Martusciello: 'Juve don't give up'

By Football Italia staff

Juventus assistant manager Giovanni Martusciello admits they “felt sated after going 3-0 up” against Napoli, but “this squad does not give up.”

He was once again on the bench, as Maurizio Sarri is still recovering from pneumonia, and oversaw a bizarre 4-3 victory.

“We saw a physical dip after the hour mark and it was tough against a side like Napoli who pass it so well, but we also got distracted and should’ve made more of the situation when 3-0 up,” Martusciello told Sky Sport Italia.

“You can concede goals, but not three in 16 minutes. Perhaps we felt sated by going 3-0 up and allowed Napoli to bite back.

“When there are errors of positioning and then reaction, you’re going to concede goals against players of this quality. I want to focus on the very positive performance in the first hour, but some fear set in after they got back into it.

“I’ve been here for around a month and even in the pre-season friendlies I was amazed by the way this squad does not give up. They gave their all and kept going to achieve something from the game and it is a remarkable trait.”

Sarri and Martusciello are transforming Juventus from the Antonio Conte and Max Allegri eras to a very different approach.

“This team was built to defend deep and go on the counter, or at most keep possession inside our own half, which is very different to how we tend to play. It’s difficult to make that shift in a month, we worked on some characteristics of players and were pleasantly surprised – above all by Miralem Pjanic – that they were able to do what we asked.

“We are working a lot on playing out from the back, fortunately we have a lot of quality in the squad, but just need to adjust the passing lines and movements that they were not accustomed to. We need more belief and to keep going in that direction.”

Matthijs de Ligt made his Serie A debut and was a little shaky on some of the Napoli goals.

“De Ligt is still a little bit behind in terms of learning the movements and being part of the defensive unit. He has arrived in a difficult league like Serie A from a very different team, but he has a great deal of quality, is very intelligent and will learn quickly. He had a very good hour too, so he’s getting there.

“We had hoped for more time to get him settled, but unfortunately Giorgio Chiellini had that serious injury and changed the plans.”

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