<p>Juve report card: Yildiz irreplaceable, Thuram without limits, Motta disaster</p>

Juventus ' season is over and Tudor has managed to steer the ship to port, achieving qualification for the next Champions League on the last day. After a fairly calm and positive start, there was a shipwreck with Thiago Motta who undermined certainties and enthusiasm within the group. Absences and injuries, especially that of Bremer , certainly did not help but from mid-season onwards, the Italian-Brazilian coach lost the reins of the team and the situation degenerated due to his incomprehensible choices and his lack of empathy with the group.

The shock came with the arrival of the Croatian who brought back that identity so dear to the Juventus fans. It was a fluctuating season, full of ups and downs, but in the end the Champions League objective arrived albeit with some difficulty. A few days and the 10-day transfer window will open to allow the Bianconeri, and not only them, to add some pieces in view of the Club World Cup, in which Tudor himself will lead the Juventus team . In the meantime, however, it is right to give a judgment, player by player, of the year just ended.

WHATSAPP TUTTOSPORT: click here and subscribe now to the new channel, stay updated LIVE

Arriving at Juventus and immediately having to replace an experienced and reliable goalkeeper like Szczesny was no easy task. Yet he was ready, proving to be perhaps one of the best performers in a complex and up-and-down season for the Bianconeri. He showed great personality, confidence and consistency, qualities that are not always found in goalkeepers making their first experience with a big team. His performances also earned him a deserved call-up from Spalletti to the Italian national team , as further confirmation of his value. Di Gregorio proved to be responsive between the posts but there is certainly one aspect on which he must necessarily improve: his exits outside the posts, both low and in the air. The Bianconeri have conceded many headed goals this season and on several occasions have risked conceding a penalty kick also due to the goalkeeper's imprecise exits. His intervention against Venezia was of fundamental importance, with a complicated and decisive save in the first half that kept the team alive. A goalkeeper who can be counted on in the future.

Compared to previous seasons, Perin has had fewer opportunities to play. Both Motta and, above all, Tudor have preferred to give continuity to the starting goalkeeper, even if he has had his opportunities. He has always been a reliable second on the Juventus bench. It is difficult to give a grade to his season, even if when he has played he has never made any serious mistakes, on the contrary. Nine appearances between Serie A and Cups: 8 goals conceded and 3 clean sheets for him. The same goes for Pinsoglio , zero appearances for him who has always remained on the bench to support the team on the pitch and in the locker room. His experience is however important within the group, especially for the younger ones to understand what it means to be at Juve.

Eight seasonal appearances and then the cruciate ligament rupture in his knee on the Champions League night against Leipzig , which effectively ended his season in October. His rating, despite the few games he played, can only be positive and the reason is simple. With him on the pitch, Juve had started well in defense with very few goals conceded and, above all, with his great charisma he knew how to drag the others along. A leader in defense, in addition to the technical qualities and physical abilities that were sorely lacking for the rest of the games. Without his injury, Juventus' season, perhaps, could have been slightly different, in a positive way.

Juventus snatched him from Milan in the last days of the transfer market . The Frenchman arrived at Continassa probably not with such high expectations from the fans and his season has been more than positive. He has shown excellent technical qualities, and good readings at a defensive level. One goal, the one in the draw against Atalanta, and 39 appearances in all competitions, he has kept the Bianconeri defense standing on several occasions. He missed some games due to injury in the central phase of the season and has struggled for this reason to recover the condition of the beginning of the year. Also tarnishing his rating a bit is the episode against Lazio with the red card received for violent conduct and the two-match suspension that made him end his season early.

In terms of temperament, you can't say anything about him. On the pitch he has always given his all, despite some technical limitations. Grit, commitment and a spirit of sacrifice are characteristics that have always distinguished him and that he has put at the disposal of the team on every occasion. His performances, however, have been more than positive because, in one way or another, he has tried to patch up the team's obvious difficulties, demonstrating a great sense of responsibility. In the last two months, due to a fractured fibula, he has practically never been seen , with just 8 minutes in total in the last three matchdays, but his contribution up to that point has never been lacking. His grade is certainly also clearly above the pass mark: that he could have done something more is clear, but the same goes for him as for many other teammates, involved in a season that has been up and down in various aspects.

Among the January signings, he is the one who has been the least convincing in terms of performance. Several lapses in defense and obvious difficulties, especially in moments of greater pressure. Some important errors have cost precious points , such as the marking of Pellegrino in Parma-Juve, but even in other games he has never shown calm and reliability in the defensive department. The general feeling is that he has never managed to fully adapt to the rhythms and needs of the team, often remaining in difficulty both in individual duels and in reading game situations. And the discontent of the Juventus fans with his performances is also justified by his arrival following Danilo's farewell and that perhaps in his place there could have been a certain Huijsen ...

