The Weekly Take, Issue 125: Just What Is Their Future Direction?

To say that Juventus have had a turbulent off-season would be quite the understatement. Somehow, even in an off-season which was severely truncated by the Covid-19 pandemic, Juve went through more drama than most other clubs would have during an ordinary one.

Not long after the club's elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Lyon, the Turin club fired head coach Maurizio Sarri despite the fact that he had just left Juve to yet another Serie A title after fending off tough challenges from the likes of Lazio, Atalanta, and Inter Milan. Sarri would be replaced by Andrea Pirlo, the legendary midfielder who spent four years at Juventus.

The transfer window also did not go as planned for Juve. They had initially intended to sign Luis Suárez from Barcelona after it emerged that the Uruguayan was deemed surplus to requirements in Catalonia. However, before Suárez could have made the switch, he had to obtain Italian citizenship by passing an Italian exam due to rules governing the signing of players without European Union citizenship. When it turned out that the exam had been rigged, the move fell through; Suárez would end up signing for Atlético Madrid. As Juve felt that they nevertheless needed a striker, they made a last-ditch panic signing and brought in Álvaro Morata on a season-long loan deal from Atlético.

The difficulties and disruptions experienced by Juve during the past several months appear to have translated into their play. They were held to a 2-2 draw against Roma and, as has been the case on many an occasion, were saved from a loss by Cristiano Ronaldo whose two goals matched the brace scored by Roma midfielder Jordan Veretout.

It was evident throughout the match that Juve were nowhere near the level at which they are capable of playing. They seemed disjointed and discombobulated; they showed hardly any evidence of team chemistry. As has been mentioned, much of this is due to the difficult off-season which they had endured.

It should also be noted that the signings which Juve did make were likely not of sufficient benefit to the team. Their signing of Arthur from Barça was almost certainly a massive overpay at €72 million. Although this signing was part of a trade which sent Miralem Pjanić to Camp Nou, Barça sent €60 million to Juve to acquire the services of the Bosnian midfielder - a much more reasonable figure.

The Morata loan signing is also something of a head-scratcher. He has proven that at this level, he just cannot get it done. His career-highs in league goals and total goals in a season are just 15 and 20 respectively; he managed these figures for Real Madrid in the 2016-17 season. Furthermore, he has already proven that he is not suited to the style of play in Serie A; during his previous two-year stint at Juve between 2014 and 2016, he scored just 15 league goals in 63 matches. Although Morata was a signing made out of desperation more than anything else, Juve might have been better served by attempting to sign a striker like Alassane Pléa, Lucas Alario, or Gerard Moreno.

As is often the case when a new coach takes over, it could also take time for Pirlo to fully adjust to his new team and figure out the optimal tactics to be used. Since this is Pirlo's first time in such a position, his lack of experience could be exploited by opposing coaches over the course of the season; this could ultimately prove to be Juve's downfall when all is said and done.

In general, the main problem facing Juve at the moment is that they seem to have no clear direction for both their immediate future as well as the next few season. Ronaldo can't keep saving them again and again; he will be 36 in February. It's a cliché, but it's true - Father Time is undefeated. The "cliff" will come for him at some point; it could even be later this season.

It is certainly possible that they will successfully defend their Serie A title and perhaps even claim the Coppa Italia to seal the domestic double. However, based on the evidence thus far, while it's still far too early to make a complete judgment, a first Champions League title for Juve since 1996 which would also be Ronaldo's sixth appears to be an unlikely prospect at the moment.

The Weekly Take, Issue 124: The Gift that Keeps On Giving

Borussia Dortmund opened the Bundesliga season with an impressive 3-0 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach. Although Erling Håland scored two of Dortmund's goals, the outstanding performance of the match belonged to Giovanni Reyna. Reyna scored one goal, earned a penalty which was converted by Håland, and tormented the Gladbach defense from start to finish.

Dortmund have done it yet again. The brilliance of the Ruhr club's scouting department and youth development program has made itself evident once more. Their track record over the last decade or so has been truly remarkable.

This is a club which has allowed the following players to rise to prominence: Robert Lewandowski, Marco Reus, Mats Hummels, Shinji Kagawa, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Christian Pulisic, Jadon Sancho, and now Håland; Reyna and Jude Bellingham appear to be next in line. The club was also the place where Jürgen Klopp emerged as one of the world's best coaches.

This leads to the question: just what have Dortmund been doing that has put them so far ahead of the curve in this area?

