Walter Zenga Raises Concerns for Juventus Ahead of Sassuolo Clash
Walter Zenga has sounded the alarm for Juventus. New faces are in. The goals, he fears, are not.
The Bianconeri head to Sassuolo tonight (19.45 UK time, 20.45 CEST) under pressure and understrength, with Luciano Spalletti juggling an injury list that keeps growing. Manuel Locatelli, Jeremie Boga, Weston McKennie, Andrea Cambiaso, Kenan Yildiz, Khephren Thuram, Jeff Ekhator and Juan Cabal are all out, stripping depth from every department.
Into that context step Randal Kolo Muani and Nick Woltemade, summer arrivals expected to refresh Juve’s attack. For Zenga, they do anything but solve the central problem.
“Juve don’t have a 15-goal striker”
Sky Sport Italia pundit Zenga did not dance around the issue.
“Kolo Muani is not a Number 9, that kind of hitman who can score 15 goals per season, and neither is Woltemade really,” the former goalkeeper and coach said, questioning the logic behind the club’s recruitment.
Juventus are expected to start Kolo Muani up front, with Kerim Alajbegovic, Nico Gonzalez and Francisco Conceicao working around him. It looks dynamic on paper. Zenga sees an attack built on movement, not on a ruthless finisher.
And that is exactly what he believes Juve let slip.
Vlahovic gone, Milik stuck, questions remain
Zenga pointed straight at the recent past.
“To think that Arek Milik has been out injured for two years and is still on the Juve books,” he noted, before turning to the departure that still stings in Turin. “Above all, to think that they had a striker like Dusan Vlahovic who left for reasons we don't know, but which are presumably tied to his agent and the contract.
“In theory, Juve had two strikers in the squad there with the potential to score 25-30 goals between them.”
That is the heart of his criticism: Juventus once had a clear goals guarantee in Vlahovic, with Milik as support. Now they lean on forwards whose strengths lie in link-up play, movement and versatility rather than sheer penalty-box brutality.
Spalletti’s next move
Spalletti, pictured recently looking dejected on the touchline in Frosinone, may have no choice but to innovate again. With Kolo Muani and Woltemade offering similar hybrid profiles rather than classic poacher instincts, Zenga expects something different from the Juventus coach.
Considering their characteristics, he believes a tactical twist is coming. Spalletti has never been afraid to reshape a system around his players, and tonight in Sassuolo could be another laboratory night.
The question is blunt and unavoidable: in a season where margins are thin and pressure is heavy, can a team without a true 15-goal centre-forward really carry Juventus where they expect to go?
