Spalletti says Juventus pressure can weigh heavy on players after winning start
Juventus made a winning start under Luciano Spalletti, but the new head coach explained there is plenty of work ahead.
Luciano Spalletti acknowledged the pressure of playing for Juventus can weigh heavy on players after he made a winning start as head coach at Cremonese.
The Bianconeri ran out two 2-1 victors at Stadio Giovanni Zini on Saturday, with goals from Filip Kostic and Andrea Cambiaso enough despite Jamie Vardy's late strike.
Spalletti was hired as the replacement for Igor Tudor after a disappointing start to the campaign and the former Italy boss says there is plenty of room for improvement.
"We already started to let them in towards half-time, then after the break, so there are obviously areas where we need to improve," Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia in quotes translated by Football Italia.
"There are many areas that require improvement, and quickly. There is potential visible in some of these players. I trust them, but the Juventus level puts pressure on them too.
"It seems from the outside that it's a great thing with Juventus having everything available, and it's even more remarkable from the inside, you've seen nothing. That puts pressure on, it makes you realise the level, and it can weigh on some players, so they need time."
There were just 85 seconds on the clock when Kostic scored for Juve, the second-fastest away goal scored by a Bianconeri player since 2004-05 after Nicola Legrottaglie's effort against Atalanta in April 2008 (46 seconds).
Spalletti sprung one tactical surprise for the game, with Teun Koopmeiners employed so deep in midfield that he was essentially an additional centre-back.
The Dutchman had the second-most passes (53) and most accurate passes (48) of any Juve player, while he had a pass completion of 90.6%.
Spalletti explained that his decision was based on trying to quell the threat of former Leicester City ace Vardy.
He added: "After two minutes, everyone could tell where he was playing.
"I expected him to be in a position where he could do more damage, because we rarely managed to move it from right to left, and vice versa.
"The intention was for (Khephren) Thuram to push forward a bit, for Koopmeiners to enter into that space, so we'd have an extra man in midfield. That's because Cremonese's only real danger man is Vardy.
"I saw a good performance in terms of communication and focus, because Koopmeiners was more of a defender than anyone else when it came to ensuring organisation and calling the line on the counter-attack.
"It was necessary, because Cremonese are so dangerous with that ball over the top for the champion that is Vardy, which we saw with the goal he scored."
