This section deals with some of the common questions and comments that may arise when one views a Juve match.

Simply click on the link to each question, in turn, to view my response. No loading required!

1 How has the departure of Zidane affected Juventus?
2 Pavel Nedved, the hero for Juventus?
3 How has the departure of Inzaghi affected Juventus?
4 How important was the acquisition of Gigi Buffon?
5 What is Juventus without Edgar Davids?
6 And what about Thierry Henry, he's doing so well for Arsenal, wouldn't he have made a great Juve player?
7 Juventus is famous for their trademark style of strongly defending a slim lead, so why do they concede goals so easily nowadays?
8 Team Strengths?
9 Team Weaknesses?

How has the departure of Zidane affected Juventus?

Zizou had been with Juve for such a long period of time, that it was difficult for many fans to picture the Old Lady carrying on without him, in light of his 2002 transfer to Spaniards, Real Madrid. He was treated as the French protagonist during both their successful World Cup 98 and Euro 2000 campaigns, and is currently a three-time winner of the most prestigious award in football, FIFA's World Player of the Year.

However, as great a player as Zidane undoubtedly is, his talents are not suited to every style of play; his presence on a team can be restricting. This is primarily because Zidane is strictly a playmaking midfielder.

Now, he isn't referred to as a "Midfield Maestro" for no reason; he is easily one of the best at what he does. But, having a rigid playmaker on your team in this manner means that all formations and tactics tend to revolve around him. Not only is this debilitating if he is unavoidably absent (eg. through injury, suspension, etc), but it means that if the opposing team manages to restrict his influence on the game, then there is little that his colleagues will be able to do about it. After all, every pass will be intercepted, since every pass would go to Zidane, at some point; and every shot will more or less be prevented too, because his playmaking ability will be ruled out.

This, of course, does not have to happen; a lot depends on the abilities of the other members of his team. Consider, for instance, that Juventus had a pretty admirable record with Zidane on the roster, and also that Real Madrid has never looked weak (with, or without Zizou).

Overall, the effect of Zidane's departure has actually been positive, because it was an opportunity for the remaining members of Juventus to work as a team. Without Zidane, Del Piero can now drift more freely about the frontline, a role which he is thought to prefer, and play a game similar to Raul (incidentally, also of Real Madrid fame).

Also, in the absence of a single playmaker controlling the ball in the midfield, it has become possible for Juve to incorporate a faster style of ball control, with wingers being much more important to the overall flow. Zambrotta and Camoranesi have become free to venture deep down either side of the pitch, leaving more defensive midfielders at the centre, such as Tacchinardi, to ensure that they have cover.

But, it must be stressed that Juventus might very well not have been in such great shape, had they not made a few essential acquisitions, with the money garnered from selling football's most expensive player.

Pavel Nedved, the hero for Juventus?

This is probably true. Nedved was perhaps the most notable of the newcomers, in the post-Zidane aftermath.

His strongpoints are very clear, and Nedved is certainly at the level of Zidane- the player he was intended to replace. In fact, it was a common belief amongst journalists in the sporting world, that it was Nedved who truly deserved the most recent FIFA World Player of the year award, and for good reason.

It was largely due to the exploits of Nedved that Juventus reached the final of the UEFA Champions' League, and their defeat at the boots of fellow Italians, AC Milan could very well have been avoided, had he not been suspended for the match. A shame indeed!

Nedved is speedy, has tremendous skill on the ball but, more importantly, Nedved is versatile; this is what makes him a better Juventus player than Zizou. If required, Nedved is a quite capable striker, as he proved so brilliantly in his final season at Lazio; when all but one of Lazio's top strikers had succumbed to injury, Nedved shifted his play upfront to partner Hernan Crespo, and the result was a powerful duo. Although he has never had reason to do this with Juventus, it is comforting to know that it is within his ability; Zidane seemed less reassuring.

Furthermore, it goes without saying that Nedved is as good a supplier of the ball; he is, after all, essentially a playmaker. And he can do this job from virtually any part of the pitch, whether it be directly from the centre of midfield, from the very wing, or even from just behind the strikers. It is pretty common to see Nedved drifting over the field during the course of a match, sometimes appearing on one end, and appearing on its opposite mate within minutes; this is all part of Nedved's game.

And, as a final point to note, Nedved carries the stigma of a consistent "diver", someone who tends to exaggerate a foul in an attempt to win a free kick, or penalty. But, while this may have been closer to the truth during his days at Lazio, this Czech midfielder seems to have since matured greatly. The stigma is now unfounded.

How has the departure of Inzaghi affected Juventus?

