b&w & read all over 
27-03-2024 14:04
27-03-2024 14:04
My 10 favorite Juventus players
Let’s rip the band-aid right off: this will be my final piece with the blog.
With a second child, a new job commencing in August, and many other time-consuming life circumstances, the time has come to shirk this one responsibility in favor of others. I want to thank Danny for everything he’s done for BWRAO and for me in particular; he is a fantastic editor and has cultivated a wonderful community here. Thanks as well to the other writers on the blog, whose varied styles and voices enrich the entire experience.
As I thought about my last piece, I decided something right from the get-go: I didn’t want the last article to be negative. I started writing for this blog back in 2017, before the pandemic, before I had kids, when I was still on teaching job No. 1, before I moved our family from Texas to Idaho. In that timespan, so many things have happened in all our lives and certainly in the life of the Old Lady.
I thought it would be perfectly appropriate to focus on the best and simplest thing: my 10 favorite players since becoming a Juventus fan before the 2016-2017 season.
Let’s go!
10. Weston McKennie
Whittling down this list to 10 players was not easy, but when writing about the American midfielder recently I realized how damn cool it has been as an American myself to watch one of my compatriots do what Americans do when we’re at our best: get up and throw another punch. The descent into Leeds and reemergence as one of the club’s most reliable players has a tremendous narrative arc to it, and like I said the other day: I don’t think he’s done. If he keeps that chip on his shoulder, there’s plenty of room for growth for the midfielder, who’s only 25 years old. And that should scare opponents.
9. Bremer
When Juventus signed Matthijs de Ligt, I was de-lig(h)t(ed). If memory serves, the young Dutchman at some point made a comment about how honored he was to be at the club and how, one day, he hoped to wear the captain’s band. That ... did not work out, as we know. The time together was all too brief, but it led to something amazing, especially if Juventus can keep his replacement for a long time: Bremer. The Brazilian is the John Wick of center backs. He doesn’t have a loud and goofy personality that draws attention to itself; he doesn’t have a million tattoos or spend his time trash-talking opponents; he just dominates strikers day in and day out. I love the quiet assassin.
8. Blaise Matuidi
The Frenchman took so much flak during his time, but he did so many things well. First, he hustled his ass off, and that is enough to endear me to any player. But I always thought his spatial intelligence was criminally overlooked; Matuidi knew exactly where he needed to be at all times on both sides of the ball. He ran hard, he had fun, he smiled, he sacrificed for his team. You’ve got to love him.
7. Juan Cuadrado
Juan Cuadrado went to Inter Milan and somehow I love him no less. The Colombian played over 300 matches for Juventus in all competitions, and outside of this season has been present my entire tenure as a fan. He had some amazing goals, some amazing dances, and some amazingly infuriating moments, but like Matuidi he always worked himself into the ground and found ways to sacrifice for his team, while retaining an infectious joy. He’s a Juventus legend in my book.
6. Alvaro Morata
The lovable Spaniard. The family man. Another example of sacrifice and grinta and work ethic. Morata hasn’t played that much for the club in all honestly, but that’s not what this list is about. As for many of us, I think, he has engendered an affection that is disproportionately large when compared to the number of caps he has for the time. I hope the Spaniard keeps doing well in his return to his home country.
5. Danilo
Danilo’s appearance at the club in the Joao Cancelo swap was not met with a gargantuan amount of fanfare, but the Brazilian has made himself indispensable at a time of severe need and transition for the club. While a completely different personality than Giorgio Chiellini, whose mantle he took up in many ways, Danilo has been a great performer on the pitch and an emotional rock off, especially as the team has seemed to get younger and younger.
4. Goalkeeper
Getting to the business end of the list, I cheated: I made a composite player out of the goalkeeper position. Throughout my relatively brief tenure as a Juventus fan, the club has consistently enjoyed both one of the best and most fun goalkeeper rooms in Europe. From the tail end of Gianluigi Buffon’s career to the seamless succession of Wojciech Szczęsny, whose name I still can’t spell, even to Mattia Perin’s arrival and the delightful omnipresence of Carlo Pinsoglio, the Juventus goalkeeper has been the one position one never had to question.
