Charles Ducksbury talks about the season as a whole thus far.
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| Cacciatore gives Verona the lead |
The season was never going to be defined by the Juventus game, defeat was expected and anything gained from the match, even learning from mistakes made during the game, was a positive. To take the lead and to keep Juve to within one goal pleased both the fans and management, even if defeat is never easy to accept. All it took was a set-piece or lucky deflection and we could have left with a draw. But like all small margins in football, many of Juve's 35 efforts could have gone in and it may have finished 6-1. It's important to take what we've learned from the Juve game and move onto more important games like the next two, Torino and at home to Livorno.
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| Moras defends against Llorente |
So what did we learn? For me the most important lesson is that we can defend relatively well against the best team in the league. Last season we dominated games and played at an incredible tempo at times, so to know that we can sit deep but press quickly in the right areas was nice to see. 35 shots do seem a lot, but many were from long range and either went wide or were comfortably saved by Rafael. Moras (much like Rafael when he went from Serie C to B) seems to be more suited to a higher division, playing a very composed game against two giants of world football in Tevez and Llorente. After initially being looked at as a substitute, Moras has become a key defender so far this season.
Six points from the first four games is very acceptable given the high standard of the opponents. Milan, Roma, Sassuolo and Juventus are all tough games at any point in the season for various reasons, never mind them being the first games of the season, four points would have been pleasing, so to win two games is very positive. In my mind the Milan game was a one-off game played with heart and adrenaline, the following three games gave me more of an indication of Verona's capabilities. In many ways, the Roma and Juventus games were similar, we lost concentration after the first goal and within ten minutes were we beaten. This is something Mandorlini will look to address, particularly against the stronger teams in the division.
Looking forward, the next games are Torino (A) Livorno (H) Bologna (A) Parma (H). After playing three sides predicted to finish top 5, now we'll play four teams who are predicted to finish mid-table and below. It's a great opportunity to see where Verona fit into this Serie A table, and although its a cliche, the season starts now for Verona.
