If Luciano Spalletti\u2019s first two games as Juventus manager have shown us anything, it\u2019s that he\u2019s been able to unlock a few things when it comes to this team\u2019s previously frustrating chance creation issues.<\/p>\n
The finishing of those chances, though? That\u2019s still a problem.<\/p>\n
Juventus outshot Sporting CP by nearly a 5-to-1 margin on Tuesday night, with half of the Bianconeri\u2019s 18 shots in the game being on goal. The problem was, you combine some relatively poor finishing with an opposing goalkeeper making a couple of world-class kinds of saves, and you get what Spalletti got in his second game in charge \u2014 a frustrating day at the office. Juventus should have beaten Sporting with how much they dominated after falling behind all of 12 minutes in. That turned out to be Sporting\u2019s only shot on goal of the night, but Juventus couldn\u2019t take advantage of their superior advantage in scoring opportunities, recording a 1-1 draw against the Portuguese side, their third result of that kind through their first four Champions League league phase fixtures.<\/p>\n
But hey, after starting the night in 25th place and completely out of the play-off positions, Juve are all the way up to \u2026 drum roll, please! \u2026 23rd in the league phase table.<\/p>\n
Sooooooooooooooooo \u2026 progress?!<\/p>\n
There is certainly progress being made in the attacking phase under Spalletti. There\u2019s faster movement, there\u2019s more chances being created and just the overall prospects when it comes to Juve creating things feels much better than they did in the final games of the Igor Tudor experience. But, the catch as has been the case with previous Juventus managers, is just how many of those chances will they will actually socre. It didn\u2019t matter if it was Dusan Vlahovic, Kenan Yildiz, Chico Concei\u00e7\u00e3o, Jonathan David or Khephren Thuram, Juve\u2019s ability to finish chances against Sporting was a letdown on top of a little unlucky.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because on a night in which Juve should have probably have two or three goals, it was only Vlahovic who was able to find the back of the net \u2014 and that was only after he saw his first three attempts on goal either go wide or get thwarted by Sporting keeper Rui Silva.<\/p>\n
So positive signs, yes. But also some lingering frustrating ones that a coach may or may not be able to actually change for the better as time goes on.<\/p>\n
That was always going to be the catch with Spalletti coming in and being hired in the middle of a hectic stretch of games where he\u2019s managed two games already and had three or four training sessions at Continassa with his new team. It\u2019s not like he came in during an international break, had a couple of weeks before his debut and then they\u2019re potentially off to the races with their new manager. Instead, it\u2019s a trip to Cremona, a big Champions League fixture where Juve needed to win and then the Turin derby all within the span of a little more than a week. That\u2019s tough or anybody \u2014 even somebody of Spalletti\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n
(Also, Spalletti is the oldest manager to ever coach at Juventus? I didn\u2019t know that before today!)<\/p>\n
This team is looking better in the two games under Spalletti than they had in a long time under Tudor. On the face of it, these sorts of unlucky draws in which you feel like Juventus should have won happen every so often during the course of a season. But knowing Juve\u2019s situation in the Champions League entering the night and how they desperately needed three points, that\u2019s where it\u2019s a hard one to take.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s disappointing with how they responded to falling behind. It\u2019s disappointing with how many chances they created and should have scored. It\u2019s just disappointing this team is its own worst enemy once again \u2014 and that is something Spalletti is going to need all of his coaching experience to try and rectify as time goes on.<\/p>\n
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