3. Paulo Dybala
This one hurts. Still. And I imagine it will for a long time. When I say “it hurts,” I mean it — I can’t watch Roma highlights because seeing Dybala in another kit makes something twist painfully in my chest. The situation surrounding his departure was stupid and protracted, and in the long run was, objectively speaking, the wrong decision, but what’s done is done. Thankfully that doesn’t rob us of the many memories we shared with La Joya. He didn’t have the end-to-end sacrificial grinta like some of the other players on this list — that wasn’t his job — but he had a pure, romantic love for the Old Lady. And a hell of a left foot.
2. Mario Mandzukic
In a shocking twist of fate, I have, for some reason, fallen in love with distance running. It’s a long story. But I’m training for my first 50k in September — the Wy’East Wonder, run on trails in the shadow of Mt. Hood — and when I’m running I routinely think about Mario Mandzukic. A lot of the players on this list are here in large part because of the sacrifice they showed, the hustle, the willingness to suffer for the collective, and that is true of nobody more than Mandzukic. His use as a left winger remains to me one of the coolest tactical deployments I’ve seen on the pitch. He was essentially a target man, a winger, and a center back all in one. One rarely saw him smile, such was his devoted intensity. Mario, you help keep me going on the trails.
1. Giorgio Chiellini
There is nobody who embodies the Juventus way over the last couple of decades more than Giorgio Chiellini, and I say that knowing how much Buffon means to the club. To me, though, even when Gigi wore the arm band, Chiellini was, due in part to being out on the pitch and not chained to the goalposts, the heart and soul of the team. The connection between the goalkeeper and center back was uncanny, and it carried over into a consistent and tenacious spirit in the squad itself. When Buffon left the club, Chiellini carried the torch into the next generation of players. His passion was unrivaled. As a player, he was the paragon of the bruising center back; he pocketed more strikers than there are stars in the sky. His was my first Juventus kit to purchase and remains my favorite to wear. Chiellini was hired to the LAFC staff when he retired, and you can be that big smile will be walking through the doors of Juventus HQ in the coming years to take a position with the club. And we’ll all be better for it. Thanks lastly, of course, to you readers and commenters, without whom this blog would not be possible. I am not vanishing into thin air and will remain in the threads to make intelligent suggestions like going after a Stefano Sturaro reunion, but as for being an official writer: this is the end.
Forza Juve, and fino alla fine, comrades.
With a second child, a new job commencing in August, and many other time-consuming life circumstances, the time has come to shirk this one responsibility in favor of others. I want to thank Danny for everything he’s done for BWRAO and for me in particular; he is a fantastic editor and has cultivated a wonderful community here. Thanks as well to the other writers on the blog, whose varied styles and voices enrich the entire experience.
As I thought about my last piece, I decided something right from the get-go: I didn’t want the last article to be negative. I started writing for this blog back in 2017, before the pandemic, before I had kids, when I was still on teaching job No. 1, before I moved our family from Texas to Idaho. In that timespan, so many things have happened in all our lives and certainly in the life of the Old Lady.
I thought it would be perfectly appropriate to focus on the best and simplest thing: my 10 favorite players since becoming a Juventus fan before the 2016-2017 season.
Let’s go!
10. Weston McKennie
Whittling down this list to 10 players was not easy, but when writing about the American midfielder recently I realized how damn cool it has been as an American myself to watch one of my compatriots do what Americans do when we’re at our best: get up and throw another punch. The descent into Leeds and reemergence as one of the club’s most reliable players has a tremendous narrative arc to it, and like I said the other day: I don’t think he’s done. If he keeps that chip on his shoulder, there’s plenty of room for growth for the midfielder, who’s only 25 years old. And that should scare opponents.
9. Bremer
When Juventus signed Matthijs de Ligt, I was de-lig(h)t(ed). If memory serves, the young Dutchman at some point made a comment about how honored he was to be at the club and how, one day, he hoped to wear the captain’s band. That ... did not work out, as we know. The time together was all too brief, but it led to something amazing, especially if Juventus can keep his replacement for a long time: Bremer. The Brazilian is the John Wick of center backs. He doesn’t have a loud and goofy personality that draws attention to itself; he doesn’t have a million tattoos or spend his time trash-talking opponents; he just dominates strikers day in and day out. I love the quiet assassin.
