Juventus, Spalletti: Pafos strong, Yildiz can improve | OneFootball

On the eve of the Champions League match scheduled for tomorrow evening against Pafos, Luciano Spalletti spoke at a press conference on the club's official channels.

Juventus, Spalletti ahead of Pafos: “We’ll need to be good at escaping their pressure, I tell Yildiz the same things I used to tell Kvara”

After the defeat against Napoli at his former stadium, Luciano Spalletti is already focused on the Champions League match against Pafos, where he is called to win in order to secure a spot in the next phase.

Here are the words of the Tuscan coach:

On Pafos

“They are a tough team with many Brazilians and Portuguese players who know how to play football. They only looked bad against Bayern and have conceded very few goals against top opponents. Physically, they are gritty and come at you hard. They know that by winning tackles they can win the match, and they are good on set pieces. Then, the two players close to the striker have plenty of quality. We need to be good at getting out of their pressure.”

On Yildiz

“I am convinced that Yildiz can still give even more. He has incredible room for improvement, and I used to say the same things to Kvara—he can become a super top player. Like on Sunday, when he scored a difficult goal. I played without strikers, but not to provoke them; I wanted to win the match. I was convinced it was the right system, but I didn’t get the result I wanted and I have responsibilities. I didn’t put the team in the best position to perform, and I damaged the team. Would I play again with him and Conceicao? It’s hard to convince myself about things I’ve reviewed; the pitch tells you the truth and I have to acknowledge what comes out: and the pitch said I made the wrong choice, I should have done things differently because I didn’t put them in the conditions to give their best.”

On Thuram

“Thuram is a strong player, a top player who had a good game on Sunday because he used his physicality and did so differently than other times. He’s a player we need mentally, a player who has that burst when carrying the ball, but he also needs to improve off the ball. Because that can create important spaces for the team. A top professional. So for me, I totally like Thuram. But of course, at certain moments in the match, you have better or worse spells. But I didn’t see him play a bad game in the last match in Naples. For me, he played a good game, let’s put it that way.”

On the lineup

“Some things will change: Zhegrova will start. Last week he had to stop a bit in training, and if you run the tests, he’s not in great condition. You have to think twice: whether to give him the last 20 minutes or use him until he runs out and then substitute him. And that’s what I’ll do because he’s working hard, but he had that big problem, and the data doesn’t show him in top condition. But we have five substitutions and we’ll make adjustments later.”

On the formation

“Now I know the team a bit better, even though it’s very difficult to train with the whole squad in the same condition, but I always have the youth sector available, which is helping me a lot. 4-3-3? Football is less and less about numbers and is just a matter of transitions, because all teams press you hard. Now there’s constant rotation, so you’ll change little, even though having one more right-footed defender will allow me to do many things, like not having Kelly play with his right foot so often.”

On the difficulties

“I have the same certainties as when I accepted to become Juve’s coach. The more I get to know this team, the more I get angry and calm at the same time.”

Raffaele Morra

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.