Zazzaroni argues that only Juventus player deserved the jeers, and it’s not David | OneFootball

Italian journalist Ivan Zazzaroni felt the home crowds at the Allianz Stadium were too harsh towards the Juventus players on Saturday.

The Bianconeri supporters were expecting the team to start the year on a positive note by making short work of Lecce.

Luciano Spalletti’s men reigned supreme in the early stages of the contest, but failed to convert their chances. Ironically, the visitors scored from their first crack at goal, as Lameck Banda took on Gleison Bremer before putting a powerful shot past Michele Di Gregorio.

Ivan Zazzaroni thinks Juventus players didn’t deserve the jeers

After the break, Weston McKennie equalised the scoring following a fabulous team play, but Jonathan David wasted a spot-kick with an abysmal attempt, so the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Needless to say, the home supporters were far from pleased with the results. Raucous whistles and jeers were heard on several occasions, including at the half-time and full-time whistles. Even Manuel Locatelli received a negative reaction while leaving the pitch, a treatment that the Juventus captain is becoming accustomed to.

Nevertheless, Zazzaroni disagrees with the crowd’s behaviour, arguing that the Bianconeri put on an encouraging display and deserved better.

“We heard the boos at half-time. Boos? But why? And aimed at whom? At destiny, apparently cynical and cruel, I initially thought. Not at all. They were directed at a team that had dominated its opponent far and wide, missing the unmissable,” wrote the veteran journalist in his editorial for Il Corriere dello Sport.

“Had Juventus gone to the break with a three-goal lead, it would have been well-deserved. Yet Lecce’s solitary goal had not been answered with Juventus’ own.”

(Photo by Vincenzo Lombardo/Getty Images)

Zazzaroni believes that the only Juventus player whose performance may have warranted the jeers was Andrea Cambiaso, who gifted Lecce the opener with a horrific square ball.

“Free whistles in a free Stadium? Hard to make sense of it. If anything, the disapproval could at most have been aimed at Cambiaso, for that sideways pass which triggered Banda’s goal, nothing more.

“Five minutes into the second half, the boos had turned into applause, and Juventus’ clear superiority was — only partially — rewarded. This Juventus has another face now, a new substance,” added Zazzaroni.

“For the first time this season, I saw a team that gave the impression it could win the match, very different, for instance, from the one seen in Pisa.

“Only in the second half did it complicate matters for itself: the urge to kill the game led to dozens of crosses calmly dealt with by Di Francesco’s aerial defence, David’s mistake, and Yildiz’s shot against the post.”

What’s behind the negative atmosphere at the Allianz Stadium

While the crowd’s reaction may have been merciless, Juventus supporters, whether the thousands in the stands or the millions watching around the world, have grown restless over the past six years due to the club’s knack for squandering opportunities and eventually settling for mediocre results, not to mention the general disapproval towards the work conducted by the successive managements and their failed projects.

Therefore, the whistles and jeers heard at the Allianz weren’t necessarily directed towards a particular player, and they’re certainly not against Spalletti, whose work has been well-appreciated, but they stem from all the frustration that has been piling for years, which rendered the fanbase rather impatient and unforgiving.