Andriy Shevchenko admits it was ‘difficult just putting out a starting XI’ against Juventus amid their huge injury crisis, but hints Goran Pandev will start for Genoa in the derby with Sampdoria.
It was another disappointing night for the Ukrainian, as his team picked up one point from his four games in charge, failing to score a single goal.
They were subjected to 12 shots on target, 27 attempts overall, whereas Genoa did not aim any chances at Wojciech Szczesny.
Serie A | Juventus 2-0 Genoa: Cuadrado and Dybala get it done
It is also fair to say his squad is decimated by injuries, which only increased in the build-up to this match, also losing Milan Badelj, Nicolò Rovella and Stefano Sturaro.
“Honestly, it was difficult just putting out a starting XI this evening,” Shevchenko told DAZN after the 2-0 defeat.
“We tried to stay in the game and we did until the 80th minute. The team worked really hard, we had to change positions, get players in different roles.
“It’s true we didn’t create scoring opportunities, but we had a few attempts, especially in the second half when some moves could’ve come off better.
“We tried to get the strikers to be a bit closer together, there were some attempts, but we struggled above all in the first half.
“As soon as the opposition press us, we struggle to get out from that and lack a real physical presence upfront who can hold the ball up. Ekuban and Bianchi aren’t very experienced, so we can only try to work and improve.”
When Goran Pandev came off the bench, he did seem to provide something more in attack. Could the Macedonian veteran start against Sampdoria?
“This is why we are trying to measure out his playing time ahead of the derby, because we are already thinking about that game. It will be my first Derby della Lanterna, so far I’ve just heard people talking about it as a very special game.
“We have decided to play with a 3-5-2 at the moment, because these are the players at our disposal. Rovella, Sturaro, Badelj are all important players, we’ll see if anyone can recover, but we must try to do our best in the circumstances.
“At this moment, the absentees are causing huge problems for us, so we hope to get them back and improve the quality level.
“We knew it was a difficult run of fixtures even before these injuries, but we must believe, come together and help each other to go forward.”