Motta: Juve 'have to do something more' to break out of Serie A scoring drought

Today at 08:30 PM

There's no lacking for things to discuss following Juventus third straight scoreless draw in Serie A.

Coming into Juventus' early-season showdown with Napoli and former manager Antonio Conte, the hope was that Thiago Motta's squad could break out of their scoring funk that has seen them fail to find the back of the net in back-to-back league fixtures.

The hope, at least for one more day, went up in smoke as things went on Saturday night against Napoli.

Juventus recorded their third straight scoreless draw Saturday night, with the same sorts of problems that hampered them in their previous outings against Roma and Empoli on either side of the international break. Juve were hoping to continue their goal-scoring moment from their midweek Champions League win over Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven, but could only muster a grand total of two shots on target and rarely test a Napoli side that had to bring in their backup goalkeeper midway through the first half due to an injury to Alex Meret.

"In order to win, we have to do something more," said Motta, whose team has failed to score in their last three Serie A games. "We've been up against teams with good players, we did well today, but clearly we cannot be happy with the result, because we always play to win. This remains the right path, we pinned Napoli back for long periods and need to do better in the final third."

"When a team clams up in defense," Motta continued, "it's not easy for anyone to break them down. We are on the right track, we have the quality to do better with a change of tempo, shots from outside the box, there are many ways we can unlock them and we have the characteristics to do that."

Motta took a big swing coming out of the second half when he decided to replace star striker Dusan Vlahovic — the highest-paid player in Serie A — and replace him with Timothy Weah, who is very much a winger and not a natural backup to the Juve No. 9. Vlahovic touched the ball just six times and completed two passes during his 45 minutes on the field, extending his run of rather quiet performances since his brace against Hellas Verona in Juventus' second game of the season.

Motta confirmed after Saturday's game that the Vlahovic substitution was not a forced decision due to an injury, rather just something to try and change things up tactically.

"Vlahovic is fine, he has no physical problem. He had a good first half, tried to attack the space, although there wasn't much of it today because Napoli clammed up and limited the spaces," Motta said. "It was a good (team) performance, but clearly we got to the final third and that is where we need to improve. Weah was meant to alternate, which Tim did well in the second half, and also attack the penalty area. They each have their own characteristics and ways of helping the team."

Two of the better performers against Napoli were a pair of summer signings, Teun Koopmeiners and Pierre Kalulu, the latter making his first start at center back alongside Bremer. Koopmeiners led Juventus with three key passes as he played a much wider position than he did during his first couple of appearances in bianconero, while Kalulu continued his steady play in defense and continues to make his move to Turin look like a smart one.

"Kalulu and Koopmeiners only recently joined the club, but they have a fantastic attitude, they are two examples of that," Motta said. "(Manuel) Locatelli had a great game today, he trains well, he always communicates with his teammates. He's always focused on what he has to do, that's why Manu plays."

A player who has surprisingly started the last couple of games is Weston McKennie, who looked destined to leave Juventus for much of the summer before he was brought back into the squad prior to the 2024-25 season opener. McKennie's back-to-back starts — the first coming in Tuesday's Champions League opener — comes at the same time that big-money signing Douglas Luiz continues to try to find consistent minutes under Motta.

"He is a player who reads the spaces well, can get into the opposition penalty area, help out in attack and defense," Motta said. "We have strong players who together can show their potential to the benefit for the whole team."