Dusan Vlahovic practically apologised to Juventus after missing scoring opportunities in the defeat to Napoli. ‘If I want to become what I want to become, I have to take these chances.’
The Serbia international had several huge situations and was unlucky with a couple, as one header skimmed the far post, a chip bounced off the inside of the upright and he fired another over the bar.
“I will honestly regret them all. If I want to become what I want to become, to take that extra step up in level, then I have to take these chances. There is nothing else I can say,” Vlahovic told DAZN.
“I had opportunities to win the match, I worked so hard during the week and did everything to be prepared, but it just didn’t happen tonight.”
He explains what went wrong with the clearest chance that he fired over from a Federico Gatti knock-down.
“When I do not follow my intuition, that is where things go wrong. At first I wanted to control, but then I decided to hit it first time and 9 times out of 10 I score those. In that moment, I thought the opponent would go into a sliding block and so I had to take it first time.
“However, if I want to become what I am thinking of becoming, then I have to do better. I will keep working and I am convinced the goal will come.”
What is he thinking of becoming?
“I am thinking of becoming a great striker. I had three or four chances tonight, so in my mind I should have four goals. The biggest problem though is that we did not win.
“Everyone wants to become the best in the world, we are all working towards that. I will keep working and hope to get back to scoring in the next game I can play, as unfortunately I will not be there against Atalanta.
“The team played really well, we did everything the coach asked of us, but if I converted one of those chances, I think the game would’ve been very different.
“I want to thank my teammates, as I saw their faces in the locker room and we really gave our all. It was a strong performance, I know that if I had scored, it would’ve been another game.”
Juventus are in the process of rejuvenating their squad and it was a particularly young starting XI this evening, including Carlos Alcaraz, Fabio Miretti and Samuel Iling-Junior.
“The coach did really well to help these young players to settle in, for example Kenan Yildiz and Nonge. I realise that I am young too, but there are actual teenagers here.
“From next season we must focus on winning the Scudetto, because we are Juventus and the rest does not count for us. The coach has really helped us grow. The draw with Empoli was a real psychological blow, then we didn’t have the right approach against Inter and lost to Udinese.
“These are all part of the growth process and I think they will help us for next season.”
Vlahovic was asked what he considers to be a success this season, a trophy, Champions League qualification or for him to score 20 goals?
“If we win a trophy or qualify for the Champions League. I leave personal matters to one side, because if a striker scores 20 goals and then the team doesn’t win, there’s no point to that.”
Would he be equally happy if Juventus finished second or fourth?
“No, absolutely not.”