“The first to be angry” – Motta discusses Juventus mood, provides updates on Vlahovic & Conceicao

Club News

January 13, 2025 - 12:00 pm

Juventus coach Thiago Motta previewed Tuesday’s contest against Atalanta while shedding some light on the atmosphere at the club.

Although they remain undefeated in Serie A, the Bianconeri have been enduring a miserable run thanks to a plethora of draws with the most recent coming against Torino in Saturday’s Derby della Mole.

However, Juve will hardly have the time to catch their breath, as they’re about to clash heads with Atalanta in Bergamo on Tuesday night in a postponed Serie A fixture.

On Monday, Motta addressed the media in his customary pre-match press conference, and he insisted that he and his men are the first to be irritated by the club’s current status.

“We certainly made mistakes, because in many games we could have won but we didn’t,” said the 42-year-old via TuttoJuve.

“We are the first to be angry because we always want to win. Now we have to recover the points that we left behind.”

The manager discussed Teun Koopmeiners’ form as the player returns to his old ground, while revealing that Francisco Conceicao won’t be available for the mid-week clash, and Dusan Vlahovic remains a doubt.

“Nothing strange about Koop. He’s the player and the person I expected. He’s a guy who transmits a lot in everyday life and helps his teammates. He puts himself in difficulty for his teammates and he does it because he feels it and wants to win. Tomorrow he returns to a place where he did well and won a lot. It will be a special match.

“We don’t have Bremer, Cabal, Conceicao and Milik, but we’ll see how Dusan will cope later in training, he is not yet 100%.”

Motta also talked about the playing positions of Douglas Luiz and Kenan Yildiz.

“Kenan is doing very well on the right wing, as he did on the left. He also did well in the middle against Cagliari in the Coppa Italia. He is a boy who is growing very quickly.

“I am very happy, but he should improve in the defensive phase as he must be more decisive in some challenges. Moreover, he is a kid who is always available thanks to his good physical condition.

“We chose to leave Douglas deep to free up Thuram more. He can also play further up the pitch. In the Derby, we also had to manage his strength to make sure he endures the entire 90 minutes.”