Juventus: 5 players with a point to prove before the 2020-21 season ends
What was then looking like a fascinating Serie A title race in the making between them and the two prestigious Milan sides has now turned into a last-ditch endeavour to secure the Champions League football for the next season. The enormity of Juventus‘ struggle has been enormous this term.
The aspirants for the 10th successive Scudetto are no longer the alluring boss of Italian football. In fact, they are now the team looking favourites to finish the ongoing Serie A season outside the top four, which would eventually bring them nothing but further embarrassment.
Serie A was never going to be easy this season, with Antonio Conte doing his bits to elevate Inter Milan, Gian Piero Gasperini sharpening his side, and the likes of Napoli, AC Milan, Lazio, AS Roma all resurrecting to mark their presence in the community. It was never going to be easy for Juventus to kiss the frame of the domestic title once again by running riot in the league, especially not with an inexperienced manager in Andrea Pirlo at the helm.
If truth be told, It is not Juventus’ steady fall that concerns the fan but the manner in which they have fallen from the grace. The recent 1-1 draw against Fiorentina, 1-0 defeat to Atalanta, 2-2 against Torino, and 1-0 loss to a relegation-threatened side in Benevento have all been an embodiment of Juventus’ collective failure this season.
Andrea Pirlo deserves the criticism he is getting from supporters of the club and Italian media. But there are some players who have let their team and manager down over and over again. Some of them have been so poor that in another era, they would have been on the substitute bench, warming their seats in a Juventus team.
Fans might forget or at least try to move on from those ominous memories of their recent past should those players entitled as ‘underperformers’ give it all in Juventus’ final push en route to seizing Champions League football. Here, we have mentioned five names.
#5 Adrien Rabiot
An easy target for the Juventus enthusiasts nowadays, Adrien Rabiot has showcased his charming skill sets at times for the Bianconeri this season but not on a regular basis. Andrea Pirlo’s determination to field two-man midfield (with mostly two wide midfielders) means a lot depends on how Rabiot dictates the flow of a game.
If we are being honest here, the Frenchman tries but sometimes loses concertion for reasons that are believingly beyond his understanding as well. Signed on a free transfer in 2019, the 26-year-old has logged 1948 minutes of football (as per the stats from Whoscored.com) in Serie A 2020-21, averaging 2.2 tackles, 1.3 interceptions, and 41.9 passes (with an accuracy of 90.4 percent) per 90 mins.
The numbers might seem quite attractive, but it has not helped him put in convincing performances week in, week out. Consequently, Juve fans now see him as a scapegoat in every game. Playing regularly in a position where Arthur Melo would boss under Pirlo, Rabiot doesn’t have much time to cement his place in Il Maestro’s starting line-up.
Amid the talks of the former Paris Saint-Germain professional getting sold in the upcoming summer transfer window, a chunk of decent performances (like the one he presented in Juve’s 3-1 win against Genoa a fortnight back) could erase the tag of an “underperformer” fitting under his name.