Juve's Conte dismisses striker concerns

16 March 2012 18:17

Antonio Conte brushed aside suggestions his striker rotation is affecting his players' confidence, saying it is normal at a big club.

Juve have struggled to score goals this season, particularly recently, with just six goals in their last seven games, six of which ended in draws.

Alessandro Matri has largely been first choice this season, flanked by Mirko Vucinic and Simone Pepe but with only 19 league goals between them in 27 games, they have hardly been terrorising defences.

And the lack of goals has contributed greatly to Juve's problem of drawing too many games.

They are unbeaten this season but have drawn more than half of their 27 league encounters.

And asked whether his chopping and changing had underminded confidence, Conte was visibly irritated.

"That's a question for a provincial team, we're a big club," he said.

"We don't have a first choice forward with respect to the others. The hierarchy is decided during the week (in training) and on the pitch (on match day).

"We don't have an (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic situation, but that's another discussion.

"We've got a lot of central strikers who reluctantly play out wide.

"I have some arrows, I put them on the pitch and I hope they give me good results.

"None of our draws has been shabby performances, they've always been missed victories.

"We always play to win. I'd be worried if we weren't shooting.

"As for how we can always make the ball go in: by playing playstation."

Juve travel to Fiorentina on Saturday looking to bounce back from their recent poor run -- nine points from seven games is the kind of points per game return that has a team looking nervously over their shoulders at the relegation zone.

"It's an important game, we're pursuing a dream whereas Fiorentina are playing their match of the year and that should fill us with satisfaction," added Conte.

Source: AFP