Juventus hoped that the appointment of former midfielder Antonio Conte as their new coach would, if nothing else, restore some pride in the jersey after two consecutive seventh-placed finishes. He did a lot more than that, though.
Conte made history in his first season in Turin, winning the Scudetto by leading Juventus through the season undefeated – becoming only the third side to have done so, and the first in a 20-team Serie A.
None of Juve’s strikers proved particularly prolific – Alessando Matri was the only one to hit double figures (10) in the league. However, Conte’s side was founded upon a rock-solid defence of Gianluigi Buffon, Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli, Giorgio Chiellini and Stephan Lichtsteiner, with the decision to switch to a 3-5-2 proving one of the most significant formation changes in Italian football history.
He also shrewdly built his midfield around the playmaking brilliance of Andrea Pirlo, who made a mockery of Milan’s decision to release him in the summer of 2011 by flourishing alongside the dynamic duo of Claudio Marchisio and Arturo Vidal.
CHANGES
While the free transfer of Pirlo proved one of the most important in Juve’s history, the acquisitions of Lichtsteiner (€10m) and Vidal (10.5m) from Lazio and Bayer Leverkusen, respectively, also turned out to be absolute steals.
Milan also did some decent business, picking up Philippe Mexes from Roma on a free and taking Alberto Aquilani on loan from Liverpool, while Palermo’s Antonio Nocerino proved one of the revelations of the season.
Having also unsurprisingly taken up their option to sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a permanent basis from Barcelona for €24m, the Swedish striker proved money well spent.
Inter’s market did not go quite so well, which contributed to Gian Piero Gasperini’s early difficulties. The Nerazzurri pocketed €27m from the sale of Samuel Eto’o to Anzhi Makhachkala but they squandered it on the likes of Ricky Alvarez (€11.9m), Jonathan (€2.9m) and Diego…
Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/conte-returns-to-make-juventus-unbeatable-serie-a-in-2011-12/98
Author : editors@footballcritic.com (Martin Macdonald)
Publish date : 2024-07-31 14:00:00
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