Gleison Bremer, Francisco Conceicao and Pierre Kalulu all pointed to the same shortcoming after Juventus opened their Serie A campaign with a 1-0 win at Frosinone, agreeing the game should have been put beyond the hosts long before the closing stages.
With quotes via AlfredoPedulla.com, Bremer told DAZN after heading in the only goal: “I’m happy with the goal, it’s only the start of the season. We could have closed it out in the first half, like last year. There’s a lot to work on, we need to improve in a lot of areas, but I congratulate the team on the win.”
The Brazilian, who scored from a set piece, was asked about his knack for goals. “I’ve always had this quality, I always work on it,” he said. “After a difficult year it wasn’t a given, I’m happy to help by breaking the deadlock from a dead ball.” On how many more he expects: “The objective is to defend, to get back to my previous levels. But I’m sure I’ll score a few more.”
Conceicao says Juventus should have scored three or four
Conceicao, who supplied the assist for Juventus’ winner, was blunter still in comments covered by Calciomercato.
“We brought the game our way, we could have scored two, three, four goals, that would have been good, but we didn’t manage it,” the Portuguese said. “It was good to win this match, we started well and that’s the important thing. In attack we have a lot of options, that’s good because the team is more competitive.”
He included himself in the criticism. “We always have to do more, me as a forward,” he added. “We didn’t close the game out and we have to improve, myself included, to finish matches as early as possible.”
Kalulu, speaking to DAZN, via TuttoMercatoWeb, made the same point before turning to his own development. “It could have ended with a lot of goals for us, I could have scored too,” the Juventus defender said. “The first matchday is always tough.”
Asked about his growing understanding with Conceicao down the right, Kalulu credited Luciano Spalletti. “The coach helps me, he tries to push me out of my comfort zone,” he said. “In the end I become a more complete player and I’m happy that it’s starting to show.”
He also welcomed Randal Kolo Muani, whom Spalletti had criticised post-match. “I’m happy, he’s a very strong player who helps us do better and brings his quality,” Kalulu said. “Today he had his chances, I wish him all the best.”
