In the often-heated discourse surrounding football tactics and team building, legendary manager Fabio Capello recently offered a characteristically pragmatic perspective on Juventus`s outlook for the upcoming campaign. While the focus of fan dreams and media speculation frequently orbits around glamorous attacking players, Capello, a man whose career is built on defensive discipline and tactical rigidity, pointed firmly towards the backline as the potential difference-maker.
Speaking on the club`s offensive options, Capello acknowledged the positive impact of young forward Kenan Yildiz. He highlighted the Turkish international as a significant positive factor, appreciated by the club, the team, and the fans. Capello sees Yildiz as a reference point who finished the recent season strongly and is poised for potential consolidation and reaffirmation next year. A positive note, certainly, but notably not where Capello sees the *real* impact being made.
Asked about other attacking potentials, Capello offered a more measured response, emphasizing that managerial evaluation is key. This brief detour merely underscored his larger point: the attack, while important for selling tickets and inspiring chants, is secondary when discussing championship aspirations through his lens.
Capello then pivoted to what he considers the undeniable truth of title contention. While fans might “dream with the attack,” the “reality,” as he put it with typical directness, is that championships are overwhelmingly won by teams with the best defenses. His reasoning is simple and stark: “If you are not solid at the back, you don`t go anywhere. All the rest is just talk.” A sentiment delivered with the authority of a man who built dominant teams on impenetrable defenses.
And this is where, according to Capello, Juventus holds a significant, perhaps underappreciated, advantage already within their ranks. The “real difference,” he asserted, will come from the return of Gleison Bremer after his recent injury and the full recovery of Federico Gatti. Capello views these two players achieving peak fitness and form not merely as recuperations, but as acquiring “two reinforcements of this caliber already in the house for such an important department as the defense.”
It`s a perspective that cuts through the noise of transfer rumors and attacking flair. For Capello, Juventus possesses the core ingredients for defensive solidity with Bremer and Gatti healthy. This internal strength in a critical area, in his view, is a factor Juventus must not underestimate and is far more significant for title ambitions than any individual attacker`s brilliance alone. A seasoned reminder that sometimes, the most impactful signings are the players returning to full strength.