The next chapter in Turin
The Old Lady has had a busy summer indeed. Things have been shaken up at Juventus in a big way, not least with the arrival of Maurizio Sarri in place of long-serving former manager Massimiliano Allegri.
Sarri represents another stage of the sea change that Juve chief Andrea Agnelli is dead set on implementing. The Turin side have grown comfortable within their domestic walls, having claimed the last eight Serie A titles in a row but have failed to make an impact in Europe.
First came the change of badge for brand awareness, then last season marked the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the club’s biggest ever signings. A statement of intent.
Now as Serie A is about to get underway, the most successful club in Italy has strengthened its ranks considerably. Enter midfielders Aaron Ramsey and Adrien Rabiot from Arsenal and PSG, while Danilo, Luca Pellegrini and Matthijs de Ligt strengthen defence.
On paper, Juventus have arguably the world’s best squad, with the ability to field two full-strength starting lineups.
If that isn’t enough, the anticipation surrounding how Sarri’s philosophy will be implemented in Turin, and whether he can work with Ronaldo, has got the press going wild. Everyone is watching and waiting to see whether Juventus can take the next step toward European glory or if they’ll fall flat on their face. Watch this space.
Just how adaptable are Atleti?
Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona will always dominate the gossip columns and the headlines, but there’s been a major shakeup over in the red and white half of Madrid.
Since manager Diego Simeone took over in 2011 he’s turned an underachieving and largely cast aside Atlético into a club that demands respect. The club is still light on silverware but now they consistently challenge the giants of European football season after season.
Now Simeone faces his biggest task yet. Several key players that have provided the stability and tenacity Atlético have been built on have left, all at once.
Defenders Diego Godin, Lucas Hernandez and Felipe Luis have left their defence in tatters. While emerging midfielder Rodri has been shipped off to City the biggest loss is perhaps star player Antoine Griezmann to Catalan rivals Barcelona.
Nevertheless, Atlético and Simeone have remained cool. They’ve acquired arguably the next colossus of world football in Portuguese Joao Felix from Benfica. For a cool £113 million, the teenager already looks to be lighting fires.
Other arrivals include Kieran Trippier looking for a fresh start, as well as Brazilian defenders Felipe and Renan Lodi.
Atletico recruit smartly and they’ve already impressed in preseason with Simeone adopting a surprisingly uncharacteristic expansive and attacking style.
As last year’s runners up Simeone and his squad are serious about challenging for the title this season with the odds quite generous at 14/1 for a side with a serious chance. If you fancy backing Los Rojiblancos consult a guide to the best betting sites for football to find the best welcome bonus before you place a bet.
The question on everyone’s lips is if Simeone will adapt to life without his old guard and stick a more expansive form of football seen in preseason. It’s possible that venturing into unknown territory might just reap rewards.
Borussia want their Bundesliga back
It looked like Borussia Dortmund had finally gone and done it last season. Die Borussen were in absolutely blistering form in the first half of the season, while usually indomitable rivals Bayern struggled under new manager Nico Kovac.
Following a string of unfortunate draws, form started to slip as a resurgent Bayern eventually pipped them to post. But now Dortmund have the experience of a title fight under their belts and their youthful but hungry squad knows what to expect.
On top of that, they’ve made some shrewd reinforcements across the pitch. Academy product and World Cup winner Mats Hummels has returned home, while attackers Julian Brandt and Thorgan Hazard have been successfully poached from domestic rivals.
Lucien Favre’s arrival from France at the beginning of last season was cast in doubt by many but he’s reinvigorated a Dortmund side that was still mourning the loss of Jürgen Klopp some years before.
Dortmund have all the right ingredients to take back the Bundesliga from the grip Bayern have held over it. They stand the best chance of any team in Europe of upsetting the apple cart this season.
Life after the exodus
Ajax go into the Eredivisie on a high following their phenomenal last term. A league and cup double as well as a semi-final finish in the Champions League was a statement to world football that Ajax should still be taken seriously.
Their prolific form in the Champions League, seeing off the likes of Juventus and Real Madrid, alerted the world to their newest and brightest talents. But such is the nature of the modern game means two of their key players have departed Dutch shores.
Captain Matthijs de Ligt, an academy product, born and bred Ajax, and a club captain at 19 has left for Juventus. Coupled with midfield playmaker and fellow youth product Frenkie de Jong making his way to Barcelona and they’ve not just lot two mercurial talents, but the backbone of their side.
The club is at a crossroads, and the realities of their position are not only accepted but embraced by the likes of chief executive Edwin van der Sar. They know and ultimately expect their talent to leave at some point. This gives the Dutch side a remarkable resilience that will have football fans’ interest peaked this season.
Nobody is expecting Ajax to repeat the feats of their last campaign, but they’re definitely worth a watch to see how they cope with this transition.
The club have ensured that key figures such as David Neres and Hakim Ziyech remain on their roster, while de Ligt’s replacement Lisandro Magallán already looks more than capable. Be on the lookout for emerging talents that Ajax still have to blood through.
The second coming of Leonardo Jardim
You only have to cast your eyes back just three years for Monaco’s last successful championship-winning season. So far they remain the only club to have successfully broken PSG’s stranglehold on Ligue Un since the Qatari take over in 2011 that changed the face of French football forever.
It’s true, the circus has been entrenched in the capital for some time now. The show not only demands attention but it also detracts from elsewhere in French football.
That championship-winning side of 2016-17 bears very little resemblance to the Monaco of today. It was that team that birthed the stellar rise of a number of careers that have gone onto greener pastures. The likes of Fabinho, Benjamin Mendy, Thomas Lemar, Bernardo Silva and Kylian Mbappé all cut their teeth at Monaco.
Coach Leonardo Jardim who oversaw their title-winning season was eventually given the boot. Cue a gradual purging of their championship-winning talent, a misguided, disastrous, but albeit short-lived appointment of Thierry Henry and Jardim is now back in the driving seat.
Jardim managed to fix the broken vase that was Monaco last season, but it wasn’t a pretty job. The tape holding the cracks together lasted insofar as avoiding relegation by a mere two points.
Monaco are a strange outfit to say the least. Their current squad is a mixture of older talents who are winding down their careers such as Cesc Fabregas and Radamel Falcao. While younger players who have yet to establish themselves such as await the seal of approval.
The component parts of their squad simply haven’t fit together well, yet, but the potential is definitely there.
It’s been a turbulent couple of years for Monaco and we wait to see if Jardim can piece it all back together and stage their rise to the top of French football once more. It won’t happen overnight but it will be interesting to see how they make progress.
Adam Grimshaw // @adamgeorgie
