Juventus, Tudor: Vlahovic ‘more focused’, ‘no rotation’ for Di Gregorio

Juventus coach Igor Tudor feels Dusan Vlahovic is ‘more focused’ and insists he won’t rotate in goal against Hellas Verona as Michele Di Gregorio will be the first-choice keeper ‘all season.’

Tudor spoke at a press conference on Friday on the eve of a Serie A match against Hellas Verona.

The Bianconeri visit the Bentegodi on the back of a 4-3 win over Inter in Serie A and a 4-4 draw against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.

Verona vs Juventus: Tudor’s press conference

“Two matches are behind us and forgotten. The focus is entirely on the next game; there are no excuses. We need to play a great, serious match,” Tudor said via Ilbianconero.com.

“If we play at 100% and we impose ourselves, we can win. If we drop 90% we struggle against anyone. We need an extraordinary performance to achieve what we want, with no excuses.”

Juventus are still unbeaten this season, and Tudor is not worried about the seven goals conceded in the last two matches.

“When we talk about goals conceded, you need to look at the context,” he argued.

“If it ends 4-4 or 4-3, it’s a different concept than 3-0. There’s no point in overanalysing. We need to understand the meaning of the match. A 4-3 win against Inter is great; a 4-4 draw against Borussia Dortmund is good. They are two top-level European sides.”

Goalkeeper Di Gregorio has been criticised following the Inter and Borussia games, but Tudor has complete trust in the Italian keeper.

Tudor won’t replace Di Gregorio

“There’s no rotation. Di Gregorio is a really good goalkeeper; he’s made almost no mistakes,” said the Juventus coach.

“He will be the first-choice keeper all year because he’s strong. I watch a lot of matches, and in every game I see goalkeepers making mistakes. I don’t see those mistakes from my goalkeeper. I’m very happy with him. Out of the seven goals conceded, Di Gregorio was only slightly involved in one.”

Dusan Vlahovic, on the other hand, has scored four goals as a substitute and is the best Juventus scorer this term.

Tudor: Vlahovic is ‘more focused’

“He’s less worried and more focused. That’s important for him; being clear-headed about what he has to do, when he’s like that, is an essential detail for him,” Tudor said.

Lastly, the Juventus boss discussed his team’s recent comebacks.

“I’m always surprised, because every match confirms what you want to achieve. It’s like a living organism that must be sensed every day, every hour. Then you get these two matches, it’s sometimes inexplicable, uncontrollable,” he concluded.

“Then there’s the international break, a match two days later, and many factors you can’t control. But desire and mentality are things we carry within, and we have to maintain them.”

• More from Tudor’s press conference – Kelly: Juventus coach Tudor defends ex-Newcastle defender ‘unfair judgment’