Can The Old Lady Be Forgiven ?

It seems like a fairytale gone horribly wrong.

The Bianconeri have only but themselves to blame. After what can be only described as a disaster of a Champions League campaign, Ciro Ferrara still cant figure out where it all went wrong.

In a group where they were expected to qualify, they ended up losing to the likes of Bordeaux.

Where  did it all go wrong ?

On paper, Juventus is as good as any team that has qualified from the group stages of the Champions league. The difference is that they don't play consistently as a unit.

On certain days they look like potential Scudetto winners and on others they look worse than certain Serie B teams.

The consistency that they had under Fabio Capello, seems like a distant memory of a golden age. Ciro Ferrara cannot be squarely blamed for the losses, but he certainly could do better.

For once, they have to learn to stop depending on the performances of a few players to get the points. Del Piero isn't the same old workhorse that he used to be, even though he can turn on the style.

Trezeguet does put in decent performances, but is not really as deadly as he used to be. Amauri is fast turning out to be a non-performing asset for the club and he must regain his former Palermo form to be at the club. Vincenzo Iaquinta must get more starts, as he seems to be a game winner.

In midfield, Juve still doesn't have a well set quartet. Diego seems to have lost his form and was woeful against Bayern. Felipe Melo too, has lost his bearings a bit. What started out as an brilliant season for the Brazilian, is turning out to be a forgettable one.

Momo Sissoko and Seba Giovinco have had an average season so far. Both are far too inconsistent to have any impact on the team's performances. Although Giovinco can be forgiven for being young, Sissoko needs to pull up his socks and make the most of the games he gets. 

Mauro Camoranesi looks like a player with a purpose. Although he could not make an impact in the game against Bayern, he has been Juve's most consistent player otherwise.

In defence, Juve need to improve the most and Fabio Grosso has been the best performer.

He is a constant threat to defences when he goes forward and is good tracking back.

Giorgio Chiellini and Nicola Legrottaglie have had good games, but they havent performed over a span of few games; Good games come and go randomly.

Fabio Cannavaro and Martin Caceres have both performed below par this season. Cannavaro being the most experienced defender, has to be more consistent. He suffers from frequent lapses of concentration and looks to be aging too fast.

Caceres is a down-right bad investment. He has not lived up to his billing and needs to be replaced. Grygera and Molinaro too have been average at best this year.

The flambuoyant Buffon has been good this season. The goals conceded by Juve are more of the defender's mistakes than his. He is only as good as the defenders that stand in front of him.

The likes of Poulsen, Marchisio, Salihamidzic, and Tiago haven't had too many games, and need more time.

Finally, Ciro Ferrara needs some support from the club itself. For a first timer he isn't doing too bad with a win percentage of 57. As for the Champion's League failures and sudden slump of form, it seems to be a bad phase.

Claudio Ranieri wouldn't have done much better himself and so Ferrara must not be removed. As for this season, Juve still have a long way to go. The Scudetto and the Europa League are still up for grabs.

A good showing from here on and they still might end up with silverware.

Consistency is the key to win and Juve must buckle up and play as a unit. The management must show confidence in the manager as he has the makings of a good gaffer.

All is not lost yet and if they play as a team La Vecchia Signora might still have reason to smile.