Certainly among the most positive in the second part of the Juventus season. Despite the initial difficulties and the limited time to settle in, he has settled into reality with great desire and great commitment, qualities that are not to be taken for granted considering the dry loan until June 30 ( with the possibility of extending his stay also at the Club World Cup ). He has shown good physical qualities, but also leadership in some situations, often proving to be a point of reference for his teammates. His application in training and in matches has never failed, showing a professionalism that has surprised in a positive way. He was certainly one of the most interesting moves in the January market and the one that has given the most guarantees both from a technical and character point of view.

His season should be read in two distinct phases, because up until the January transfer window he was able to offer more than positive performances, often proving decisive. Two goals and 5 assists in all competitions testify to his good initial impact. Then the decline, noticeable, also due to injuries and a precarious physical condition in the second part of the year, which limited his performance and continuity. The transfer rumors , increasingly insistent, perhaps also affected his mental strength, putting him under pressure in delicate moments of the season. His performance in recent months is a huge disappointment given and considering what he showed in the first half of the season. A season that was ultimately below expectations.

It is difficult to judge his season even if he did not start badly with Thiago Motta in the first games. Used as a left back, he had given encouraging signs, also putting an assist on the scoresheet and showing good push on the wing. Then, however, the outcome of the tests changed everything: a ruptured cruciate ligament and the season ended prematurely already in November . A serious injury, like the one that also occurred to Bremer, which compromised any possibility of continuity and growth during the year. A real shame, because in the first games it seemed he could carve out an important space in the rotations.

Six appearances and few minutes on the pitch. Thiago Motta gave him the chance to make a few appearances in Serie A but during the course of the year he and Tudor have not been used much. A 2004 class player who can certainly grow, but who needs to play consistently.

He too, like others, started very well and was a bit of a surprise in Thiago Motta's rotations. The former Juventus coach sent him onto the pitch right from the first outings of the season, and he responded immediately with great personality, also scoring his first goal in Serie A against Verona. He then repeated himself against Udinese, confirming good offensive skills and an interesting growth. From a defensive point of view, his performances in the first half of the season against Napoli and Milan stand out, matches where Kvaratskhelia and Leao struggled terribly to find the right ideas attacking from his side. As the weeks went by, however, his performances and playing time began to decline, mainly due to various physical problems. He still closed the season with 37 appearances in all competitions, an important statistic for a young player at his first real experience at a high level. A few smudges at the end slightly tarnished his path, but nothing that cannot be corrected. Furthermore, he has come under the watchful eye of Guardiola and Manchester City .

He arrived as a mystery in the January transfer market. He was excluded from the Champions League list and therefore, for him, the opportunities to show off were increasingly fewer. Motta practically never gave him space, but in the final stages, also thanks to some absences in the defensive department, he showed that he has good shots and can be an interesting backup especially if used in his role as right back. Great offensive drive, he can improve in coverage but has room for growth. It was not easy for him to immediately fit into a different and struggling context.

After a difficult season from a personal point of view last year, a true rebirth for him. From Thiago Motta to Igor Tudor the music has not changed: he has represented the linchpin of the Juventus midfield, combining quality and quantity. But above all never losing that attachment that he showed even in the last match, taking the responsibility of kicking the decisive penalty for the Champions League and converting it perfectly. After the waltz of captains with Motta, since the arrival of Tudor onwards his leadership has been awarded the armband, a testimony to how important his role is on the pitch and in the Juventus locker room. Decisive in the last match with the penalty kicked , with great coolness and personality, in the victory of the 'Penzo' in Venice.

If several players who arrived in the last two transfer sessions have failed to meet expectations, the Frenchman is certainly not one of them. Arriving on tiptoe and with great humility , as the games went by he made it clear what he is capable of, becoming increasingly essential in the Juventus tactical chessboard. If in the first part of the season his ownership was intermittent due to Thiago Motta's crazy thinking, in the hot phase he became simply very important, with Tudor who never took him off the pitch. Combining physique and quality, as well as a strong tactical intelligence and ability in insertions , is not for everyone. A significant second half of the championship for his growth, with the feeling that despite the excellent performance there is still ample room for improvement. The sense of goal is there, but it can be enhanced more.

Five goals (including the spectacular one against Empoli in the Coppa Italia defeat) and six assists (numbers that not even Pogba had managed to reach in his debut season at Juve) sensational numbers if you consider the difficult context in which he was placed and the management of Thiago who had even managed to limit his growth.

