April’s Monthly Juventus Thoughts: Confirmation Bias

Juventus Women

Just two games to report for Juventus Women in April. First, Juve beat Fiorentina 2-1 in a hard-fought away game. Lindsey Thomas scored a header at the far-post after a great cross from Amalie Vangsgaard. But Fiorentina equalized just before halftime through a goal from Iris Omarsdottir. We almost regained the lead in first-half stoppage time but Madelen Janogy cleared Ana Capeta’s header off the goal line. Salvai scored the winning goal in the 58th minute when she diverted a shot from Lia Walti into goal following a corner kick. Unfortunately, we fell to a 1-0 home loss against Roma in the month’s other game. The goal came in the second half when Giulia Dragoni beat goalkeeper Larissa Rusek. The *Bianoncere* fought hard but the closest we came to the equalizer was when Barbara Bonansea hit the crossbar in the second half.

Back to Basics

Defense was the name of the game last month. We conceded not one, not two but … **zero** goals in April. Once again, it brings us back to a popular discussion of the last few seasons: is Juventus better off playing a more “progressive”, “modern” style of football that emphasizes attack more or are we best positioned to stick to what we have traditionally done best, namely to defend first and score later? As you all know, I used to be in the first camp. After the immensely disappointing end to the Allegri 2.0 era, I thought it was time to evolve and move with the times. But for a variety of reasons, it just hasn’t worked out and, more importantly, not felt like the **true** Juventus. Strangely enough, we’ve come closer to playing “sexy” football when not trying to do so. At the time of writing, we are the third-highest goalscoring team (Inter 80, Como 59, Juventus 57) and have the joint-third best defense (Milan 27, Como 28, Juventus and Roma 29) of the league. We’ve scored a good amount of goals (despite the number of wasted chances we have) and have tightened up the defense significantly at the same time. Perhaps it shows that you **can** (almost) have it all. You **can** be a team that wants to attack and score but also one that puts defense first.

Scandal

I’ll close with a thoroughly depressing bit of news that I’m sure everyone has heard about. One of the most highly esteemed referees in Italy, Gianluca Rocchi, has suspended himself after being accused of committing sporting fraud. Andrea Gervasoni, the VAR supervisor, is also under investigation. As I mentioned in a recent podcast episode, it’s difficult to say much about this case given that there are few definitive facts publicly disclosed at the moment. The problem, however, is that one can argue that the truth at this point doesn’t even matter. What people **think** the truth is matters. And what do most people (likely) think the truth is? For fans and followers of Italian football, it seems that people think that this is confirmation of what they always thought about refereeing in Italy. Namely, that it has always been biased, low quality, and perhaps even corrupt. For those who are fans of football but don’t know much about Italian football, it is likewise a confirmation of their existing beliefs; refereeing corruption is a feature, rather than a bug of *calcio*. As a result, I would argue that whatever the outcome of the trial/investigation might be, it’s too late to change anyone’s mind about Italy, Italian football, and referees in Italy. The reputational damage has already been done. A dark time in *calcio*, both on and off the pitch, becomes even darker.