Juventus Ready

La Gazzetta dello Sport & Sky Italia reporter Federica Masolin today caught up with 'Old Lady' gaffer DP ahead of the start of Top 100's season 3 campaign. The two were spotted together frequently at the recent Monaco F1 Grand Prix where DP has spent his post season.

Federica; Hello Dan, fancy seeing you here.

DP; It's been a while.

Federica; Too long...

DP; Let's get this over with & onto more important matters.

Federica; I'm game if you are. So Juve, as ever, always busy in the market looking to improve upon the squad, is that something always at the forefront of your mind?

DP; I think it's important to always keep things fresh & it's vital to always try & improve your squad. Look at the likes of Milan, stubborn Beddows letting things rot & allowing a weird relationship with players like Balotelli to fester & poison the squad. Where did that get them? 

Federica; It appeared to get them an open top bus parade around Milan for a week straight!

DP; That's Milan for you. Celebrating relegation, truly inspiring that.

Federica; Disappointing that somehow this blundering bigot Beddows somehow managed to also get head coach role of our glorious Azzuri national team as well, which leads me to ask about the rumoured approach to appoint yourself or Malcolm in Florence as the new national team coach?

DP; I've been approached, this is true, but I'm not interested in the role currently however I believes there's been a few Beddows bungs again to ensure he keeps the role. 

Federica; Do you think Malcolm would be better suited for the position then?

DP; Whatever position you like Federica, I like.

Federica; Sorry, Malcolm as Azzuri national team coach, should he get the role?

DP; Oh of course, it'd be great to see an end to this love affair between Beddows & Balotelli but that won't happen anytime soon. Bungs top to bottom, Beddows to Berlusconi, Berlusconi to the mafia & here we are. Boring Beddows for another 2 decades. 

Federica; Miserable isn't it. 

DP; I'll do my best to cheer you up doll, don't you worry!

Federica; Back to the club football... You've brought in the likes of Šime Vrsaljko, Raphaël  Guerreiro & Juan Cuadrado in defensive areas. There much discussion that Juventus had the best strength in depth in defence before these deals, what do you think the belief is now?

DP; I'm sure there's some jealously about, who wouldn't be when you look at the quality of talent we have at our disposal.

Federica; Didn't do you many favours in the league campaign last season though did it? Finishing 4th wasn't exactly ideal?

DP; Don't beat around the bush do you Federica, not when it comes to football at least. Well no it wasn't the ideal result however we did have the best defensive record. The rest will come in time.

Federica; Perhaps the acquisitions of Batshuayi & Gabriel Barbosa can make a difference in killing off oppositions this season then? Juve seemed to often struggle to win games by big margins in Season 2?

DP; This is true. The new D&G on the scene have only had half a season playing within the same team as one another so I believe they'll be on point this season to make a difference whilst Batshuayi & Gabigol offer great depth to the forward line.

Federica; I think you should donate one of these new D&G handbags for me, I'm more than happy to advertise the product for you. Elsewhere are Juventus done in the market for Season 3 now?

DP; I imagine we're prepared for the time being. We've been impressed with the progress from the likes of Leroy, Kingsley, Daniele & Jonathan after the Youth Cup victory last season & they will be playing a part in more first team football this season.

Federica; A great achievement from the youth at Juve last season indeed, do you have a preferred lineup for this season? There's been a lot of speculation in Turin & furthermore Italy of late in the guesses as to the first 11 this season, can you comment on some of the guesswork?

DP; I've seen some of the speculation, it's hard not to but I won't comment much on it, I only say that any manager that does not try to adapt his tactics to his opposition is not a manager for modern football.

Federica; A fair comment. Is it true that you will be adapting a 3-5-2 this season? Perhaps the D&G partnership can flourish in this setup?

DP; You'll have to wait & see. I'm keen to see us score more than we did last season so there may be room to manoeuvre in around in order to benefit D&G. Again, we shall see.

Federica; You recently commented in a pre-season 3 preview that achieving a top 4 finish again would be the aim for the season, was that true?

DP; The division is tougher than ever & our opponents are forever strengthening on the most part & with the likes of our underachieving neighbours Milan & Internazionale being relegated the competition has just become much tougher. I'd take a top 4 finish now but it will be a much harder campaign than before.

Federica; I think we shall wrap things up there for now, I wouldn't want to keep you too long before tonights game here in Florence.

DP; I'm sure you can keep me for as much time as you'd like after tonights game, until then however it's ciao for now.

Federica; I look forward to it.