Nordsjælland vs. Juventus PREVIEW – Danish New Boys vs. Determined Old Lady

This just in, translated from TuttoJuve‘s great “Lo Scienziato del Calcio” (Soccer Scientist) section: a full analysis of Nordsjælland to complete Lars’s already excellent preview.
http://www.tuttojuve.com/?action=read&idnotizia=114583

FC NORDSJÆLLAND
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AVERAGE AGE
24.4 years

DEFENSE
Nordsjælland’s rearguard is usually rooted to the plate, and needs the support of the midfielders to strengthen the team’s defensive dam.

The most important element, both in terms of age and playing potential, is Jores OKORE, 20 year-old Danish international of Ivorian origins. A powerful young forward with great physique and running abilities, he carries the leadership of the defence on his shoulders. Often pushes up the field making full use of his long strides, he is considered by many a great promise, but despite being recommended by none other than one of THE symbols of Danish football Peter Schmeichel (who actually recommended him to Manchester Utd), his performances haven’t shown much of this supposed big-star caliber. Just ask the Juve Primavera, who beat Nordsjælland’s youth in the only previous meeting between the two teams at the Torneo di Viareggio, a resounding 6-1 Bianconeri victory with Okore appearing in trouble during many of the incursions of mister Baroni’s team.

The other element the Croatian center-back Ivan RUNJE, another very physical young man, who struggles against quick players and recovering from his very tragic performance against Chelsea. Completing the defensive department, the two full-backs Patrick MTILIGA (assigned mostly to covering duties, given the presence on the same wing of the very offensive Joshua JOHN) and USA’s own Michael PARKHURST: the latter has the task of pushing up on the right wing but severely struggles against quick counter-attacks, particular when it comes to resuming his position.

In summary a defense that struggles against the liveliness and quick passing of the opponent, and looks particularly weak on the wings.

MIDFIELD
Sitting right in front of the D line is Enoch ADU, containing defensive midfielder who often falls back to receive the ball, and usually goes tilt when under pressure. Right beside him, bandiera and team captain Nicolai STOKHOLM (a Dane despite the last name), with an ID card indicating 36 years of age yet still demonstrating high reliability, dynamism and ball circulation: he is in charge of distributing the ball around to his teammates, particularly the three in front of him playing behind the lone striker.

The outside wingers, Kasper LORENTZEN on the right and Joshua JOHN on the left, are more used to converge to the center searching for a wall-pass, or to look for the shot rather than spread the play looking to put a cross (the lone forward, NORDSTRAND, isn’t exactly a tower man and likes the ball played to his feet). JOHN in particular deserves some attention: the Dutch player on loan from FC Twente has tallied 8 Superliga goals so far, and is currently the Wild Tigers’ topscorer. He’s a very fast winger with a decent right foot, his usual M.O. involves taking the opposing full-back one-on-one and suddenly cut in to the center in order to find the optimum position to shoot on net. A dangerous player, he doesn’t get lost in unnecessary dribbling and has a tendency to penetrate behind enemy lanes. Juve should be careful.

Playing behind the lone forward should either be Søren CHRISTENSEN o Mikkel BECKMANN, the first being young, very clever and quick, the second with a refined ball control and aspiring to deliver the winning assist towards the striker.

ATTACK
Morten NORDSTRAND is the Danes’ offensive end. The player found his first tally of the season just this weekend against Silkeborg, after a long drought. The player’s career is somewhat on a negative slope after his league topscorer title at the end of the 2008-09 season: since then he has seemingly become allergic to scoring, given also his sporadic appearances due to his many injuries and knocks. His constant movement to support his teammates with the ball and his great generosity are not repaid by the few opportunities landing at his feet, also because he’s likely to get stuck betweed the two opposing center-backs and his stature doesn’t exactly help in gaining some space.

PLAYING STRATEGY
Nordsjælland is an attack-minded team, due to their offensive tactical set-up and their players’ technical characteristics.

The team’s play is often dictated by STOKHOLM communicating closely with the central forward, who backtracks to relay the ball and drag his man-marker out of position. This is designed so that JOHN and LORENTZEN can take full advantage of their central incursions. The team thus operates with constant communication between the more advanced players and a continuous ball circulation: Hjulmand’s team tries to lull the opponent to sleep and then hit it, particularly through their wingers more than central forward. They key man in this regard is Joshua JOHN.

In defense, a few technical weak links give rise to a not terribly fast backline, but which nonetheless still manages to be effective in the covering phase mainly because it is often strengthened by the two defensive mids, thus forming a six-man iron curtain in front of the penalty box. By contrast, the team’s biggest weakness is that their defense is usually caught out of position (a problem not helped by the fact that usually, in the later stages of the match, the three offensive midfielders and forward stop backtracking) or, in extreme and worse cases, gets over-crowded and loses cohesion.

CURRENT FORM
In the Danish Superliga, Nordsjælland are not repeating their glorious season of last years, and their performances have been erratic, though they remain undefeated at home. In the UEFA Champions League it’s a whole other matter: the 4-0 drubbing against Chelsea and the 2-0 suffered against Shaktar show that the team’s inexperience on the international stage reveals some cause for embarrassment.

THE SCIENTIST SAYS
Against Chelsea, Nordsjælland demonstrated to have no particular fears or inhibitions at facing teams stronger than them, showing a great desire to surprise with a gameplay driven by forward incursion and a tight network of passing in the offensive third of the field. Unfortunately for coach Hjulmand his players suffer match intensity, precisely the determining characteristic of this Juventus team. If the midfield has always been the pride and glory of this Bianconeri side, it’s logical to assume that it will be in that part of the field that the game will be won, as indeed it will be tough for the Danes to endure the possession, order, and discipline in repositioning behind the line of the ball given how offensive their set-up is.

Moving around idly consumes energy and lucidity naturally suffers: statistics show that the team captained by Stokholm drops dramatically in the final third of the match, a phase where instead, Conte’s troops are very adept at revealing an athletic training that would rival that of the US Marines. On the left wing particularly, Juventus should have plenty of space to attack because, of the two full-backs, PARKHURST also carries the task of attackomg and thus often leaves space behind him. The strides of Paolino De Ceglie and his prowess at crossing the ball in will definitely be a great weapon to try to blitz our Danish opponents.

Ultimately Juventus face the group’s “cannon fodder” team, aware of the fact their opponents have nothing to lose while the Italian superstars have no other option that showing 100% commitment to the cause: Conte keeps the tension high and the team’s victories also show that each game, and especially the major challenges, are prepared with meticulous care, charge, and motivation. The fixture is important not so much because of the opponent’s caliber but for what the match represents: staying in the race for playoff qualification. Football has shown that even the most timid opponent can turn into a ferocious beast, so you have to be hungrier, sharper, more enraged. But that’s something Antonio Conte knows all too well. So pay attention to Juve, because the match against Napoli was only an introduction to what will happen against Nordsjaelland.

BALANCING THE EQUATION
On the weekend, Mirko VUCINIC‘s absence was not felt overly strongly, so our calculation reveals he will probably be man of the match. Some figures suggest that those who will be playing up front for Juve will be able to participate in the goalfest, and that includes forward bench-warmers. Eyes out for Nicklas BEDNTNER therefore – this could be his chance, and he’s playing “at home”…

I miss Pepe. Is there any teameats for Nords? i’m worried about it.

Another well written preview, grazie mille Lars. The Tigers actually played well against Chelsea, John had some good looks (one shot hit the post) and it wasn’t until Luiz at 79′ the game broke open. Bendtner finally gets some minutes, perhaps even scores today. Forza Juve