Motta: Consistency is key ahead of Empoli clash | OneFootball

At 12:30 (CET) tomorrow, Sunday 2 February 2025, Juventus will play host to Empoli on Matchday 23 of the Serie A season.

This is what coach Thiago Motta had to say ahead of the challenge against the Tuscan side in today’s pre-match press conference.

THE NEXT MATCH

“I want us to win against Empoli: it is an important match, at home, and we have to put in a great performance. We're not happy with the latest results, the important thing is to focus on tomorrow's match (Sunday, 2 February 2025) and to achieve success. In football everything counts, including, but not only, mentality: we work on every aspect of our game and sometimes it is frustrating when we have worked hard and not achieved the desired result.

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE FIRST PART OF THE SEASON

“The team has improved over the past few months, we are growing. Injuries are not an excuse, but instead a reality that we are faced with: we will never use this as an excuse and we won't do so in the future either. We have suffered defeats and we have to make sure we change these kinds of results.

“We must improve in all aspects: defensively, apart from the mistakes that will naturally happen, we must be able to limit those situations from which we concede. The objective is to become a more solid and aggressive team, to know when to press, when to strike and hurt our opponent: all aspects that we will need against Empoli.

“To be a top team you must be consistent: in the league, instead, we have had ups and downs, due to everything we have already said. We still haven't been able to find consistency: we've had games where we have played well without winning, in other words without achieving what is our main goal, which we work towards every day.

THE TEAM FOR EMPOLI

“It's a pity we won’t have [Pierre] Kalulu with us, who has been almost ever present since he arrived. He won't be available tomorrow and the others I'm sure will do well in his place. The new arrivals will give us a boost: let's see if they will help the team from the start or as substitutes tomorrow.

“The forwards we have in the squad can play together, because they have great characteristics and are complementary.

“[Renato] Veiga I see as a central defender, but not only that: he has also played as a full-back and in midfield. When we need him, if we need him, I will talk to him about it - as has happened with [Weston] McKennie, who proves every game that he can play in several roles. When Kalulu got injured, [Teun] Koopmeiners was the first to come to me and offer to play as a central defender: this is the attitude I want to see from the boys, who are willing to put themselves in trouble or sacrifice themselves in order to help the team win.”

WATCH THE ENTIRETY OF THIAGO MOTTA'S PRESS CONFERENCE