Spalletti: ‘Birthday gift I want from Juventus, fans our real barometer’
Luciano Spalletti outlined what he wants from Juventus on his birthday as they host Pisa in Serie A and explains why ‘the fans are our best barometer’ of form more than statistics.
It kicks off at the Allianz Juventus Stadium in Turin at 19.45 GMT (20.45 CET).
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from today’s Serie A games on the Liveblog.
Today is coach Spalletti’s 67th birthday, so he is hoping for a gift not only on the field, but also potentially off it with a contract extension beyond June 30.
“I’ve had birthdays all over the world and with very different people, because I am at my age now very experienced with having birthdays.
“I am happy to spend this one here with my players, and seeing as they didn’t give me a present, I’d love to have a picture of them singing at the final whistle with our fans, celebrating,” Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia.
Juventus are fighters under Spalletti
The Bianconeri have been impressing the supporters with their sheer determination lately, fighting back repeatedly from almost impossible situations, but that hasn’t necessarily translated to results.
They are out of the Champions League and Coppa Italia, scraping only two points from the last four Serie A matches, including the epic comeback from 3-1 down to hold Roma 3-3.
“When you look at the statistics, it’s about numbers, but not how those numbers arrived. The fact the fans are so close to us at this moment, despite not bringing home the results, that means we sent signals. They are our best barometer.
“We’ve got to win every game first within ourselves, and then on the field. This match tests you, and seeing as I am dealing with intelligent lads, I know they feel that, because these are the games that seem easy and really aren’t. This is not about the future, it’s about the details of every match, your mentality, self-discipline moment by moment, not looking too far into the future.”
Federico Gatti scored the last-gasp equaliser against Roma and is rewarded with a place in defence today, while Manuel Locatelli returns from suspension, but Michele Di Gregorio is again dropped in favour of Mattia Perin.
“With Perin, I didn’t want to keep chopping and changing, so I told them that we’d give Di Gregorio time off and a chance for Perin to have a run of games. We’ll see from the next game what happens.”
Despite still being out injured, Dusan Vlahovic is on the touchline talking to his teammates. Will he be available for next week?
“As for Vlahovic, you know more than me,” smiled Spalletti.