably Juve’s best performance of the season, with Aaron Ramsey and substitute Paulo Dybala getting the decisive goals in a game played behind closed doors.
Sarri surprised many with his choices for the starting XI, as he left Dybala and Miralem Pjanic on the bench, starting Douglas Costa and Gonzalo Higuain, moving Juan Cuadrado to right-back.
“We considered it with the staff yesterday, because starting with Cuadrado in the trident meant leaving Dybala and Douglas Costa out. Starting with Douglas allowed us to have both options and Dybala proved a very important card we could whip out at the right time,” the coach told Sky Sport Italia.
“This is an important victory, but there are still 12 games to go, so it’s a long road ahead. This was far more what I wanted to see from my Juventus.
“We had seemed a little empty and flat recently, so we had to choose players who could guarantee more energy, both physical and psychological. That’s the sensation we got in training from these players, but that can change in a couple of weeks.
Ramsey has really improved since Sarri moved to a 4-3-3 formation rather than using him behind the strikers in a 4-3-1-2.
“He maintains that he needs to see more of the pitch in front of him, or he gets a little lost. He is doing well in this role, although in fairness he’s also in much better physical condition now than he was when playing as a trequartista.
“Gonzalo Higuain played with sacrifice, tried to do defensive work to stop the ball getting to Marcelo Brozovic and naturally that took a lot out of him. When Paulo comes on at those moments of a match, he can be devastating.
“I was about to introduce Dybala a minute before we scored with Ramsey, but I decided to put him on anyway, as I felt that was the moment we could finish the game.
“Inter tried to press us high in the first half and probably used up a lot of energy doing that. The inertia of the game changed after our goal, we had a very strong 20 minutes after that and gained confidence, whereas Inter lost it at the same moment.
“It’s very positive that we barely allowed a quality side like Inter a single shot on goal.”
It remains to be seen if there will be Serie A matches next week, as the Government and Players’ Association are pushing to suspend the league amid the Coronavirus outbreak.
“I am a coach and can talk about football, but I am always wary of those who believe they know everything. I don’t know what the right thing is to do,” said Sarri.
“What I have to ask is whether it’s right to take two hours of enjoyment away from those who are stuck indoors or if there really is a serious risk for the players and staff, I just don’t know the answer to those questions.
“I honestly cannot say how elevated the risks are.”