Just as is true of any other football club, it all starts from the top. Reinhard Rauball has done an absolutely incredible job. His emphasis on and investment in young rising stars has become a core part of Dortmund's identity. It is largely thanks to his efforts that many players who cut their teeth at Dortmund have become so coveted by the world's leading clubs.

Dortmund have also always been extremely savvy in the transfer market. Although they might not possess the financial might of rivals Bayern Munich, let alone the wealthiest clubs in the world like Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, Die Schwarzgelbe are almost always able to maximize their limited transfer budget by picking up emerging players from unlikely sources who might often be overlooked by other top clubs.

To provide examples of this fact, Lewandowski was signed from Lech Poznan. Aubameyang was brought in from Saint-Étienne. Håland came to Dortmund from Red Bull Salzburg. Kagawa was signed from Cerezo Osaka.

For a club to have that kind of success from signings made from clubs like those over a sustained period is almost unheard of. Yet somehow, Dortmund have managed to pull it off again and again.

Dortmund's youth academy might very well be the world's best right now. When people think of clubs with some of the best youth academies in the world, those which often come to mind include Ajax, Barcelona, Liverpool, and Manchester United. However, Dortmund's is not only often overlooked - it might very well be the best of the lot.

This factory of talent has produced players such as Pulisic, Sancho, Reus, Marcel Schmelzer, Nuri Sahin, Antonio Rüdiger, and Mario Götze, just to name a few. The success rate of Dortmund's youth academy is truly remarkable. A tremendous amount of credit must be given to youth coordinator Lars Ricken as well as the rest of the academy staff - it is they who in large part have made it a relentless generator of footballing talent.

Another factor which is not often considered but undoubtedly plays a role in Dortmund's success is the culture of the team. The most obvious example of this, however, cannot be seen right now due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Yes, you've guessed it - the iconic "Yellow Wall" t the Westfalenstadion - perhaps the most intimidating home stand in word football. When playing in front of a raucous, almost rabid crowd like that, how could a young player not get a psychological boost?

The fact that the club has always encouraged and promoted the development of young stars as well as players often overlooked has also shaped the club's culture for the better. This is a team which thrives on its culture, and its results over the last 10 years clearly speak for themselves.

Hopefully I am not letting my biases cloud my opinion when I say this, but I honestly believe that Borussia Dortmund are in the top five and perhaps even the top three as far as the best-run football clubs in the world are concerned. Dortmund are truly a club which should serve as a role model for a great many others, and there seems to be no reason why this should end any time soon.

The Weekly Take, Issue 123: Another Tough Season Ahead

Tottenham Hotspur have not begun their Premier League season the way they'd hoped they would.

The North London club lost 1-0 in their season-opening match against a revamped Everton team. Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored the only goal of the match to defeat a Spurs team which was devoid of any real threat throughout proceedings.

After a turbulent 2019-20 season which saw a mid-season coaching change as well as the departure of Christian Eriksen to Inter Milan, many wondered just how Tottenham would fare with an off-season which would be expected to provide the club with a little more stability. However, things did not go as planned off the field.

For one thing, the stability mentioned never materialized. As noted after the Everton match by head coach José Mourinho, the club's pre-season preparations were disrupted by several Covid-19 cases within the team as well as multiple player departures for international matches. This instability and lack of preparation was clearly on display as Tottenham slumped to a tame loss.

Furthermore, Tottenham failed to land any signings of note during the off-season. The biggest name to arrive at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, who was signed from Southampton. Not only did Tottenham fail to adequately replace Eriksen; they did not strengthen their squad at all and even lost Jan Vertonghen to Benfica.

The failure to find a quality replacement for Eriksen in particular has to sting for Tottenham for one key reason: they are coached by Mourinho.

When looking at Mourinho's most successful teams over the course of his coaching career, one feature stands out: they tend to be built around an elite midfielder who is equally comfortable at either the number 8 or number 10 position. Players such as Deco, Frank Lampard, Wesley Sneijder, Mesut Özil, and Luka Modrić come to mind. Eriksen is just such a player and could easily have served as the fulcrum of this Mourinho team just as the names mentioned did.

Making this season even tougher for Tottenham is the fact that the chase for the last two Champions League spots will be very tight. Liverpool and Manchester City should easily finish first and second in the league in some order. However, behind them is a mass of teams which could all easily finish between third and ninth depending on circumstances such as injuries, suspensions, fixture congestion, or even perhaps (but hopefully not) the effects of another season hiatus caused by yet another severe Covid-19 outbreak.

Chelsea and Manchester United will be favoured to once again occupy the final two Champions League berths. Tottenham will also have to fend of challenges from North London rivals Arsenal as well as Leicester, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and the much-improved Everton team which just beat them if they are to return to the biggest stage in European club football next season.

