Tweet
With the upcoming season just hours away, we have a special 1 on 1 interview with Juventus head coach Andy Banks.
In this interview we'll discuss the clubs' pre season, their opening fixtures and Banks' expectations for the season ahead.
Firstly we'll take a look at the comings and goings at the club:
In:
Simakan 23 fra 1 21 18 7 28 1 117 10 907
T_Nianzou 22 fra 1 20 17 6 28 1 473 342 581
C_Lukeba 20 fra 1 19 17 3 30 1 499 111 943
J_Timber 22 ned 1 20 17 5 27 1 117 704 32 (Will join the club on Friday)
Out:
S_Botman 23 ned 1 20 16 6 26 1 492 361 340
J_Sutalo 23 cro 1 20 17 7 29 1 399 74 929
C_Lukeba 20 fra 1 19 17 3 30 1 499 111 943
J_Branthwaite 22 eng 1 18 15 3 28 1 557 656 429
J_Forlin 34 arg 1 17 15 9 33 1 376 285 255 (On loan at Ajax)
Interviewer:
A busy pre season for yourself I see? What do you have to say on it?
AB:
You're right, usually we are very quiet in the transfer market, however this time we've been able to bring in a number of players who'll improve us in the right areas.
Our backline has been out weak link in recent seasons and despite us being very good defensively last season, we had to improve and improve we did with the likes of Simakan, Timber & Nianzou.
We were fortunate in the pre season auction to be able to bring in Lukeba and with the deal we've agreed with Bayern, J_Timber cost us a little under £65,000,000 which is an absolute steal.
Interviewer:
You mentioned a busy pre season, were you too busy for the pre season tournament?
AB:
We have no interest in playing friendlies, look at who won the competitions...clearly not many teams took it seriously so there isn't any point in entering.
Interviewer:
Looking ahead at the opening week of fixtures for your Juventus team:
AC Milan (H)
Galatasaray (A)
Sporting Lisbon (A)
A tough start wouldn't you say?
AB:
A very tough start in the league, and if we want to achieve what we plan to, then we must start strong. With AC bringing in a new manager for the first time in years, they'll be looking to make an impact in the league this season and with the squad that they have, they certainly have the ability to do that.
We'll still be favourites at home, but AC have the strength throughout their team to cause us problems and we'll have to prepare ourselves for that.
Moving onto the trip to Galatasaray, playing an unmanaged 3rd tier team SHOULD be a walk in the park but if football has taught me anything, it's to expect the unexpected so we'll not be taking them lightly and we'll prepare the lads just like we would for a trip to an EFL 1 team.
We'll then stay on the road as we travel to Lisbon to face Sporting. Another team with a new manager in Cheyenne Hollis.
Lisbon finished 2nd a couple of seasons ago under Gary Windebank for a reason, the team is very strong even if it is on the older side and with Hollis at the helm they'll no doubt be firing on all cylinders.
That being said, we have the confidence to go into Lisbon and leave with 3 points but we'll take things 1 game at a time as we always do.
Interviewer:
What are your expectations for the season?
AB:
For ourselves it's pretty simple. To improve upon last season in any areas we can. Now, we finished 3rd however we don't expect to improve or even replicate that./
Real Madrid had an off season, which seems to be the cycle under Talbot. Poor season followed by winning the league. There doesn't seem to be an inbetween. So 4th would be a good achievement for us with the likes of FC Barcelona & Atletico Madrid up there with us in terms of quality.
We're back in the Champions League and after our dismal performance in the competition last time we have some things to put right. Starting with Uncle Fester in Leeds.
In terms of a target in this competition I'm going to set the bar high and target the semi finals but we could go all the way if we put the work in.
The EFL Cup is where it's the luck of the draw that can make or break things for you but we know we have the quality to beat anyone on our day so we'll be looking to win the competition as I'm sure many others will be doing.
In terms of other targets and goals for the season, we need to be more clinical against the teams at the bottom end of the table and smarter/better vs the teams at the top and around us. Good results in those games vs poor results could be the difference between 4th and finishing below Inter Milan.
