After Torino: Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo

Yesterday at 03:55 PM

Joint custody of the city of Turin

The Good

Starboy gonna Starboy

Amidst the generally lackluster outing of Saturday night's Derby della Mole, the one bright spot was of course Juventus' Turkish No. 10, Kenan Yildiz. In the eighth minute against Torino, Yildiz bobbed and weaved around three Torino players, finally shooting a screaming ball from outside the box, firmly planting it in the bottom corner of the goal past a seemingly shocked Vanja Milinkovic-Savic. In this, he became the first Juventus player to score in the home and away fixtures against Torino since the time that Cristiano Ronaldo donned the black and white.

However, this goal was more than just an opener in what would eventually be a fiasco of a match, it was a statement of consistency. As the draws and lackluster performances have dragged on, the one constant for the Bianconeri have been the efforts of Yildiz. He has been the bright spot in a season that began with great promise, and has over the past months fell short of those same expectations. In the late moments of the match, the match commentators on the Paramount+ feed briefly spoke on the "Juventus DNA," which is a kind of devotion and dedication to the club that players like Alessandro Del Piero, Andrea Pirlo, and Gianluigi Buffon have all cemented themselves in the history books of Italian football for.

While it's still early in what promises to be a magnificent career for the young Turkish international, it seems that Yildiz has the potential for that kind of special club DNA, founded in the belief of "fino alla fine."

The Bad

Doomed from the start

A Serbian, Colombian, Brazilian, Portuguese, and Polish players all walk into J Medical … stop me if you've heard this one before. Though it would be shocking if you did.

While there were the long-term expected absences of Bremer and Juan Cabal in this match, the absence of Dusan Vlahovic, Francisco Conceicao, and one Arkaduisz Milik threw a sizable wrench in the gears for this crosstown rivalry match. No striker or backup striker and the absence of a scrappy winger who has a knack for turning defenders inside out certainly left little room for mounting any kind of coordinated attack against Torino.

However, not all absences were due to plague and injury, Manuel Locatelli was also benched as he was serving a suspension after his yellow card accumulation, leaving fans to wonder what his patterned long ball and ability to flip between attacking and defensive the drop of a hat may have done for this piecemeal Juventus.

Keep the lead

It's been said before and will be said again: this Juventus side cannot be complacent after going up by a single goal, their defense has been too decimated to pull a corto muso-style lockdown of the defensive zone for upward of an entire half or even more. Fiorentina and Venezia, as well as the heartbreaking match against AC Milan in the Supercoppa, have taught this team that early goals are nothing without the defensive prowess to keep any oppositional attack suppressed, and Juventus' decimated backline, while doing everything the can, are simply not the Bremer-led juggernaut they were in the first month of the 2024-25 eason.

In business, you factor in your losses as you plan for a new year. In the case of Juventus, it seems they need to start factoring in that even if they go up by a goal, there is a high probability that opposing sides will equalize soon.

The streak continues

Saying that Juventus are unbeaten in their last 27 domestic matches has a certain kind of ring to it. Yet, there is always a "but." Unfortunately for the Bianconeri, this "but" comes from the fact that there have been 12 draws since the onset of the current season, and fans checking in on their favorite club will also see that in the last five matches, it's been DDWDD.

Talking about this streak was cute at the beginning of this season, how after decimating Como and Verona there were back-to-back draws against Roma and Empoli, though a draw against a side like Empoli may raise some flags. Though this is Juventus, a run of draws won't go very far, right?

But then came Napoli, Cagliari, Inter, Parma, Milan, and so on, and suddenly at the official midway point of the season the Bianconeri only have 33 points. To be fair, there were some solid wins sprinkled in-between, but the calcio gods are playing a cruel joke on this young Juventus, and things need to change now. Not by summertime, not after potential success in the Champions League, now. Let's use this winter transfer window wisely, Signore Giuntoli.

The Ugly

Seeing red

One can recall a sideline scuffle involving Weston McKennie within the first 90 seconds that seemed to die down quickly. That same person may not expect another kind of issue like this, as the vitriolic hate of crosstown rivals is reserved for Lazio and Roma, and while the lifeblood of any good rivalry has a high level of competitiveness, the Derby Della Mole in recent years has been a bit more cordial.

Throw that out the window. In the early part of the second half, Nicolo Savona tacked Torino's Yann Kamorah at the very tip of Juventus' box, only for there to be a "play on" called. This call infuriated manager Paolo Vanoli, who made his anger heard, and from there all hell broke loose. Benches cleared, staff made their way into the mob, player got involved, and in the end, both Vanoli and Thiago Motta were sent off with red cards, unable to watch the lackluster finish to the derby.

However, this was not Mr. Motta's first sending off of the season. In early December, he walked back into the tunnel during a match against his former side Bologna after aggressive protests. It's important to remember that managerial send offs are a rare occasion unless you are Jose Mourinho, but with mounting concerns about Juventus' poor form and how they will finish the season, Motta now needs to become the poster boy for well-mannered gaffers.

Good, bad, or ugly?

It feels like writing the same thing on a chalkboard over and over again with this Juventus team. The big callouts are their early goal, opponents equalizing, the patchwork of players in different positions because someone is injured, and the eventual conversation about continued draws. Then finally starting something has to change in January, which is now. Sound familiar? But to restate, Juventus needs to bolster it's defense as the return of Bremer and Cabal is a long way off, bring in a second striker as the Milik saga continues and Vlahovic is being overplayed, and then finally try to go up at least two goals before parking the bus, because equalizers are expectations at this point.

As for this derby, it came full of intrigue, sideline fights, two Turin based clubs walking away with a single point, and Douglas Luiz donning an early 2000s Slim Shady look. It was also …. simply bad.