Andrea Pirlo keen on getting more Juventus players back to full fitness
Juventus have a long injury list right now, and Andrea Pirlo is trying to make the most of the players he has available. The Italian manager is keen to get more players back to full fitness after the return of Alvaro Morata last night.
Paulo Dybala, Arthur, Juan Cuadrado, Giorgio Chiellini, and Leonardo Bonucci are all on the sidelines right now. This has led to Juventus struggling by their lofty standards. They are 3rd on the table right now, languishing 7 points behind league leaders Inter.
Andrea Pirlo spoke to the media after last night's win. The manager hopes to see the players return to training soon, as they gear up for the business end of the season. He said:
"A slow start was more physical fatigue than psychological, which can happen when you have so many games with the same players. We tried to control the game and then when the fresh legs came on, we were sharper and able to make the most of our chances. It was important to push forward from midfield and attack the spaces more. We aim to create one-on-one situations down the wings and then put the ball into the box, where we have players who can do damage. Sometimes it's the wingers and sometimes the full-backs."
Andrea Pirlo hints at new role for Juventus star
Gianluca Frabotta started as the left-back against Spezia last night, but was replaced by Federico Bernardeschi in the 60th minute. The Italian did well in his new role, and Andrea Pirlo has hinted at using him again in defense. He said:
"Bernardeschi has what it takes to be a full-back, he has good stamina, can cross and has been working on this role, although obviously he needs to improve defensively. We have a great squad, unfortunately I haven't been able to make as many changes as I wanted lately. We could do with more for squad rotation and to freshen things up with targeted changes during a game."
Juventus have some tough fixtures coming up against Napoli, Torino and Lazio in their next few league games.