Spalletti explains what David and Openda got wrong in Juventus’ loss vs. Cagliari

Luciano Spalletti says Jonathan David and Lois Openda ‘should have relied more on speed’ after Juventus suffered a 1-0 loss in Cagliari.

Spalletti examined Juventus’ 1-0 defeat against Cagliari, his second in charge of the Old Lady, during a post-match press conference.

Canada international David started the match, while Openda was introduced as a substitute in the second half, but Spalletti expected a better contribution from both.

“They weren’t able to find the finishing touch. They should have relied more on speed, which would have allowed them to create more space to get shots off and be more dangerous,” said the Juventus boss via TuttoJuve.

“Crosses can be an important weapon only if they’re delivered well. In some situations, we were also lucky, but we played our game. In matches like this, there’s always the risk of conceding counter-attacks, which in fact we rarely allowed. The difference was made by the ability to take advantage of chances, as Cagliari did. Evidently, today, it was meant to go that way.”

Juventus dominated possession and arguably had the best chances to score at the Unipol Domus last night, but the home side managed a win with an xG of 0.16 compared to Juve’s 1.28.

“I congratulate Cagliari, their fans and their president. Now we focus on the next match,” Spalletti added.

“Surely, we must work on excessive time-wasting, which breaks up the flow of the game too much.”

Juventus’ next game is at home against José Mourinho’s Benfica in the Champions League next Wednesday. Their following league game is also at home, against Antonio Conte’s Napoli on Sunday, January 25.

Spalletti has won ten of his 16 matches in charge of Juventus, drawing four times and losing twice.