Guglielmo Vicario was the first Juventus player to speak publicly after the Lazio defeat — at the microphone on DAZN, and then again in the formal press conference. He has done this before: after Sassuolo in September he stepped forward and showed his face when others did not. He did it again here, and on both occasions the substance of what he said was consistent with the character Buffon described when endorsing his signing: a guarantee of serenity, the voice of steady institutional values in the eye of a storm.
“There Is No Need for Buck-Passing — Responsibilities Must Be Divided Equally”
The opening line sets the tone and distinguishes Vicario’s approach from Bremer’s. Where the captain pointed, even obliquely, at specific character failures among younger or newer players, Vicario explicitly declined that framing: “There is no need for buck-passing — responsibilities must be divided equally.” It is not a contradiction of what Bremer said. It is a different emphasis on what the response should look like.
“Clinging to Excuses Is Not in My Thinking and It Is Not Juventus”
The passage that contains the article’s headline logic: “The analyses we will do with the manager, because the performance was below the required level. Clinging to excuses is not in my thinking and it is not Juventus. The schedule will be like this all year and we must find a direction and a path to performing. This is what the history of this shirt demands. This was a negative evening — if we perform like this we cannot expect anything. We must take our responsibilities and show our faces.”
Three layers in a single short statement. The first is personal: excuses are not in his character. The second is institutional: they are not consistent with the Juventus identity. The third is practical: the fixture list is not going to get easier, and the only available response is to find a way to perform within it. Cagliari’s Accardi called him “top” in the first week of September. Buffon called him a “guarantee of serenity.” This is what both meant.
“Not Everyone Manages Emotions the Same Way — We Must Find the Best Situation for All”
In the press conference, a third chapter elaborates on what must change in the dressing room: “What must prevail? We must become aware of the things that need to be fixed. We must follow the path the manager lays out. Not everyone manages their emotions in the same way, so we must find the best situation for everyone — and we will do that as a group. Time is short. On Wednesday we are back on the pitch.”
The acknowledgement that not everyone processes these moments identically — that emotional management is a personal and a collective challenge simultaneously — is the most sophisticated element of Vicario’s post-match. It mirrors Spalletti’s own observation about “young players who let themselves fall at the first shove” without singling individuals out, and frames the solution as collective rather than individual. Find the best situation for everyone. Wednesday against Rennes is the first opportunity.
