Emanuele Giaccherini

by Aaron Giambattista

Alongside Caceres, De Ceglie, and Pepe, Emanuele has been one of the players that have been a bit marginalized in Conte’s second year. The Little Goblin has only managed 5 games thus far, most of them in the central midfield. Despite the rare playing time, Italy coach Prandelli has continued to call him up. In Euro 2012, Prandelli used Giaccherini as a wingback to a solid result. Perhaps that’s how Antonio Conte should employ Giac for a bit more playing time.

Pagelle Average Rating: 6.4
Matches Played: 5

Claudio Marchisio

by Aaron Giambattista

The little Prince has grown up. Marchisio was fundamental to the team last year, but has grown even more since then, being rewarded by being named in the Ballon d’Or 30 man shortlist. Claudio is absolutely essential to Conte’s play, his tactical work in midfield enables possession, his inserting runs draw defenders away from our forwards, and if a defender isn’t clearing a ball off the line, it’s probably Marchisio. Absolutely superb start to the season from Il Principino, who’s shining moment was his brace against local rivals Torino in the Derby della Mole.

Pagelle Average Rating: 6.8
Matches Played: 21

Simone Padoin

by Lars Aabjerg Pedersen

I still struggle to see what The Padoin actually does. Not that he has been poor as such, it is just one of those cases where you’d think a younger, homegrown player with a personality might be of better use. Then again, I’ve questioned Conte once or twice before only to be predictably proven wrong by the End Result. This leads me to believe that like with so many things in this world, there is a reasons why it’s there that my faculties are incapable of fathoming. Padoin is versatile, workmanlike and thus offers ⅔ of what Pepe does… And our Simone has, admittedly, been out for a while. That’s the nearest explanation I can come up with, to be honest.
 

Pagelle Average Rating: 5.9    Matches Played: 7

Andrea Pirlo

by Lars Aabjerg Pedersen

When you look at Pirlo’s average score here, it’s clear that in this case, along with that of Buffon and others, the whole really is so much more than the sum of its parts. While a 6.5 is a respectable rating, and it’s hard to contest most ratings per the individual games, clearly the overall influence of Pirlo on this Juve squad is closer to breaking the scale than to its median. While the Bearded Genius has suffered from being marked heavily for a few games this season, his sheer ability and aura has lifted the bianconeri from good to excellent on numerous occasions. His skill, nous and experience is beyond compare, and more than makes up for the few times this season his presence has perhaps been less felt. Pirlo may not be as young as he was, but while it seems almost silly to say given the man’s achievements, I’m more and more convinced that he was never *this* good or influential before. And that’s without even mentioning his otherworldly stats…

Pagelle Average Rating: 6.5
Matches Played: 22

Paul Labile Pogba

by John Cascarano

When another player arrived from a big Premier League club over the summer, I was less than enthusiastic. As I say, be wary of a young player that Arsene Wenger *lets* get away. The same adage applies to Alex Ferguson, only the Manchester United Manager did not exactly *let* the 19-year-old Paul Pogba leave, but was rather vocal about losing the French Youngster against his will. Notwithstanding the sheer hypocrisy in crying victim after having poached Pogba from his parent club himself, it is clear why Ferguson did not want to lose the teenage midfielder.

With the M-V-P midfield such an important cog in last year’s Scudetto machine, competing on three fronts this season caused much agita for fans wondering how the team would pull off such a task. Paul Pogba has alleviated many of these concerns, proving he can fill in any of the three roles and even provide the occasional decisive goal. Bonus: many of my Twitter followers have now forgotten all about how melodramatically upset they were over losing out on Marco Verratti.

Pagelle Average Rating: 6.5
Matches Played: 15

Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo

by John Cascarano

While the award for “most trite statement of 2012” belongs to “the one thing that Juventus is missing is a top striker,” what has not been missing is effusive praise for the Chilean who turned down Bayern Munich in July 2011 for the Old Lady. It is largely true that Juve lacks a true game changer in the final third who can take over a game alone, ala Ibrahimovic or Messi, but Arturo Vidal helps mitigate that on his own. Whether he was single-handedly carrying the team to an improbable comeback against the defending European Champions in hostile London, or opening up the floodgates against a provinciale, King Arthur has been a game changer on more than one occasion thus far. With the team’s biggest asset its midfield, Vidal is the all-performance motor, constantly winning balls and tackles, while finding a way for a decisive goal.

Interestingly, he has the lowest average score as among the M-V-P center midfield trio, as he did suffer from a bout of inconsistency around October/November – most certainly due to being overworked and banged up. Conte’s new found faith in the young Paul Pogba should allow for all three of the regulars to get consistent rest, and Vidal may benefit the most should the young Frenchman’s good form continue into 2013.

Pagelle Average Rating: 6.4
Matches Played: 21