Sarri: 'Atypical Juventus players'

By Football Italia staff

Maurizio Sarri explained some of the difficulties he has getting Juventus into a specific shape, Aaron Ramsey development and why Giorgio Chiellini “substituted himself.”

The Bianconeri beat Brescia 2-0 this afternoon thanks to a Paulo Dybala free kick and Juan Cuadrado strike, although Florian Aye saw red in the first half.

“We did what we had to do. It was a decent start, once we broke the deadlock, we showed patience, hit the woodwork three times and more than earned the victory,” the coach told Sky Sport Italia.

With Cristiano Ronaldo rested, Sarri stuck with the 4-3-3 formation, using Cuadrado in the trident with Gonzalo Higuain and Dybala.

“Dybala had more freedom to roam, while Cuadrado had to adjust to his position and help cover the gaps as a consequence.

“It’s a complicated situation, as we have many strong players who don’t have a specific role, they are all fairly atypical. Dybala is a forward, but is good at coming back. Cristiano Ronaldo likes to play wide, Cuadrado can play many different roles.

“We decided to let Ronaldo rest today, as he cannot play every single game, so we came up with this system for this game. At this moment, we are playing more with a trident than a trequartista. That’s because Ramsey has made it clear he prefers to play in midfield rather than as a trequartista. Dybala prefers to be more advanced.

“I thought Ramsey was improving over the last couple of games, he’s much better in the movements and doing well in defence too. It’s clear throughout history that English players struggle to settle into Italian football, as we are far more tactical and not quite as free as they are in the Premier League, but I believe he’s over the hump and on his way towards making a real difference.”

Chiellini made his comeback five months after his ACL tear and played for the final 10 minutes.

“To be honest, Chiellini substituted himself! I turned around and he was there in my face with his jersey on asking: ‘Mister, how long?’ He’s been going on about it since yesterday, wanting the last 10 minutes, so I couldn’t resist!”

While Chiellini returned, Miralem Pjanic limped off after just seven minutes with a suspected groin strain.

“We don’t know the extent of the problem. He felt pain in the adductor and will have the tests tomorrow.”

Watch Serie A live in the UK on Premier Sports for just £9.99 per month including live LaLiga, Eredivisie, Scottish Cup Football and more. Visit: https://www.premiersports.com/subscribenow