After that 3-1, back-down-to-earth-with-a-bumb defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford, Brentford away felt like the sternest possible test of Arsenal’s ‘bouncebackability’. A test they, thanks to goals from William Saliba, Gabriel Jesus and the waifish Fabio Vieira, passed with flying colours; exercising the demons of August 2021 while re-claiming their spot at the summit of the Premier League table.
Unfortunately for Max Allegri, his Juventus side do not appear to share Arsenal’s new-found ability to recover from adversity. A trip to Monza felt like the ideal opportunity for Juve to ‘bounce back’ from a 2-1 home loss to Benfica in the Champions League group-stages.
Instead, they became the first Serie A team ever to find themselves on the losing side against newly-promoted, previously-insipid Monza; the most deflating and devastating of 1-0 defeats extending their winless run to five games in all competitions.
While Arsenal are basking in the sunshine at the top of the mountain, Juventus are tumbling down the hill; rolling past Napoli, Milan and Inter on their way to rock bottom. Juventus are eighth. Seven points adrift. Their Scudetto hopes could be over even before the Halloween decorations hit the shelves.
Manuel Locatelli chose Juventus over Arsenal
And it’s ironic, to some extent, that a player who chose Juventus over Arsenal in the summer of 2021 is at risk of becoming a sorry symbol of the former’s decline.
“Locatelli (is a) flop. He looks like another player compared to the one seen at Sassuolo,” former Roma man Stefano Impallomeni tells Tuttomercatoweb.
It is easy to forget, as Locatelli drifts through game after game, just how different the narrative was surrounding the 24-year-old Italy international 12 months ago; Locatelli having turned down Arsenal in favour of a £30 million move to Turin after playing a major role in the Azzurri’s European Championship- winning campaign.
“(Locatelli) only wanted to go to Juventus,” Sassuolo CEO Giovanni Carnevali said at the time. “We received offers from Arsenal and other clubs, but there was nothing we could do. He was determined.”
Doubts persist about Locatelli’s suitability to Allegri’s style of play. The word ‘style’ used in the loosest sense, of course. He could find himself on the bench, too, when former PSG and Roma playmaker Leandro Paredes establishes himself back in Italy. Things may still get worse before they get better. For Juve and Locatelli.
Last year, Arsenal looked like a slumbering giant with their finger pressed permanently on the snooze button. Now, it’s Juventus with their head on the hay.
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