There seemed a single reason to sell Inzaghi but, to Juve, it was a clear one: between Trezeguet and Inzaghi, there was room for only one. Unfortunately, while I do esteem Trezeguet, it is my opinion that Juventus made a costly mistake. And, Inzaghi's glutton of goals since joining AC Milan suggests that I might be correct.

Trezeguet is an amazing striker, but his merits more or less end there. While he is a commendably good-spirited player, he never seems to give up hope and is always willing to lend a helping hand to his fellow players, he is best suited to only a single goal. He is the typical opportunistic striker, similar to Manchester United's Ruud Van Nistelrooy.

Inzaghi, on the other hand, is by no means so limited a player. His ability to grab "small goals" is on the same level as Trezeguet, but Inzaghi does not stop there. While he may not possess the playmaking prowess of Del Piero or Nedved, he was still a much more capable team player than Trezeguet has ever proved to be.

Simply put, in front of the net, Trezeguet will always have a single option: to shoot; Inzaghi is, and was always able to give others this choice with a carefully targetted pass.

How important was the acquisition of Gigi Buffon?

Very. For the love of Italy, VERY! Buffon's predecessors were nowhere near the class that is required for a defence as solid as Juve's is known to be.

Buffon is the present goalkeeper for the Italian National Team, and was an essential part of the unrelenting Parma defence that ultimately won them the UEFA Cup in 1999.

When it comes to Buffon's goalkeeping ability, one should realise that he isn't perfect. He may be one of the best today, but he does have his flaws. While he is very skilful in stopping well-thought out attempts on his goal, he does seem, at times, to be a little weaker when faced with more abrupt ideas. Of course, this hasn't stopped Buffon from being a truly heroic stopper.

What is Juventus without Edgar Davids?

Truth be told, the sale of Davids to Barcelona shouldn't have been very surprising. Considering that Juve had seemingly allocated him a permanent seat on the bench, and begun testing the fresh talent of Ghanian, Stephen Appiah in his position for the majority of the past half a season, the biggest surprise was probably that Davids hadn't moved to Roma instead, with whom negotiations were held for months.

I think Juve's reached the stage where it has been realised that Davids has outlived his usefulness as a player. His stay with the team was much appreciated, he is still quite a good player, but perhaps due to age, it seems time to move on. No Davids means far fewer giveaways at the centre of the park, since Davids had a tendency to attempt dribbling past any opposer, and it means that there will be less hogging of the ball. Again, similar to Zidane, having such a commanding presence has a flipside; mass movement depends on one player.

My one complaint is that Stephen Appiah is neither a suitable replacement for Davids, nor an entirely different player working towards a more versatile Juventus team. I'd much rather have Nedved work closer to the midfield, and try including another striker to partner Del Piero and Trezeguet.

And what about Thierry Henry, he's doing so well for Arsenal, wouldn't he have made a great Juve player?

Well, Thierry surely is a remarkable player, and has done very well during his tenure at the English Giants.

But his style of play is similar to Del Piero, blending great ability as a striker with a talent for distributing the ball. And, as Di Vaio has shown, since joining Juventus, it is seldom a good idea to have such similar players share a playing field. Another example is the problem that any Italian coach faces, namely, whether to include Del Piero or Totti as the key playmaker.

True, Di Vaio might very well one day make the perfect strike partner for Del Piero, but this simply proves my point; it may have taken that amount of time for Henry to make such an impression in Juve's kit.

Juventus is famous for their trademark style of strongly defending a slim lead, so why do they concede goals so easily nowadays?

Again, the whole idea of Juventus always having a "knock and block" attitude is a stigma that Juventus carries, but it's not the entire story. Sure, Juve did make this approach famous, but it was best utilised years ago, around 1996-1997, when they were the victors of every major trophy available to them. Every single one of them.

During this period, Juventus was as unstoppable as Real Madrid is considered nowadays, but the two teams played very differently. The difference was that Juve's tactics incorporated a stiff defence, along with a powerful strikeforce.

The problem in recent years is twofold. Firstly, the brains behind the Juve bandwagon have done little to alter their approach to the game. This isn't all bad, because evidence points towards success when it is attempted; have players skilfully net a few goals, and then outplay the opposition so that no goals are conceded.

However, sometimes change is a good thing, especially when your opponents are largely different and more threatening as the seasons pass by. Also, one can't expect the same method to apply to different teams; for example, defending and counterattacking might represent the most promising method of tackling an attacking team, such as Manchester United and Real Madrid, but it may not be as successful against a similarly counterattacking team.

