Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Juventus are nine points clear at the top of Serie A and look on course to win their third straight league title. Their star-studded team may have struggled in Europe but they still appear likely to become one of the top sides in world football over the next few years.
A big reason for their success has been the form of two players who both plied their trade in Manchester – Paul Pogba and Carlos Tevez.
Pogba turned down the opportunity to try and break into the United first team to move to Turin in 2012. Depending on your point of view he was either a mercenary modern day footballer that was too big for his boots, or rightly disillusioned at seeing the likes of Ryan Giggs, Phil Jones, Rafael Da Silva and Park Ji-Sung somehow picked ahead of him in midfield. Either way, there’s no doubting that the Old Trafford outfit lost out on a huge talent, who would walk into their current line-up.
Pogba has been excellent this season, with six goals and five assists from the middle of the park in the league. A strong, mobile player who can also create, he is becoming the box-to-box midfielder every manager craves. In particular, his energetic style of play, similar to Arturo Vidal, means that Juventus have enough legs in midfield to back up Andrea Pirlo. This blend of silk and steel is a key reason why their 3-5-2 formation succeeds. The key challenge for Antonio Conte is to try and keep his starlet’s feet on the ground – and in Italy.
Pretty much every top club in Europe is being linked with a swoop for the 20-year-old (including United), but Juventus would be foolish to let him go and reports of a new deal have emerged in recent days. In 2013 he was named player of the tournament at the Under-20 World Cup, which France won, as well as picking up the European Golden Boy award for best young player. With another league title on the horizon and a World Cup where he can showcase his talents further, this year could be an even better one for Pogba.
Tevez is a player who excelled at both United and City. He was integral to United at the height of their success between 2007 and 2009 – he just never appeared to be the sort of footballer who sticks around at one club for long. However, nobody can doubt that wherever he plays, he puts in world class and generally wholehearted performances.
The one area Juventus were lacking last season was a world class forward but the arrival of Tevez, coupled with Fernando Llorente, has solved this. With 13 goals in 23 appearances, including a pre-Christmas hat-trick, Tevez has proved a shrewd purchase.
He has always had the happy knack of getting crucial goals and assists (Sir Alex Ferguson once compared him to Eric Cantona in this regard) and is a key reason for Juve’s surge to the top. The one blot on his copybook was his failure in the Champions League. The Argentine failed to score in any of the six group games, which was a key reason for their early exit. He has a chance to redeem himself in the Europa League, and possibly earn a spot in his country’s World Cup squad. The chances seem slim as he hasn’t played for them since 2011 and hasn’t had a look in despite his form this season – but if his performances to date are anything to go by, he’ll be doing everything he can to get a seat on the plane.