8. Blaise Matuidi
The Frenchman took so much flak during his time, but he did so many things well. First, he hustled his ass off, and that is enough to endear me to any player. But I always thought his spatial intelligence was criminally overlooked; Matuidi knew exactly where he needed to be at all times on both sides of the ball. He ran hard, he had fun, he smiled, he sacrificed for his team. You’ve got to love him.
7. Juan Cuadrado
Juan Cuadrado went to Inter Milan and somehow I love him no less. The Colombian played over 300 matches for Juventus in all competitions, and outside of this season has been present my entire tenure as a fan. He had some amazing goals, some amazing dances, and some amazingly infuriating moments, but like Matuidi he always worked himself into the ground and found ways to sacrifice for his team, while retaining an infectious joy. He’s a Juventus legend in my book.
6. Alvaro Morata
The lovable Spaniard. The family man. Another example of sacrifice and grinta and work ethic. Morata hasn’t played that much for the club in all honestly, but that’s not what this list is about. As for many of us, I think, he has engendered an affection that is disproportionately large when compared to the number of caps he has for the time. I hope the Spaniard keeps doing well in his return to his home country.
5. Danilo
Danilo’s appearance at the club in the Joao Cancelo swap was not met with a gargantuan amount of fanfare, but the Brazilian has made himself indispensable at a time of severe need and transition for the club. While a completely different personality than Giorgio Chiellini, whose mantle he took up in many ways, Danilo has been a great performer on the pitch and an emotional rock off, especially as the team has seemed to get younger and younger.
4. Goalkeeper
Getting to the business end of the list, I cheated: I made a composite player out of the goalkeeper position. Throughout my relatively brief tenure as a Juventus fan, the club has consistently enjoyed both one of the best and most fun goalkeeper rooms in Europe. From the tail end of Gianluigi Buffon’s career to the seamless succession of Wojciech Szczęsny, whose name I still can’t spell, even to Mattia Perin’s arrival and the delightful omnipresence of Carlo Pinsoglio, the Juventus goalkeeper has been the one position one never had to question.
3. Paulo Dybala
This one hurts. Still. And I imagine it will for a long time. When I say “it hurts,” I mean it — I can’t watch Roma highlights because seeing Dybala in another kit makes something twist painfully in my chest. The situation surrounding his departure was stupid and protracted, and in the long run was, objectively speaking, the wrong decision, but what’s done is done. Thankfully that doesn’t rob us of the many memories we shared with La Joya. He didn’t have the end-to-end sacrificial grinta like some of the other players on this list — that wasn’t his job — but he had a pure, romantic love for the Old Lady. And a hell of a left foot.
2. Mario Mandzukic
In a shocking twist of fate, I have, for some reason, fallen in love with distance running. It’s a long story. But I’m training for my first 50k in September — the Wy’East Wonder, run on trails in the shadow of Mt. Hood — and when I’m running I routinely think about Mario Mandzukic. A lot of the players on this list are here in large part because of the sacrifice they showed, the hustle, the willingness to suffer for the collective, and that is true of nobody more than Mandzukic. His use as a left winger remains to me one of the coolest tactical deployments I’ve seen on the pitch. He was essentially a target man, a winger, and a center back all in one. One rarely saw him smile, such was his devoted intensity. Mario, you help keep me going on the trails.
1. Giorgio Chiellini
There is nobody who embodies the Juventus way over the last couple of decades more than Giorgio Chiellini, and I say that knowing how much Buffon means to the club. To me, though, even when Gigi wore the arm band, Chiellini was, due in part to being out on the pitch and not chained to the goalposts, the heart and soul of the team. The connection between the goalkeeper and center back was uncanny, and it carried over into a consistent and tenacious spirit in the squad itself. When Buffon left the club, Chiellini carried the torch into the next generation of players. His passion was unrivaled. As a player, he was the paragon of the bruising center back; he pocketed more strikers than there are stars in the sky. His was my first Juventus kit to purchase and remains my favorite to wear. Chiellini was hired to the LAFC staff when he retired, and you can be that big smile will be walking through the doors of Juventus HQ in the coming years to take a position with the club. And we’ll all be better for it. Thanks lastly, of course, to you readers and commenters, without whom this blog would not be possible. I am not vanishing into thin air and will remain in the threads to make intelligent suggestions like going after a Stefano Sturaro reunion, but as for being an official writer: this is the end.
Forza Juve, and fino alla fine, comrades.