In this interview we'll discuss the clubs' pre season, their opening fixtures and Banks' expectations for the season ahead.
Firstly we'll take a look at the comings and goings at the club:
In:
Simakan 23 fra 1 21 18 7 28 1 117 10 907
T_Nianzou 22 fra 1 20 17 6 28 1 473 342 581
C_Lukeba 20 fra 1 19 17 3 30 1 499 111 943
J_Timber 22 ned 1 20 17 5 27 1 117 704 32 (Will join the club on Friday)
Out:
S_Botman 23 ned 1 20 16 6 26 1 492 361 340
J_Sutalo 23 cro 1 20 17 7 29 1 399 74 929
C_Lukeba 20 fra 1 19 17 3 30 1 499 111 943
J_Branthwaite 22 eng 1 18 15 3 28 1 557 656 429
J_Forlin 34 arg 1 17 15 9 33 1 376 285 255 (On loan at Ajax)
Interviewer:
A busy pre season for yourself I see? What do you have to say on it?
AB:
You're right, usually we are very quiet in the transfer market, however this time we've been able to bring in a number of players who'll improve us in the right areas.
Our backline has been out weak link in recent seasons and despite us being very good defensively last season, we had to improve and improve we did with the likes of Simakan, Timber & Nianzou.
We were fortunate in the pre season auction to be able to bring in Lukeba and with the deal we've agreed with Bayern, J_Timber cost us a little under £65,000,000 which is an absolute steal.
Interviewer:
You mentioned a busy pre season, were you too busy for the pre season tournament?
AB:
We have no interest in playing friendlies, look at who won the competitions...clearly not many teams took it seriously so there isn't any point in entering.
Interviewer:
Looking ahead at the opening week of fixtures for your Juventus team:
AC Milan (H)
Galatasaray (A)
Sporting Lisbon (A)
A tough start wouldn't you say?
AB:
A very tough start in the league, and if we want to achieve what we plan to, then we must start strong. With AC bringing in a new manager for the first time in years, they'll be looking to make an impact in the league this season and with the squad that they have, they certainly have the ability to do that.
We'll still be favourites at home, but AC have the strength throughout their team to cause us problems and we'll have to prepare ourselves for that.
Moving onto the trip to Galatasaray, playing an unmanaged 3rd tier team SHOULD be a walk in the park but if football has taught me anything, it's to expect the unexpected so we'll not be taking them lightly and we'll prepare the lads just like we would for a trip to an EFL 1 team.
We'll then stay on the road as we travel to Lisbon to face Sporting. Another team with a new manager in Cheyenne Hollis.
Lisbon finished 2nd a couple of seasons ago under Gary Windebank for a reason, the team is very strong even if it is on the older side and with Hollis at the helm they'll no doubt be firing on all cylinders.
That being said, we have the confidence to go into Lisbon and leave with 3 points but we'll take things 1 game at a time as we always do.
Interviewer:
What are your expectations for the season?
AB:
For ourselves it's pretty simple. To improve upon last season in any areas we can. Now, we finished 3rd however we don't expect to improve or even replicate that./
Real Madrid had an off season, which seems to be the cycle under Talbot. Poor season followed by winning the league. There doesn't seem to be an inbetween. So 4th would be a good achievement for us with the likes of FC Barcelona & Atletico Madrid up there with us in terms of quality.
We're back in the Champions League and after our dismal performance in the competition last time we have some things to put right. Starting with Uncle Fester in Leeds.
In terms of a target in this competition I'm going to set the bar high and target the semi finals but we could go all the way if we put the work in.
The EFL Cup is where it's the luck of the draw that can make or break things for you but we know we have the quality to beat anyone on our day so we'll be looking to win the competition as I'm sure many others will be doing.
In terms of other targets and goals for the season, we need to be more clinical against the teams at the bottom end of the table and smarter/better vs the teams at the top and around us. Good results in those games vs poor results could be the difference between 4th and finishing below Inter Milan.
Comment