Fabio Capello needs no introduction in the Juventus story. The manager who won two Scudetti in Turin, and who told Spalletti before Celta Vigo that Kolo Muani and Woltemade should play together, spoke to La Gazzetta dello Sport on the morning of the Napoli match. His answers range from the managerial duel to the club’s identity, and none of them is comfortable for the current regime.
“First of All, the Juventus DNA Must Be Rediscovered”
The opening diagnosis is about character before tactics. “First of all, the Juventus DNA that has been lost must be found again. Hunger, grit, ruthlessness, the result at all costs. You no longer see the spirit that has always distinguished this great club. Juventus is not necessarily about playing well. It is about winning as the only thing that counts.”
The language is the language of Borriello, Vidal and Di Canio, and of Spalletti himself after Genoa. But coming from a manager who built some of the most ruthless Juventus sides of the modern era, it carries a particular weight.
Spalletti at Risk
Asked who is risking more on Sunday, Capello answered without hesitation. “Spalletti. Napoli come off the win over Monza, Juventus off the bad defeat at Marassi. For Luciano this match is fundamental. He has been at Juventus for exactly a year, and in the summer he agreed the transfer market with the directors, so I would have imagined him less in difficulty. Instead…”
The point is a pointed one. It undercuts the argument that Spalletti has been working with a squad he did not choose. In Capello’s reading the summer market was shared, and the responsibility with it.
What Yıldız’s Absence Has Revealed
On the Turkish playmaker’s long injury, Capello offered a diagnosis that reframes the whole season. “The feeling is that with Yıldız’s injury, the problems that were previously hidden by the quality of the number 10 have emerged. Without the Turk’s imagination, the team’s limits have come out. There is no game, no spirit.”
His prescription is blunt. “How do you fix it? By buying Juventus players, and bringing in a few Italians from the youth sector. The Juventus shirt weighs a lot, a bit like Milan’s. These are not clubs for everyone.”
Kolo Muani and Woltemade
On the strikers, Capello stayed with the view he had put to Spalletti before the Europa League trip to Vigo. “Perhaps Kolo Muani will return to scoring. Napoli have brought him luck in the past. I remain of the same idea: Juventus’s strikers perform better in pairs. Kolo Muani seems to me more at ease with Woltemade alongside him. With the greatest respect, though, Woltemade does not even seem to me a relative of the young Ibrahimović.”
It is a mixed message, supporting the pairing but not the player. It sits alongside Moggi’s and Borriello’s more dismissive verdicts on the German this week, and against Woltemade’s three Europa League goals.
Against Allegri
On the managerial matchup, Capello pointed to an imbalance in the pressure. “Max has just arrived and has inherited the team from Antonio. It is heavier for Luciano, who has been at Juventus for a year. I expect a good, intense match. In Napoli’s side I am counting on De Bruyne in the Pirlo style. The level of Allegri’s squad is superior.”
