Spalletti happy with ‘enormous’ steps forward, defends under-fire Juventus duo | OneFootball

Juventus head coach Luciano Spalletti was able to pick up several positives from Sunday’s result against Lazio.

The Bianconeri were too wasteful and eventually found themselves trailing by two goals in front of their home supporters, with the Aquile making the most out of their rare chances.

Nevertheless, the home side was able to rally back to rescue a point thanks to Weston McKennie and Pierre Kalulu, who scored a last-gasp equaliser.

While this draw won’t do Juventus any favours in the Top Four battle, Spalletti was happy with his team’s approach, lauding the players for showing character and determination when trailing by two goals.

“The atmosphere is the right one. Because tonight as well we gave everything, we did what we had to do,” said the 66-year-old in his post-match press conference via JuventusNews24.

“The demands are high: I ask the players never to just clear the ball, to make everything playable even when there’s a bit of risk. With these high demands, there’s obviously the risk of making an extra mistake.

“We’ve made enormous steps forward. Tomorrow I’ll applaud them for the performance, the mentality, the reaction, the personality — top-level stuff. They are good, well-coached, good players, they manage the ball well.”

“Then going to win it back from them and play in open space is extremely difficult, almost impossible. But we scored the equaliser and had two more chances.”

Juventus boss Luciano Spalletti advises Andrea Cambiaso

Spalletti insists the player must become more accustomed to playing under pressure and relish this sort of situation.

“I tell them they have to feel happier in these situations: they reacted, they felt themselves inside the difficulty and the pressure they’re under.

“You can sense that the stadium feels it, the club feels it. Everything is against you, and they must be happy with the pressure on their shoulders. That’s the switch we need to make: being in difficulty has to make us happy, because it’s the life we chose.

“It’s indeed a rewarding life in every sense, but there’s also a human side that shows what kind of person you are. At 2-0, you hide — no, it’s beautiful to turn a match like this around. Relaxed faces: this is the moment that gives us satisfaction, because we have to live in difficulty. I congratulated them.”

Andrea Cambiaso (Photo by Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Images)

Andrea Cambiaso was the main culprit on the second Lazio goal, as he allowed Gustav Isaksen to sneak behind him.

Spalletti insists his compatriot has all the attributes of a top-notch player, but he has to improve his anticipation, while explaining his decision to haul off Juan Cabal at half-time and revert Cambiaso to the left-back role.

“I’ll tell him (Cambiaso) what I’ve always told him. He knows what it means to play football. He has this ability to live in perpetual motion with quality, to be involved in the team’s moves. He has a right foot, a left foot, and running power.

“Sometimes he doesn’t anticipate. But if it happens once, he always pays for it.

“Cabal has different characteristics; he’s more for the defensive phase. Cambiaso is more for the attacking phase. I had to turn the result around, so I made the team more offensive.

“He didn’t read in advance that first-time ball. I tell him these are situations he has to fix. In football, the one who wins is the one who anticipates, who sees things earlier. The one who sees two things at the same time — we still only see one.

“I don’t just see the first pass, I see what comes next. I don’t just see the first danger, I also sense the second one. We have to train for that kind of danger. I feel completely inside the profession I do.”

Spalletti explains Manuel Locatelli’s mistake

While Cambiaso’s mistake cost Juventus the second goal, club captain Manuel Locatelli was the villain on Pedro’s opener, as he allowed Daniel Maldini to pick his pocket.

Nevertheless, Spalletti defended the skipper, admitting that his mistake stemmed from the instructions he gave the players to try and maintain possession.

“It’s probably down to the demands we place on them. I’ve always asked that every ball we win back must be played and never just cleared,” added the former Italy manager in his post-match interview with DAZN via JuventusNews24.

“We have to be able to play our way out even under pressure. Then, of course, we need to anticipate dangerous situations — we should be able to see two things at the same time, whereas we only see one, and we pay a heavy price for it.

“Still, Locatelli is one of those performing best; these things happen in football. What we have to take with us is the reaction the team showed, but we mustn’t turn the desire to get back into the game into frenzy or confusion.”