Last season was hard to digest for an Old Lady fan, says Pavol Schejbal of the Juventus Ceco e Slovacco fan club

Juventus failed to win Serie A after years of failing to win the Serie A as Inter Milan returned to the Italian throne. Moreover, an early exit to Porto from the Champions League was not stopped by club legend Andrea Pirlo, and so Massimiliano Allegri returns to the Old Lady. Will he get the Turin outfit back to the top? We asked Pavol Schejbal, who runs the Juventus fan club Ceco e Slovacco.

How satisfied were you with the past season?

The past season was harder to digest for a Juventus fan. The Old Lady always has only the highest goals, plus there was the opportunity to win 10 scudettos in a row. The coach was changed when the not so popular Sarri was replaced by Juve legend and tribunal favourite Andrea Pirlo. His involvement was a big surprise as he had no coaching experience, but overall positive emotions prevailed.

Unfortunately, these gradually faded away during the season, the team couldn’t find a rhythm, looked tired, lacked team play, matches were decided more by the individual skills of each player, but there were often incomprehensible hesitations.

In the end, the result was an ear-splitting fourth place in the league table, guaranteeing a place in the 21/22 Champions League.

A club with ambitions like Juventus simply has to advance past opponents of this calibre. However, the season was not all about failures, the team managed to win the Italian Super Cup and the Coppa Italia.

In the end, then, the season could be taken as a success, two trophies, participation in the Champions League, something most clubs would give for. But we Juve fans have become too used to winning and that’s all that counts.

What do you think about the interim transfers?

Like most clubs not owned by oil oligarchs or states, Juventus have been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis. Where in the past transfers didn’t deal with millions up and down the line, now even a €100k difference has been dealt with.

So Juventus’ biggest boost should not be the arrival of any player, but the return of the mega successful Max Allegri. Everyone firmly believes that the coach, who won 5 scudetti with the old lady, can cement the individualities into one team and that circumstances, unlike his predecessor, will also play in his favour.

The biggest nut to crack is of course the revival of the dysfunctional midfield, which was the most criticised last season. In this respect, the club has finally managed to bring in Manuel Locatelli, a fresh European champion and one of the best midfielders in Serie A.

If Ramsey’s transformation from an offensive midfielder to a withdrawn playmaking midfielder in front of the defence is successful and Bentancur and Rabiot are revived, this could be one of the best performing midfields in Europe.

In attack, moreover, Juventus can count on a healthy Dybala again, who labored with injuries for most of last season, so it’s fair to see him as a reinforcement. In addition, CR7 also remains although the media has constantly speculated about his departure, none of which has been true.

And since Chiesa, Kulusevski and Morata are also available to the coach in attack, Juventus could afford to think about the future and bring in young talented Brazilian Kai Jorge from Santos for a small sum by today’s standards. After all, the player’s contract was up in December and such an opportunity is not to be turned down.

In the departures column, Juventus were also not very active, with only stopper Demiral leaving the A-team for Atalanta and left-back Frabotta for Verona. However, the departure of club legend Gigi Buffon, who was indispensable especially from the point of view of the cabinet, is certainly noticeable. Fortunately, captain Giorgio Chiellini has extended his contract and thus has someone to continue to instil Juve’s DNA in the young players.

In what positions do you think it would be advisable to complete the squad?

This is a relatively difficult question to answer. We, the fans, are curious to see what formation Max Allegri will come into the season with and a lot will depend on that as well in terms of desired reinforcements. For now, it looks like either 433 or the fan-preferred 4213 attacking formation.

However, there are more of those options. The coveted reinforcement in the form of Locatelli has already arrived, a number of fans still wanted the return of Paul Pogba (which is unrealistic) or another creative midfielder. However, according to recent reports, no further arrivals are expected in the summer transfer window.

What do you expect from the new season, do you think Juventus will return to the Italian throne?

Any proper Juventus fan expects nothing but a scudetto. It will be tough though, Juve have almost the same squad as last season, but they have an experienced Allegri on the bench and have brought in a creative force in the centre of midfield in the form of Locatelli. These two factors may be the key.

Moreover, CR7 remained, which is a guarantee of 30+ goals, Dybala is back in top form and Chiesa was recognized by the whole world through EURO 2020. The main rivals in the battle for the Scudetto have also not strengthened significantly but on the other hand they have not weakened either. So it could be a nice battle of up to 6 teams for the Serie A title, with a winning ending for the bianconeri of course.