Angry Tudor asks for ‘intellectual honesty’ to explain poor Juventus results

Igor Tudor looked irritated when asked about Juventus’ poor results, argued that a packed fixture list has affected the team, but said he expects a ‘big reaction’ against Real Madrid tomorrow.

Tudor held a press conference on Tuesday on the eve of a Champions League match against Real Madrid.

Juventus have gone on six consecutive games without winning, drawing five times and losing once.

The last time they won was on September 13 against Inter.

The Bianconeri also have collected two points in two Champions League games.

“I expect a big reaction. To come here, the motivation just happens; it’s an isolated game, and I’m confident tomorrow we’ll play a good game,” Tudor said at a press conference attended by Football Italia.

“I don’t read the newspaper, whether I win or lose. I don’t lose energy. I don’t think about myself, I only think about the team and what I need to do. What I could do better. As I told the team, how to help them. That’s what I’m focused on. I must be focused and be aware of everything going on.”

Gleison Bremer and Juan Cabal are injured, but the latter’s return is near.

“He’s an important player. It’s a shame he got injured,” said Tudor.

“He’s a quality player. He’ll resume running at the start of the week and he should be back in a couple of weeks.”

The Croatian tactician looked irritated and passionately explained his stance when asked one more time about Juventus’ disappointing results in recent weeks.

“Every game is different. I don’t know how to comment on this fixture list, one game after another. I see Inter, Milan, and Atalanta in a row. When there’s an analysis, one is based on results, and others are based on something different. That’s what I look to. You have to see the opponents as well,” he said.

“We’ve been playing on Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday, Wednesday, and the team has struggled. I must make the correct analysis. I saw great performances against Inter, Borussia Dortmund and Atalanta. In the middle, there was Verona, where there should have been a red card and a penalty. Those were three points. And I liked the performance against Milan. I’ve tried to explain to myself this Juventus crisis, but playing all these matches one after the other has made everything more difficult.

“They [the players] could do something more in some games,” continued Tudor.

“They were not perfect, as I wasn’t. If you think that with a different system or with Yildiz playing in a different position, we’d have eight more points, you’re on the wrong path.

“It takes intellectual honesty to understand these results. You must be honest to understand the team’s results and what this team can do. With humility and with a clear head. I like this team. I’m self-critical. These are good players, but this is a heavy shirt and this has to be considered too. I’ve thought for so long about how to solve these issues, step by step.

“Again, everything counts when it comes to the analysis. If all the analysis is: ‘We are Juventus, we must win,’ it’s wrong and the analysis must be fair.”

How are Juventus preparing to face Kylian Mbappé?

“We are aware of the player’s qualities. He moves a lot, and there are other players as well, so we can’t only focus on him,” Tudor said.

“Every team has strengths and weaknesses. It’s a team that can score anytime. I want to see a good performance tomorrow and a team able to hurt them, in sporting terms. We can’t come here and speculate. We must be aware that Real Madrid can score anytime.

“Juventus are a top side, and we’ll face off against another top side. It’s an amazing game to be played. We must taste it the right way.”

Tudor played at the Bernabeu. What has he told his players to prepare them?

“Nothing special. We have prepared for the game as it’s fair to do. But we have to be ferocious and try to score. I think this is the right approach. Then we’ll see how the game goes,” he replied.

“I’ve been here for six months. I’ve been very honest in every press conference. Those who wanted to understand me did so. There are no secrets. As I said before, it’s not a problem of mistakes. The coach’s job is about continuously wondering what’s the best thing for the team, even going against himself. At Juventus, a draw looks like a defeat, and a defeat is like a 10-0 loss. I said what I wanted to. It’s all clear to me. I have no problems. I am serene. I feel motivated to go ahead. Tomorrow we have a nice game, but we focus on one match at a time. This is what I prefer.”

Lastly, he said strikers should attempt “more shots on target” to score and didn’t reveal whether the team will defend with man marking on zonal marking on set pieces: “You’ll see tomorrow.”