And it is clearly a problem, if the same tactics keep repeating themselves; the opponent will begin to make predictions! This was clearly the case when Juventus completely outplayed the same Real Madrid, this past season, in the second leg of the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League. It just goes to show that even the best teams can be beaten, if the underdog thinks intelligently.

The second problem stems from this repetition of tactics; players grow older. It is a fact too, that players are traded in and out every season, but the problem with Juve is that they force every player that comes in to participate in this recreation of Juve's previously successful playing style.

This is bad practice, because it is not always consistent with the new players' personal style of play. At the time that defender, Nicola Le Grottaglie was purchased from Chievo, for instance, he was held in high acclaim for his dependability at the back, as well as praised for his ability to assist in the attack on occasion. However, since arriving at Juve, he is often caught out of position and goals are conceded, partly because there is insufficient cover at the back. The defenders working with him are either too old, or too inexperienced at their particular roles to allow Le Grottaglie to play his usual game. This is undoubtedly bad, as it somewhat defeats the purpose of signing him!

This idea is further reinforced by the fact that Juve's veteran defenders, Ciro Ferrara and Paolo Montero often seem to work better with each other than their much younger counterparts, such as Alessandro Birindelli, or even Lilian Thuram. The reason, I believe, that these veterans play well together is that it is less of a challenge for them to adapt to Juventus' playing style... because they have been around for so long that they witnessed the evolution of this playing style!

Team Strengths?

Juventus has the ability to be strong in all areas, but it all relies on the players being on the same page. When each player knows his role, the passing is crisp and accurate, while the goals become abundant.

They have a strong defence, including a standout goalkeeper; as long as players are focused, no ball should get through the centre, because this is where they are strongest.

Also, the midfield can hold its own, and Juve boasts of very speedy wingers, such as Zambrotta and Camoranesi, both previously mentioned. Their ability and versatility open a lot of opportunities for the manager to toy with.

And the strike force has everything that a manager could hope for: all-out strikers, playmakers; those good in the air, those who are exceptional with their feet.

With Del Piero and Nedved present, and to some extent Di Vaio, spot kicks are always going to be a dangerous prospect. And young Miccoli presents a unique talent for the future, as he is just over twenty, but is no stranger to International Duty.

And their kit is simply awesome!

Team Weaknesses?

Arrogance! Juve has an impressive record in Serie A, having won the title more times than any other team, but players have to stop letting this thought occupy their minds. They need to concentrate on the present Juventus instead, a Juventus which has only won the Champions League twice, as opposed to their rivals, Milan, a whopping six-time winner!

When Juve is finally able to get past this arrogance, then perhaps they will be better able to prevent smaller teams from scoring due to overall bianconeri blunders.

Another unfortunate consequence of their arrogant attitude is that players, at times of low concentration, often step on each other's toes. It is annoyingly common to see 3-4 Juve players at their backline, scrambling to clear a ball. It sometimes appears as if each Juve player is willing to play the match himself, only to be robbed of the ball at a decisive moment. I hate to be the one to break this to you, whoever's reading this, but the only way to consistently win is to work as a team.

Finally, there is certainly not enough done to incorporate the youth. I first saw Enzo Maresca play in a Juve shirt when he was still captain of Italy's Under 21 National Team (or at least, around that period), and I was able to appreciate his talent from as long ago. And, upon viewing recent matches, such as Juventus' away game to Manchester United in 2003, when a reserve Juve team was fielded that included Maresca, I have yet to change my opinion of him.

Yet, Maresca was never a large part of any Juventus first team. He has always been the player who was "respected" but not trusted to play an entire season with Juve. As a result, he has been loaned out to many Serie A clubs, and has been off-and-on with Juve ever since.

In similar fashion, Miccoli has long been praised by the Italian media for his exploits as a teenager, but he was only given a chance at Juventus after he began scoring goals regularly for Perugia.

On the one hand, this kind of trade activity does give the player regular playing time at a first division club, something which would not be possible at a bigger team. But then, consider players such as Raul, Beckham, and Cannavaro; the reason that they suited their teams so well (Real Madrid, then-Manchester United, and then-Parma) was that their talent was recognised from early on and the clubs put their faith in them. These players were groomed during their youth into the players that they would become.

Which is why I think that both Miccoli and Maresca would have benefited tremendously by "growing up", so to speak, at Juventus. Since Juve seems to be about preserving a particular style of play, such a decision would have given them ample time to learn to play this way, with a generous room for error, given their youth.

On the other hand, by developing their talents elsewhere and then returning to the club, the chances of adapting and fitting in would be substantially slimmer. Although this is not the case for either player, it is still a little frustrating that players with clear potential are not appreciated.