He undoubtedly represents one of the great disappointments of the Bianconeri season. Arriving from an excellent season in the Premier League at Aston Villa , he seemed to be the new linchpin of the Juventus midfield: physicality and ability to set up the team were the qualities for which he was purchased in an overall very expensive operation. However, things have taken a decidedly different turn: inconsistency and physical ailments have affected his season, which has never seen real positive peaks. An experience, up to now, that has been anything but unforgettable, and also spiced up by the footballer's social controversies at the end of the year which in any case have not helped.

As often happened in the last transfer sessions, his permanence seemed utopian, and instead, having remained also this year, he has proven to be an essential element. Not only for his well-known qualities in the insertions, but also in terms of leadership and tactical versatility. In a season in which the infirmary has often been full, he has never skimped on commitment even in the areas of the pitch in which he is not used to playing, but always with the same self-denial. And in fact, after a long negotiation, his contract extension with the club now seems imminent .

Arriving as the spearhead of the summer transfer market, he was perhaps the biggest disappointment of the season. A very important investment, legitimate after the great year at Atalanta in terms of goals and performances and with a Europa League win. The iron will then to move to Juve, succeeding after an exhausting negotiation. But perhaps the weight of expectations, together with the tactical enigma, did not allow him to express himself in the best way. Both as an attacking midfielder in the 4-2-3-1 (in a central position or on the right side) and as a midfielder in the 2 in front of the defense, but also as a mezzala in the 4-3-3: in the various tactical contexts he never managed to live up to the fame that preceded him. If we also consider that as soon as he was managing to find his identity on the pitch he stopped, ending the season a month early due to a new injury, his seasonal evaluation can only be very low.

His qualities are unquestionable, so much so that he was immediately brought into the rotation circle in the first team, with a debut in the Champions League. But between some physical problems and the inexperience of age, it was then decided to let him accumulate experience in Next Gen, where he soon proved to be decidedly out of category with plays and pearls of another calibre. The impossibility of playing the playoffs with the U23 brought him back to the first team, where he tried to shine in the snippets of the match played. A year perhaps not very profitable in terms of minutes played in the first team, but certainly fruitful in terms of growth and maturation process. A little gem for the future, we are talking about a 2006 class, certainly a player with a future for Juventus .

If last season was the year of his inclusion in the first team, the one just ended was definitely the year of his transformation into a fixed point. He has absorbed the responsibility of the number 10 on his shoulders without great anxiety. Some legitimate and understandable ups and downs given his young age, as well as some naivety such as the expulsion he received at the end of the championship against Monza and which cost him two rounds of disqualification. But the difference between when Yildiz is there and when he isn't has become evidently tangible. Even in a difficult match like the last one in Venice, it is him, with one of his plays that became a goal, who lifts the fortunes of the match, giving the go-ahead to the black and white comeback. The margins for growth remain very wide, both for performances and for the statistics of goals and assists, but the growing awareness combined with his qualities already make it clear what kind of footballer he can become. And in any case, his impact has already been evident in the immediate future.

And we must also take into account the fact that Motta changed his position and tasks on the pitch several times: first high on the left, then on the right, always trapping him between various defensive responsibilities and schemes that practically no one understood. Tudor gave him back a freedom on the pitch that definitely paid off. Unforgettable night of the year? Certainly the one at San Siro against Inter: his entrance turned the game around, seeing the Bianconeri come back, thanks to his brace, from 4-2 to 4-4: 2 goals in 10 minutes for a dream evening, a 10 night for Juve.

One of the most welcome surprises of the season. Despite the various changes of position, he has shown a concreteness that he had rarely shown in the past, in addition to his usual versatility from a tactical point of view . The American has also shown a ballistic ability that is far from trivial, finding the way to goal 6 times between the championship and the Champions League. Some physiological ups and downs in terms of performance, but his reliability has been one of the certainties of a season that has not always been easy for the Bianconeri. The goals against Inter, Milan and Turin do not go unnoticed given what those matches represent, while the goals against Como in the first match of the championship and against PSV in the Champions League are of rare beauty.

Vlahovic's season was decidedly dull. The first part of the season was as the only forward reference for Juventus, as there were no alternatives for the first striker in the squad. The difficulties in fitting into the playing context required by Thiago Motta were evident. Yet from a scoring point of view, there was no shortage of goals in the Champions League and the league in the first few months, including a goal at San Siro against Inter. But it was clear that something wasn't going right. First the words in the national team referring to Thiago, then physical problems and a drop in performance that made the arrival of Kolo Muani necessary to bolster the forward department.

The former coach's preference for the Frenchman was clear. From there, a vortex of negativity and few appearances that could not be completely reversed even with the arrival of Igor Tudor, who had shown great faith in him. Complicating everything was the intricate contractual issue. It was also a very difficult season for another centre-forward, Milik : his return from injury seemed, from time to time, imminent. And instead the season came to an end without ever seeing the Pole available to the team.

