Juventus – A Sign Of Crumbling Italian Football?
Posted on 16th May 2016
Juventus’ unrepentant dominance of Italian football continued this season as the Turin giants stormed to their fifth straight Scudetto. Despite only picking up 15 points from their first 11 league games, Juve won the title at a canter and have only conceded six Serie A goals in 2016, a sensational defensive achievement.
The concern for Italian football is this, their 2015/16 Scudetto may well be the closest they have been pushed since the first of the five – when AC Milan were still considered genuine title challengers. As much as Juventus should be applauded for this, the fact they have changed managers, lost players and failed to compete significantly in Europe reflects badly on the rest of Serie A. When Allegri replaced Conte it was considered as the chance for Napoli, Roma and Internazionale to push the door open. Unfortunately, the door was only left ajar briefly and the Turin giants have resumed their monopolisation of the Scudetto. Losing Arturo Vidal and Carlos Tevez has not even dampened Juventus’ assault on Italian football.
Juventus’ Champions League final appearance last season was a sign that Allegri might finally be converting their Serie A dominance into European success, but a succession of tough draws have meant that this five year winning streak is yet to be rewarded with the ultimate prize in European football. Italian football is not what it was in the 90s, players do not clamour for a move to the top clubs and the corruption scandal is still hanging over the country’s game. As good as Juve are, the fact that they have faced no regular, head-to-head competitor over this period of time is a damning reflection of the weakness of the league.
Whilst the national team continues to fluctuate in their performances, Serie A is slipping out of contention and is firmly behind the Bundesliga, Premier League and La Liga when it comes to the European footballing hierarchy. It speaks volumes that a side as unstoppably dominant as Juventus are struggling to keep their stars; with Dybala and Paul Pogba both consistently linked with moves to other clubs of the European elite.
You have to trawl back to 2011/12 to find the last time a team other than Juventus made the quarter-finals of the Champions League – when AC Milan were eliminated by Barcelona. Two Italian sides made the Europa League semis in 2014/15, but both were defeated. Their European struggles show how far Italian football has slipped off the pace and this is just being extenuated by the dominance of the Old Lady. Players who may already be sceptical of a move to Serie A are just going to be further deterred when they realise that even a move to Napoli or Roma does not mean you will even come close to the title.
Under Antonio Conte records regularly tumbled for Juve. In 2011-12 they became the first Serie A side to complete a league season unbeaten whilst their 2013-14 Scudetto saw them accumulate the most points ever, 102. Success for a club on such a scale is usually met with plaudits, met with adulation and even European dominance. Seldom are their rivals questioned, or the league brought in to question. There is no reason to change anything just to stop one team winning, but such a prolonged period of significant trophy-collecting is going to rapidly damage Italian football as a whole. Their rivals clearly must take some blame. Both Inter and AC Milan have stumbled into the ‘sleeping giant’ category, as Napoli have seen their brilliant squad of 2011-13 picked apart and age rapidly, even the prolific Gonzalo Higuain can’t carry Partenopei towards a substantial title challenge.
It might take a disappointing Euros this summer – after their group elimination in at the 2014 Brazil World Cup – to awaken Italian football. There is not always a correlation between a strong national league and a formidable national team, but it often helps. The current Juventus squad only features a smattering of Italians, it is a matter of time until we see the impact this has on Antonio Conte’s fate at Euro 2016.
Five consecutive Scudettos is astonishing, it is the sort of achievement that would have made a team go down in the history books. However, the failings in Europe and weaknesses of Juve’s opponents somewhat undermine their domestic achievements. It may take a mass exodus of the Old Lady’s stars to reignite Serie A.
About the author- Sam Cox
Sam is a writer who is a regular with Football FanCast and has featured on uMAXit, Collossus bets and Late Tackle.
twitter: @10InTheHole
