Luciano Spalletti stands up for his Juventus choices after the 1-1 draw with Cagliari, critiques Yerry Mina and reveals what happened for that red card with Fabio Pisacane. ‘They are good at wasting time.’
The Bianconeri dominated possession in Sardinia, but had precious little to show for it, as they were trailing 1-0 at the break with just one shot on target.
Daniel Maldini had found the net for the fourth Serie A match in a row, but Juve finally started to test Elia Caprile as the second half dragged on, particularly with substitute Edon Zhegrova.
At the 81st minute, Kerim Alajbegovic whipped in a cross from the left for Randal Kolo Muani’s header at the back post to equalise, his first goal of the season.
It really should’ve been another soon after, but this time the ex-Tottenham Hotspur striker smashed his volley onto the underside of the bar.
Spalletti defends Juventus choices
There was tension at the final whistle when the two coaches went to shake hands, as it turned into an unusual scuffle that saw both Spalletti and Fabio Pisacane shown red cards.
“Nothing happened. I told him they play good football and are good at wasting time, he said what do you mean wasting time, and they kicked us both out. It was nothing major, all pretty normal,” insisted Spalletti on DAZN Italia.
Kolo Muani confessed that he felt ‘better’ when Nick Woltemade came on, as it got bodies into the box and allowed him more freedom to get away from the attentions of defenders.
“In the first half, I moved McKennie to the left and put Nico Gonzalez into the centre to do what Woltemade was there for later,” insisted Spalletti when asked if he should use two strikers.
“Don’t forget that Nico Gonzalez is a support striker, he is the best header of the ball we’ve got in the squad, so the system was the same since I moved McKennie. Kolo Muani was the centre-forward with Nico Gonzalez in support, but they were free to change positions.
“If Kolo is allowed to move around the way he did today, which I really liked, he becomes harder to mark. We had a scoring opportunity too, but it hit Nico Gonzalez on the knee and went wide.
“The important thing is to have the right determination and mental strength. I am not looking at the result tonight, I am looking at the fact I am nearly 70 years old and want to end my career on a strong note. I want to do well, I am not thinking about the result, because it was a good performance and the lads need to be told that.
“If they always play like this, I am convinced we will win many more games.”
For all the possession, there was just one shot on target in the first half, and Juve are struggling to score goals in Serie A this season.
“Kolo Muani did well to score amid that traffic, those are the moments that are difficult for us to bring home, but he did it well to create that space, he is physically strong and knows how to be decisive,” continued Spalletti.
“We’ve just got to improve the finishing, because I want to congratulate my players on the performance, as well as be a little annoyed because we should be winning these games.”
Does Spalletti feel that his players are lacking that character and fire that he possesses?
“This squad has potential, we try to analyse and give a little bit extra for what we are missing, but that’s normal.”
Cagliari defender Yerry Mina continued his campaign of tormenting opponents and there was more tension reportedly between Spalletti and the Colombia international in the tunnel at half-time.
“It’s exactly what happened last season, he leads us around with the behaviour of a strong player…” smiled Spalletti with more than a hint of sarcasm.
“You need to be protected from certain attitudes, but then you play and whoever brings home the points and the incidents has more strength. You need to be obsessed with getting the victory, not meeting the win if it happens to wander past, we are the ones who need to seek it out and make it happen.”
This result means that Juventus remain behind Cagliari in the Serie A table, having won just one of their last four games in the league.