The Mysterious Milos Krasic
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| Milos continued on his Sampdoria game with an even better match against Udinese. Milos had two assists while Juventus steamrolled on to a 4-0 victory. He was only getting started though. Several weeks later, against Cagliari, Milos had the game of his Juventus career. He scored a hat trick en route to a 4-2 Juve win. Sadly, this was Milos’ peak with Juve. A few weeks later, during a 0-0 draw with Bologna, Milos went down in the box, and Juve were awarded the penalty. Vincenzo Iaquinta, in a crystallization of his time with Juventus, missed the penalty kick. To make matters worse, the FIGC reviewed the tape after the game and suspended Milos for two games.Now, I’ve spent a fair amount of time thinking about Milos, and his recent demise in the Juventus pecking order. I think the suspension for diving was the first of many adversities that would haunt Milos during his Juve tenure. Indeed, the fact that he was a convicted diver did him no favors, as he struggled to get any fouls called in his favor for the rest of the season. I remember many times where Milos was legitimately fouled, but the referee’s did not trust him. So, unless the ref saw the foul, it basically didn’t happen. Obviously, this interfered with his play. Something else interfered with Krasic’s play. Simply put, other team’s defenders figured him out. He dazzled against Sampdoria, Udinese, and Cagliari. But, he was mostly using the same set of moves. He’d outpace the fullbacks and break free, or he’d run through the defense and attempt to dribble around. At first, his dribbling came as a surprise, but quickly it fizzled out. He struggled to find other ways to influence play, and that hurt his production as the season went on. | |||||||
| His form fell off a cliff in the Winter of 2011, along with the rest of his teammates. He recovered a bit in the Spring, scoring in consecutive games against Brescia and Roma (Juve’s opponents on Tuesday in the TIM Cup). He finished the season as a player who was regarded as an important part of Juve’s attack. In hindsight, it’s more accurate to say that he was an important part of Delneri’s plans. Indeed, Delneri received some criticism last year for playing Krasic game in and game out, regardless of his sometimes poor form. The diving suspension (and subsequent loss of support from the referees), and the drop off in form don’t totally explain the mysterious case of Milos Krasic. There are some other factors, things that have happened recently. The most important factor is the fact that Delneri is no longer coaching Juve, and Antonio Conte is. Conte’s attacking, proactive play was different from Delneri’s quick, counterattacking style. Milos is a quick player, the kind who can be devastating on a breakaway. Sadly, he’s not the Mirko Vucinic type, who can take the ball on the wings and create something, either by playing the ball to other players or making a shot for himself. This was something that was not obvious at first, and perhaps even Conte was willing to give Krasic a try. Milos started the first two games of Juve’s 2011 North American Tour, against Sporting Lisbon and Club America. He was then subbed on in the third and final friendly against Guadalajara. Conte kept playing him, as Milos made an appearance in the first game of the season against Parma and made several other subsequent substitutions. He even started aganst Catania, and scored a goal. However, though he has made a fair amount of appearances, he has only played a full 90 minutes once this season (not counting the friendlies), against Catania. | |||||||
| Despite the goal, he has been mostly mediocre this season. His poor form is the primary reason why he has seen so few minutes since October. Granted, he did go through a significant family tragedy in the Fall when his father and uncle were involved in a car accident. His uncle passed away as a result of the accident, and Milos was given time off. This incident, though not exactly a turning point itself, serves as a useful turning point in the Milos Krasic narrative. His hiatus, and subsequent return, mark his transition from starting eleven Bianconeri player, to bench player awaiting a long overdue transfer. He made his return for Juve in the TIM Cup match against Bologna, playing for a fair amount of time before being subbed off for Eljero Elia. Unsurprisingly, Milos had a subpar game. Things were to get worse for Milos though. As the Winter transfer Mercato opened, so began the flurry of rumors involving Milos Krasic. His agent has done little to help in this area, as his agent had been saying controversial things about a transfer away from Turin nearly all season long. | |||||||
| Amidst all the rumors, Conte made a surprising choice during Juve’s second game after the winter break. Conte subbed in Krasic at the 70th minute. This was Krasic’s first Serie A appearance since he played against Genoa in October. Milos was ineffective to begin with, but one moment almost surely assured him a transfer out of Turin. Krasic was given the ball with a great opportunity to score, all he needed to do was take a straight shot to the goal. He sent the kick right, and a great opportunity for Juve to take the lead (and Milos to regain control of his Juve career) was ruined. The rumors only intensified after that. Recently, Milos has been linked with Liverpool F.C. and Tottenham. It’s unknown if these reports are reliable at all, but it is known that Beppe Marotta wants a solid return on his investment. Supposedly, the lowest that Juve will accept for Milos is ten million euros, though they would prefer the full fifteen million they paid for him. On the edge of an exit, though, something happened that might give Milos one more shot. Simone Pepe, Conte’s usual choice at right wing, went down with an injury at Atalanta. He’s out for 20 days. The cup match tomorrow against Roma may be another chance for Milos, although he may have ruined that with is performance against Cagliari. If Krasic is given another chance, then he needs to redeem himself to save his Juventus career. If he doesn’t redeem himself, or if he’s already ruined his chance, well, I’m sure Harry Redknapp could make good use of him. | |||||||
Juventus Torino