A championship with two faces for the Portuguese winger. His qualities immediately seemed invaluable in the team context: dribbling in tight spaces, vision of the game and venom in the penalty area. He scored a few important goals (see the one that allowed the Bianconeri to win at the Allianz Stadium against Inter, but also the goal against Leipzig in the Champions League). But as the games went by, some shortcomings emerged in terms of concreteness, proving to be a player who is difficult for opposing defenses to mark but also a bit vague and not always incisive. All of this is part of a normal growth and maturation process at 22 years old. But if the start of the season seemed to leave zero doubts regarding the redemption from Porto, the question now seems more uncertain . But he can certainly be a weapon to start again also on the occasion of the Club World Cup.

Inserted into the first team by Thiago Motta, he surprised everyone right away with his impact among the big names. Zero awe, great confidence in his own abilities and effectiveness on the pitch. After all, his debut against Como in the first match of the championship was a dream, with goals and assists, in addition to two winning passes in the following match against Hellas. With the market closed and the gradual introduction of new purchases, the space has decreased, with some understandable ups & downs. Yet he has shown, in a difficult season, personality and considerable ballistic qualities. In addition to this, he has shown the ability to score goals in important matches, as demonstrated by the goals against Bologna and Milan. His journey is at the beginning, but the premises are excellent: it is no coincidence that Mbangula has attracted the attention of several teams .

One of the main moves of the summer market as far as the forward department is concerned, from which much more was expected. An investment both in economic terms and in terms of role on the pitch: after all, the Argentine arrived in Turin after an excellent year in Florence. His performance was partly conditioned by a tactical positioning that was not really suited to his characteristics, being deployed several times in the non-preferred lane when Thiago Motta was on the bench.

A bit of inconsistency, too few flashes of great football spiced up by some important goals . In numerical terms (so goals and assists) not the season that was expected. But he has shown how the qualities shown in Florence are concrete, especially when he started playing on his favorite side again (i.e. the right, being able to come back on the left), and with his personal statistics that have in fact improved. More continuity is definitely needed to become a fixed point of this Juve.

Arriving in the January market, the impact was devastating. Five goals scored in the first three league games, followed by the beautiful and precious assist against Inter for Conceicao's goal. For him too, like many Juventus protagonists, there was a period of games played with conviction and tenacity followed by some less positive ones. At the end of the season, his score was eight goals and two assists in 23 appearances in all competitions. A fairly positive trend, however, with some decisive goals such as the brace in Como or the recent goals against Lazio and Venezia. Fundamental for obtaining a place in the next Champions League. And now the doors of the Club World Cup with the Bianconeri are opening for him .

A total disaster on the Juventus bench, especially in light of the brilliant work done with Bologna the previous season. But leading a top-tier club like the Bianconeri is a completely different thing, both because of the pressure and the management of a more complex dressing room. The start had been encouraging and had made one think of a positive year, with a proactive team and convincing results. For a certain period, in fact, the project seemed to be working. Then, however, darkness arrived: the first difficulties, internal tensions and a dressing room that began to show obvious cracks, reflecting negatively on the pitch. Too many points lost against teams within reach, too many wasted opportunities. Decisive, in a negative way, was that black week with the elimination from the Champions League at the hands of PSV and the unexpected defeat in the Coppa Italia against Empoli. From then on, he lost the trust of the club, fans and team. Then the terrible defeats against Atalanta (0-4 at the Stadium, never happened before) and Fiorentina (0-3 in Florence in a match without history). In the end, the separation was like the only possible, inevitable solution to turn the page.

His arrival was immediately greeted with great enthusiasm by the fans, also thanks to his emotional bond with the club and his past as a Juventus player. A return that brought with it a breath of fresh air and, above all, a strong sense of belonging. He immediately demonstrated great attachment to the shirt, transmitting to the players the values ​​and identity of the so-called "Juve DNA" . He was able to instill confidence in the group, intervening on a mental as well as tactical level, and he turned the style and way of playing upside down. His approach represented a clear change compared to that of Thiago Motta: more concreteness, more balance and an emotional imprint capable of rekindling enthusiasm.

The switch to a three-man defense was a bulwark in the total emergency of absences and obvious difficulties of the team. The results were not long in coming, as were the performances, often convincing. However, there were some missteps, the most sensational without a doubt that of Parma, but overall the balance is more than positive . In the end he succeeded in the main objective and not at all obvious given the " deep hole " he found upon his arrival: bring Juventus back to fourth place and therefore to the Champions League, restoring a minimum of stability in a complicated year.