Unbeaten in Serie A but fans unhappy: What is going on at Juventus? | OneFootball

Juventus have made an unbeaten start to Serie A after 18 games, but many of their fans are not happy with how the season has gone.

Half-way through the campaign Juve are yet to lose a league game, but it has been far from perfect. They have only won seven out of their 18 games and have drawn 11.

And fans are beginning to become frustrated. Thiago Motta took over this season, a highly anticipated appointment after his achievements with Bologna in the last two years.

He took them to the Champions League for the first time since 1964, and his side were known for playing an attractive brand of football.

But he has flattered to deceive as of yet in Turin. The Old Lady are fifth in the league and 12 points behind leaders Napoli, and it looks highly unlikely they will be able to challenge for the league this season.

Injuries and disappointing signings

The 42-year-old has had a less than ideal start, but he has also suffered from circumstances out of his control. Juve’s best defender, Gleison Bremer, tore his cruciate ligament in October and will be out for the whole season.

New signing Juan Cabal also tore his cruciate ligament in November, and he too will miss the entire campaign. Other acquisitions, namely Douglas Luiz, have not worked out as planned.

Luiz was signed in the summer from Aston Villa for £43 million after an immense campaign where he helped the English side secure Champions League football and was one of the best holding midfielders in the Premier League.

Juventus signing him was seen as a massive coup and Motta was reportedly very keen to work with the Brazilian.

But the 26-year-old has only started two league games and has struggled to get into the team. He has missed ten games this season through injury but for the majority of the campaign has been available.

The Old Lady are well stocked in midfield, with Manuel Locatelli, Weston McKennie, Nicolo Fagioli and Khephren Thuram, and Luiz has not managed to force his way in.

Frustration with the style of play and lack of goals

One of Motta’s stand-out attributes at Bologna was the fluid, attacking football they played and how quickly he put his mark on the team.

But at Juve so far, the football has been somewhat tiresome and they have been involved in six games this season where they did not score a goal.

Dusan Vlahovic is having a good season in terms of numbers, with seven league goals to his name. But fans have been disappointed with his performances and there is a feeling he perhaps does not work hard enough for the team.

But without his goals Juve would not be near the Champions League places and would be in a far more dire situation.

No one else in the squad has over four goals and Juve have found themselves struggling to create chances. They have created only 22.7 shot creating actions per game, the 11th best in the league, despite averaging 61% of possession per game, and have only scored the fifth highest number of goals in the league.

Possibility of things changing?

The season is only half-way through and despite all of the negatives, Juventus are still unbeaten in the league, sitting in fifth place, and are 14th in the Champions League table, only two points off the top eight.

Motta has only had six months at the helm and faced some massive injury blows, and needs time to turn things around. Juventus’ young squad has promise but with the pressure that comes with managing such a big club, improvement is certainly needed.