After their surprising run to the Champions League final in 2019, many expected Tottenham to take the next step and become regular contenders for titles both domestically and in Europe. One reason this has not been the case lies in the fact that some of their players have not developed to the degree which had at one point been expected of them.

The likes of Dele Alli, Davinson Sánchez, Eric Dier, and Harry Winks had been expected to make improvements beyond what they have achieved to this date. This is rather disappointing because at that point, Tottenham looked like a team with a bright future and perhaps even a title or more on the horizon. However, this now appears to be a far-off dream.

The biggest worry of all for Tottenham has yet to be realized, but it very well could at the end of this season if things continue as they have: Harry Kane might just leave the club.

Having just started his ninth Premier League campaign as a Tottenham player, the 2018 World Cup Golden Boot winner must surely have become frustrated with constantly being on the outside looking in as far as silverware is concerned. With his club now in decline, another poor season might end up causing him to run out of patience with the club.

It's not really possible to pin down Tottenham's struggles over the past year to any one factor. Players? Coaching? Front office? All have played a role. Right now, the only thing that seems to be certain is that Tottenham are likely to face another difficult season.

The Weekly Take, Issue 122: Still the Team to Beat

When the draw for this season's UEFA Nations League was released, much of the attention turned to the World Cup final rematch between France and Croatia which would take place during the second of two matchdays with which the tournament would commence.

In an interesting coincidence, the match ended with the same scoreline as did their prior encounter in Russia in 2018: France emerged with a 4-2 victory. Antoine Griezmann, Dayot Upamecano, and Olivier Giroud found the back of the net for Les Bleus. France were also assisted by an own goal scored by Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livaković.

This match had been expected to be a hard-fought one between two of world football's powerhouses. However, after Dejan Lovren scored the opening goal of the match for Croatia, France moved into another gear and never looked back from there.

With under a year remaining before the European Championships begin and under two before the World Cup kicks off, it was evident that the reigning world champions are still the team to beat on the international stage. For the vast majority of the match, France dominated a team ranked within the top 10 of FIFA's world rankings and pegged as a possible dark-horse contender at next year's European Championships.

Clearly, France have hardly let up ever since their World Cup victory in 2018. Apart from a surprising slip-up in which they were upset by the Netherlands in the 2019 Nations League, it has generally been smooth sailing for France. What makes this even more impressive is that they might arguably be even better now than they were during their run to the World Cup title two years ago.

Among the players who took to the field in the navy blue jersey at the Stade de France included Wissam Ben Yedder, Anthony Martial, Ferland Mendy, Upamecano, and Clément Lenglet. None of these players were part of France's victorious World Cup squad. Even more remarkable is the fact that every one of these players would represent an upgrade at their respective position if they were to be plugged into the World Cup team.

France's strength in depth was also on display against Croatia. This was a team missing the services of two of its best players in Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappé following the duo's positive Covid-19 tests. As it turned out, France did not miss a beat. Ben Yedder and Steven N'Zonzi seamlessly fit in with the rest of the team as they made the starting lineup in a rare occurrence that only happened due to the unfortunate circumstances. Considering that France easily dispatched a team like Croatia despite not being at full strength, it shows that when they have their full squad at their disposal, they are going to be very difficult to stop.

Furthermore, after a difficult and turbulent season at Barcelona, it appears that Griezmann once again seems to be close to his peak form. Griezmann produced an outstanding performance against Croatia as he reminded everyone why he was the player of the tournament at Euro 2016, the recipient of the Bronze Ball at the 2018 World Cup, and a perennial Ballon d'Or contender at his best. Griezmann scored France's first goal, set up another scored by Upamecano, and was a constant thorn in the flesh of the Croatian defense who had no answer for a player who, if he can bring this form with him back to Catalonia, might be able to successfully take over the mantle of the leader of Barça's attack in the post-Lionel Messi era which could begin at any time.

Of course, it's not as though France will be unchallenged during the tournaments to come. Teams such as Belgium and England, as well as Brazil during the World Cup, will provide stern tests. The likes of Germany, Portugal, and the Netherlands have all either rebuilt or retooled; if they reach their full potential in time for Euro 2021 or the 2022 World Cup, they too could serve as threats to France's supremacy.

That being said, the way France are playing right now, it will take something truly remarkable to deny them a third European Championship title and first since 2000 when the tournament begins next year. Could they even become the first team in 60 years to win back-to-back World Cups? It will be difficult, but if any team could, it surely has to be them.